The best cure for a hangover is? Right, another beer to smoothen the sharp edges. So, on a Sunday afternoon, I met up with a friend at Brasserie de la Senne in the North of Brussels near the Gare Maritime. An area that’s being developed recently to make it into a more upscale (should we say gentrified?) area. Brasserie de la Senne doesn’t produce lambic beers, but they do have some Brett beers on the menu that I was interested in. Brett beers are brewed with the help of Brettanomyces yeast. Nowadays Brettanomyces yeast is commercially available and can be bought, like any type of brewers yeast. Therefore it’s not really a wild beer so to speak, but since the aromas and flavor profile from the added Brettanomyces yeast can be similar to real wild fermented beers, it’s a family of beers that will be covered in this blog too. In most Brett beers the Brettanomyces yeast is added before bottling resulting in a Brett refermentation on the bottle. This can result in the typical barnyard Brett aromas. These beers develop over time so a beer from the same batch will never taste the same. Probably the most famous Brett beer is Orval.
About Brasserie de la Senne
Brasserie de la Senne has since its start grown to be one of the best craft beer breweries in Belgium. The name refers to the river Senne that originally flowed through Brussels, and still is but it’s all underground now. The river nowadays is heavily polluted but efforts are made to turn this around and make it into a healthy river again.
The beers
Brasserie de la Senne has 3 Brett beers in their lineup currently: Brett Porter, Saison van de Bruwer, and Zennegash.
Brett Porter is as the name says a porter brewed with the help of Brettanomyces. I have a bottle of this waiting for a few months already in the fridge that I didn’t open as I prefer to drink more refreshing or sour beers in spring and summer.
Saison van de Bruwer is a spelt Saison that I tried at the brewery. It’s a hop-forward Saison with little Brett aromas on the nose that’s easy to drink. The color is golden yellow with a nice clear foamy white head
Zennegash is a collaboration between Allagash from the United States and Brasserie de la Senne. And WOW, if you’re into Brett aromas this is the beer for you! Smelling this beer is like walking into a stable. Certainly not a beer for the beginner Brett beer drinker. Taste wise it was slightly bitter, with some nice hop aromas. It was cloudy with a beautiful white head that retained well
If you’re not into Brett beers, Brasserie de la Senne offers a good selection of their regular beers on tap too. They’re open from 16:00 to 23:00 on Tuesdays to Fridays, and from 12:00 to 23:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. If you’re in the area don’t forget to visit Brasserie de la Source or the food market in the Gare Maritime. Both are within 5 minutes of walking distance.
Featured image from ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’