The Belgian Smaak Podcast: Recent Episodes
Breandán Kearney
Breandán Kearney sits down with some of the most high profile people in the world of Belgian beer to discuss beer styles, brands and the stories behind the breweries and to find out what makes beer culture in Belgium so special.
In the past year, Belgian family breweries Het Anker and De Ryck have ended generations of family ownership. Family breweries sit at the heart of Belgian beer but the topic of generational handover in these breweries is rarely spoken about in much detail: what it means to inherit a brewery, to carry a family name forward, and to take responsibility for something that existed long before any of us were born.
Three family brewers—Céline Lefebvre from Brasserie Lefebvre (sixth generation), Albert De Brabandere from Brouwerij De Brabandere (fifth generation), and Karel Boon from Brouwerij Boon (second generation)—sit down with Breandán Kearney to talk about what it takes to inherit a legacy, deal with succession, and decide how to navigate challenging economics.
2026 will mark the ten-year anniversary of the UNESCO recognition of Belgian beer culture as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity (the only country in the world to do so).
The behind-the-scenes story of how Belgium pulled it off—with plot twists and political wrangling and strategic compromise—demonstrates the essence of the country's character: ruthlessly pragmatic and quietly persuasive.
The Flemish city of Turnhout is the playing card capital of the world.
Turnhout is to playing cards what Kobe is to Japanese Wagyu beef; what Parma is to Italian Prosciutto; what Fez is to leather. The biggest card-producing company in the world, Cartamundi, is headquartered in Turnhout. 1.3 million decks of cards are produced there every single day. If you have ever played poker, performed a magic trick with cards, traded Pokémon cards, or played Monopoly, Risk, Clue, or Catan, then you’ve touched something that comes from Turnhout.
The beers of Brouwerij Het Nest of Turnhout are all branded according to a playing card theme. Their most famous beer is their Tripel—the Schuppenboer—Jack of Spades. They started out as a homebrewing collective in 2000 and then in 2015 set up their own brewery.
This podcast is about how a regional brewery in Belgium goes about navigating the pitfalls of the modern beer game: Bart Cuypers of Het Nest and his colleagues would suffer legal headaches due to their playing card branding; there would be COVID closures and a war in Ukraine that would send brewery energy costs through the roof across Europe; export markets on which they relied would collapse like a house of cards; and Belgium’s attitude to alcohol—especially amongst its young—would shift more quickly than they could ever have imagined.
So—in the face of mounting industry challenges, how should a brewery play the modern beer game?
The owners of Brouwerij Het Nest of Turnhout—the world capital of playing cards—gambled on the brewery’s future with strategy, ambition, and a little bit of luck.
Listen in to find out how.
Joël Galy is the quietly punkish, Swedish-born but Belgian-raised brewer of Brasserie de la Mule. Brasserie de la Mule is a brewery and taproom-slash-music venue that’s housed in an abandoned tram shed in Brussels’ Schaerbeek neighbourhood. De la Mule specialises in German styles of beer.
I sat down with Joël in his taproom for a chat about how he approaches German styles in Belgium, what he’s learned from parenting to make him a better leader in the brewery, how he landed jobs as a brewer at Brasserie de la Senne and Brasserie Cantillon before starting his own business, and why everyone’s got it wrong about Belgian Saison.
Sit back, listen, and enjoy our interview with Joël Galy of Brasserie de la Mule.
As we approach the twenty year anniversary of Westvleteren 12’s original crowning by RateBeer, Jonny Garrett examines how a strong dark ale produced by a tiny monastery brewery in North West Belgium became the world’s most sought-after beer
No other country in the world has a national beer experience centre costing €100 million and housed in one of the most iconic buildings in its capital. Today, we're talking to Krishan Maudgal of the Belgian Brewers Federation about Belgian Beer World.
Claire Bullen meets to the Boons — Frank, Karel, and Jos — to find out how their Mariage Parfait Oude Geuze speaks to the legacy of Lambic. Breandán Kearney hosts.
