Our Beers

Wine is usually surrounded by a certain ambiance, in which experts carefully create some form of magical experience that seems to appeal to non-experts. For special beers this experience is a lot less magical and has a smaller audience, at least in our country. Due to the largely predominant consumption of lager here it is hard for the less conventional beers to make their own magic felt. This is really a pity since this magic is truly great. There is, for example, an enormous variety of ingredients: the various types of malt, hops and yeast are probably much richer in variety than the species of grape used in making wines. Apart from this there are various methods of brewing, often partly depending on the personality of the brewer. Many amateur brewers are able, be it maybe only once, to produce a special beer the quality of which is hard to match for a professional brewer. Any brewer can, with the proper care and dedication, brew a special beer with a typical personal character. The brewers of the Reuzenbieren are very well aware that quality counts, not quantity. That’s why, for example, the choice for a type of yeast will be based on the desired taste and type of beer and not on its speed and efficiency in producing alcohol. Quality is our one and only aim!

If you wish to produce a special beer with the utmost care and respect you have to be selective with the ingredients. Our Reuzenbieren are made solely with the very best quality ingredients available. Uniformity is not the same as quality. A big industrial brewery can control almost all variables of the brewing process at any given moment. In a small-scale brewery this is not possible. Neither is it possible to make a blend of various brews, thus minimalizing the differences in taste. This is why the taste of homemade traditional beers may fluctuate a little. This is not a shortcoming, though, but the special charm of these boutique beers. Likewise a top chef won’t be able to produce a dish with exactly the same taste every day, whereas this may well be the case in a fast food restaurant and will burgers taste the same at any given time of the day. The choice is yours… This is also why there is such a great interest for our trial brews – to be tasted only in our home bar – among our followers and other connoisseurs.

Nevertheless our commercial beers are very stable and of a superb quality, thanks to the enormous dedication, knowledge and expertise of our own master brewers and those of the brewery that hosts us. Of course we rent room and equipment in a commercial brewery to brew our bigger batches since we have only a limited brewing capacity in our home brewery.

Our Reuzenbieren are brewed according to traditional methods and are living beers with a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Because of the remaining yeast and some added sugar the beers will undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle or barrel.

To enjoy our beers to the full we have a few suggestions for you: store the bottles upright. This makes it easier to leave the remaining yeast in the bottle after decanting, should you wish so. Keep the bottles preferably in a dark place at a constant temperature of 8 to 14 degrees Centigrade. Depending on the type of beer it may even be a bit cooler. Leave the bottles for a few days after transport so that the yeast may form a deposit on the bottom. In this way you will get a fine and clear beer in the glass. Use a dry glass at room temperature, but rinse it shortly on the inside with clear water. Pour out the beers in special glasses. For the ReuZ Stout / Peer Paorel the big Reuzenglas, for the ReuZ Blond / Heukelomse Mie and the Reuz IPA / Ermelindis the oblong tulip glass and for the ReuZ Dubbel, of course, the big goblet. By using these special glasses the character of each of our beers is best enjoyed. Keep the glass at a slant and start pouring slowly, but steadily against the side of the glass from just under the rim. Gradually bring the glass back up horizontal, so that you end up pouring in the middle. This ensures a rich layer of foam. Leave about 1 cm in the bottle to hold the yeast deposit, which makes the beer a little more bitter and cloudy. Of course, you may also pour out the deposit as well. It is quite wholesome!