Through his Lambic blendery Het Boerenerf, Senne Eylenbosch saved his father’s farm, discovered his own identity, and began the next chapter in his family’s storied Lambic heritage.
In this discussion, Senne Eylenbosch and Breandán Kearney talk about the things Senne learned working at Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, how he’s conflicted about his family’s brewing heritage, how he blends the way he does, how he feels about now being able to use his family name in his business, and where he sees his place in the Lambic ecosystem.
In 2020, three young Belgians started a brewery with an ambition to cohesively merge their widely diverging beer tastes—pastoral Belgian ales, traditional English styles, and mixed fermentation beers packed with fruit.
They’d have to do it against a challenging backdrop: disinterest from Brussels drinkers in unfamiliar styles, rolling pandemic lock-downs, the fracturing of their original triumvirate, a global energy crisis, and an increasingly cut-throat beer market.
In Belgian beer, it’s survival of the fittest: you live by the law of the jungle.
In this episode, Breandán Kearney sits down with Félix Damien and Christophe Bravin of Brasserie La Jungle.
Belgium has purchase on a roughly 65 kilometre stretch of North Sea coast. With a cumulative six Michelin stars in restaurants in the region, the coast has a density of just over 1 Michelin-starred restaurant for every 10 kilometres.
There are breweries too—at least three, depending on your definition and geographical scope (Brouwerij St Idesbald, Jus de Mer, and Stadsbrouwerij Oostende ‘t Koelschip)—and many cafés, restaurants, and bistros with something to offer your non-Michelin guide reader.
These businesses and the towns they occupy are all strung out alongside or straddling the metal tracks of Tram 0, the Kusttram, Belgium’s coastal tramline.
67 kilometres long and comprising 68 stops, the tram has been trundling leisurely between these pleasure centres for 137 years. It’s the longest single tram line in the world.
Eoghan Walsh, beer writer and fellow Irishman in Belgium, took the Kusttram the length of the coast to explore its food and drink culture.
Belgium has a rich festival scene. Every single weekend in the year, you could choose between a multitude of music shows, food markets, neighbourhood parties, and cultural shows. Its beer festival circuit is equally rich. From village fairs to international events, Belgians celebrate beer at festivals like few other nations.
In this podcast, we’re talking Belgian beer festivals with three guests who organise prominent, but wonderfully different beer festivals in Belgium: Stéfan Cauwenbergs of Billie’s Craft Beer Festival; Bart Vanneste of Bruges Beer Festival; and Jan Machiel van Bragt of the Kerstbierfestival.
We talked about the diverse profiles of each of their festivals, how beer festivals in Belgium might be different than in other countries, the challenges and joys of running a festival in Belgium, and how they see the festival scene evolving in the coming years.
The Lambic Roundtable was an event during the Toer de Geuze 2022 tailor-made for broadcasting in beer bars all over the world, and as you’ll hear from the discussion, we took questions live from bars with strong reputations for Lambic in different countries. Sitting at the Lambic Roundtable with were Gert Christiaens, Frank Boon, Kloris Devillé, and Stu Stuart.
During the evening’s conversation, we talked about the challenges of organising such an event after a COVID hiatus, the ways in which HORAL is changing as an organisation, how the Megablend was produced for the Toer, and why the internationalisation of Lambic is so important for its future. We also took questions from the bars and their patrons watching from around the world.
We sat down with Academy Award® nominated filmmaker Jerry Franck to find out about his Lambic documentary "Bottle Conditioned".
We sat down with Marc Coesens of Brouwerij Liefmans, Rudi Ghequire of Brouwerij Rodenbach, and Alex Lippens of Brouwerij 't Verzet to discuss Oud Bruin, Flanders Red, and Flemish sours.
The story of Baarle, Ronald Mengerink, and De Dochter van de Korenaar is one of defying categorisation and rejecting boundaries set for you.
OMER Traditional Blond from Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinste is a highly carbonated, fruity, and dry ale with a pleasant but subtle bitterness. But just how does it communicate the complex story of generational transition in Belgian family brewing?
Bart Delvaux and Ine Van der Stock opened Brouwerij De Coureur in 2020, a small brewery and taproom in the Kessel-Lo neighbourhood of Leuven.
The Brussels beer café is an institution that has enjoyed as much acclaim as it has suffered fatigue.
This podcast is a panel discussion recorded in a Brussels beer café in front of an intimate live audience.
The central question we were trying to answer was whether the Brussels beer café is a doomed relic or a durable icon.
Who Owns Fries? Are they French or Belgian? Do those who first created a food own it? Or does it belong to those that perfected it?
In this podcast, we go deep into fries: What are they? How does Belgium’s relationship with fries differ to other countries? And why do they claim cultural ownership of these elongated pieces of deep fried potatoes?
Mayonnaise is known all around the world; a thick, creamy sauce used to dress sandwiches, burgers, and salads. But few nations have taken it to their hearts in the same way as the Belgians. The relationship between Belgians and their mayonnaise is tied up in their fanatical “frituur” culture and in a law which has made Belgian mayonnaise special.
But in the face of complex commercial challenges and a generational change in eating habits, can the Belgians preserve their extraordinary mayonnaise heritage?
Ford Lee Stuart III, or Stu Stuart as he is better known, is the owner of a tour company called Belgian Beer Me! Tours which specialise in fun, smart, and affordable beer tours of Belgium from all around the world. Stu is also a keen student of history and has discovered on his tours that it’s impossible to separate the history of Belgium, and particularly stories of war, from the country’s world renown beer culture. Both are inextricably linked and each offers an insight into the other.
Sit back, listen, and enjoy Stu Stuart of Belgian Beer Me! Tours.
In this Year in Review podcast, I talked with Eoghan Walsh about developments in Trappist beer, the rise of the Belgian Blonde and Golden Strong Ales, toxic work environments in the beer industry, how exciting a time it is for spontaneous and mixed fermentation in Belgium, and who might be the Belgian breweries to watch in 2022.
Janos De Baets is the Head Brewer and Co-Owner of DOK Brewing Co. in Ghent. We chatted about his self-admitted obsessive personality trait.
The town of Geraardsbergen is famous for its association with a small cake: the mattentaart. The cake has a long history and is a source of unifying pride in the town. However, it turns out that the Geraardsbergse Mattentaart is in a precarious situation.
The Haspengouw region of gently rolling hills, charming villages, and fertile vineyards has been described as a “beer wasteland”, home to only a few breweries compared to other regions in Belgium. But there has been plenty of activity in the beer scene here in recent years. Just who are the people leading the Haspengouw beer blossom?
Lieven Cnudde runs Brouwerij Cnudde with his two brothers Peter and Steven. This podcast is about community and resilience and people laying down everything to help those around them.
The HORAL Megablend is a special blend which contains Lambic from each of the HORAL members released every two years for the Toer de Geuze. We sit down to talk to Frank Boon about the 2021 vintage.
Listen to the highlights of Day Two of the Toer de Geuze At Home 2021, a series of live-streamed Q&As with Lambic breweries and blenderies.
Listen to the highlights of Day One of the Toer de Geuze At Home 2021, a series of live-streamed Q&As with Lambic breweries and blenderies.
This year, Duvel Moortgat celebrates its 150th anniversary. The company owes much of its success to its Belgian Golden Strong Ale, but how exactly has Duvel become one of the most iconic beers in Belgium?
What do Raf Souvereyns (Bokke), Pierre Tilquin (Gueuzerie Tilquin), and Tom Jacobs (Antidoot) have to say about terroir, hype, and politics?
Do restaurants in Belgium put as much focus on their beer list as they do on their wine list? Eoghan Walsh reports from Leuven.
An artisanal cheese maker from the Catharinadal cheese factory in Belgium created a new cheese as a romantic gesture for his wife. Just how did it became a world-famous blue cheese that delighted the international cheese community?
Charles Leclef is the owner of Brouwerij Het Anker in Mechelen, a key figure in the Belgian Brewers Federation, an elected city councillor, and the founder of a new ideology called "Fairism". We chat politics, business, and beer.
The Kazematten brewery represents the coming together of two prominent families in Belgian beer. It's a side project which has given the members of those two families a way to each chase what was missing in their lives.
Flemish Stew is a traditional meat and onion stew made with Belgian beer. Why is it so popular? How is it cooked? And what are the sacred cows for Belgians when it comes to recipe variations?
The Battle of Passchendaele in 1917 was one of the most horrific tragedies of the First World War. Do beers which use the battle in their branding constitute a tribute to those that fell? Or is the brewery that produces them using a tragic event as a cynical tool for commercial gain?
In this episode, we explore the hop growing culture of the Westhoek, with hop farmers, hop queens, and brewers.
In this episode, Breandán talks to scientists and farmers about Belgium's iconic vegetable—the Belgian endive or "Witloof"—and finds out why it might disappear forever.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Chris Vandewalle of Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle about his work as an archivist and author and reflections on regional history as his brewery project approaches its tenth birthday.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Karl Verhaeghe, Amaury Kervyn d'Oud Mooreghem, and Isabelle Eemans of Brouwerij Verhaeghe about their most important beer: the Duchesse de Bourgogne.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Jef Janssens of Brouwerij Hof ten Dormaal discusses about the origin story of the farmhouse brewery and the challenges his family faced in the aftermath of the fire.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Alexandre Dumont of Brasserie de Jandrain-Jandrenouille about the evolution of hops in Belgium and the resistance he encountered to using Yakima hops.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Glenn Castelein about Brouwerij Alvinne’s evolution, the introduction and management of the Morpheus house culture, the importance of branding and identity, and the overlapping qualities required to work in special needs education and mixed fermentation.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Kristof Vandenbussche of Brouwerij Fort Lapin of Bruges about his obsession with making beers for local people as opposed to beer geeks or international markets, the construction of his traditional Belgian ales and the i
In this episode, Breandán talks to Samuel Languy of Brasserie En Stoemelings about video games and brewing challenges in Brussels.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Olivier De Brauwere of Brussels Beer Project about how they built a community around their brewery.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Jean Van Roy of Brasserie Cantillon about geuze and the politics of lambic.
In this episode, Breandán talks to the co-founder and brewer at Brasserie De La Senne, Yvan De Baets, about the beers and how they encapsulate the spirit of a city.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Jean Hummler of Brussels beer café Moeder Lambic about the city he now calls home, his opinion on various groups within the Belgian beer world and why he continues to 'fight' against what he calls 'the industry'.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Frank Boon about the evolution of lambic, family elements of his business and the establishment of legal terms in Belgium to define oude geuze as apart from geuze.
In this episode, Breandán talks hops, bitterness and influence with Founder and Brewer of Brouwerij De Ranke, Nino Bacelle.
In this episode, Breandán talks to the hop farmer and brewery Joris Cambie of De Plukker about life as a farmer, his introduction to beer and the travel experiences which changed his life.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Armand Debelder and Michaël Blancquaert of Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen about the difficulties they have overcome, the challenges of producing one of the most unique styles in the world and their succession strategy.
In this episode, Breandán talks to Founder of Allagash Brewing Company, Rob Tod and Brewmaster, Jason Perkins about what has inspired them about Belgium's beer culture and how the country has shaped their own personal story as an American brewery.
In this episode, Breandán talks to the Site Manager at Rodenbach, Rudi Ghequire about developments at the brewery in his lifetime, what makes Rodenbach unique and his hopes for the style generally.