Volume 15 Issue 6

Brasserie De La Senne Brussels, Belgium

We’ve long been fans of the work of

Yvan De Baets and Bernard Leboucq at

Brasserie De La Senne in Brussels, and

this month we get to offer up a very

special release from these folks, their

Bruxellensis: an absolutely delicious

Belgian ale that’s been refermented

with 100% Brussels Brettanomyces

yeast. We think our members are

going to love this one.

Yvan and Bernard met back in May

of 2002 at Brussels’ Zinneke parade,

for which Bernard had created a beer

called Zinnebir (a name many of you

will recognize). The pair would soon

after launch a microbrewery near the

end of 2003 by the name of Sint-Pieter

Brouwerij, in a warehouse facility

of former lambic blendery Brasserie

Moriau. After two years their brewery

had already outgrown its location,

and they started a move to their

dream location, Brussels, where both

brewers had been born. “To mark

the occasion, we named our brewery

after the river from which our city was

born more than a thousand years ago:

Brasserie de la Senne.”

Their move to Brussels would take

five years, during which time Yvan and

Bernard would rent brewing facilities

from various brewery friends, setting

up situations where they were able

to brew the beer themselves. The

very first De La Senne

beer brewed within

Brussels was created

on December 22nd,

2010—at which time

the brewery managed

to double the number

of active breweries

operating in Brussels.

The only other one had

been Cantillon.

De La Senne prioritizes its local market

first: “Brussels is our first market,

followed by the rest of Belgium.” The

net result is that only a small amount

of De La Senne’s production makes

it out of the country, though the

brewery already has strong followings

in spots like Japan and Italy, as well

as the United States. The brewery

emphasizes bitterness especially in

their beers (as fans of Taras Boulba

know well), noting, “We took on the

challenge to bring this flavour—so

fundamental in the evolution of human

societies but sadly neglected

Style Belgian Ale Bottle-Conditioned w/

Brettanomyces

Alcohol By Volume 6.5%

Serving Temperature 45–52° F

Suggested Glassware Tulip, Chalice, Goblet, or Pinot Glass

Special InstructionsThe brewery recommends pouring

this carefully, and drinking the yeast separately. We agree!

SPECIFICATIONS

(Continued on reverse page)

Bruxellensis

in our modern societies—up to date.”

The brewery’s beers are generally

unfiltered, unpasteurized, and

frequently on the lighter side when it

comes to alcohol. Taras Boulba comes

in at 4.5%. Their Belgian-style Stouterik

is 4.5%. Zero surprise they’ve made a

saison called Crushable.

If you especially enjoy the De La

Senne Bruxellensis, definitely check

out some of the other beers from this

brewery making it stateside. Taras

Boulba is an exceptional treat: the

hugely sessionable blonde ale from De

La Senne that’s packed with aromatic

hops. In All About Beer, Jeff Alworth

wrote of Taras Boulba: “It crackles like

club soda and builds up a thick head

of meringue, roiling with a tempest of

bubbles. It has a wholly unique flavor:

a bright lemon stiffened by minerally

hard water up front, then a slow

evolution into a dry herbal finish.”

It is delicious, and you should drink

some. Ditto for the well-hopped and

golden Zinnebir, and the impressively

bold (but still 4.5%!) Stouterik. Also,

do keep an eye out for occasional one-

offs and collabs; the brewery’s worked

with folks like Jester King, Thiriez, and

Tired Hands.

For folks visiting the Brussels area,

the taphouse and shop hours are

available on the De La Senne website.

The brewery is primarily a production

facility, with tours being available

for groups of 15 of more. More info

about tour fees and appointments

can be found at the De La Senne

website as well, with a key benefit

being that the tours are conducted

by one of the two owners/brewers,

Yvan or Bernard. Find out more at

brasseriedelasenne.be/?lang=en.

Bruxellensis

This month’s limited release from De La

Senne is pretty much exactly what fans

of this great Belgian brewery might

be hoping for, combining delicious

elements of Brettanomyces with that

firmly bitter profile this brewery is

known for. Only about 60 cases of

this beer have made it to the U.S. thus

far this year, such that Rare Beer Club

members will have an opportunity to

check out a De La Senne offering that

won’t see much further availability.

This Belgian ale is 6.5% ABV, and so

much of the character here comes

via influences of the Brettanomyces

yeast from Brussels that this beer is

refermented in the bottle with. The

final result is an especially drinkable

beer—ranging from tropic to mineral

to spicy—that seems to offer endless

depth.

Bruxellensis pours a deep, bright

golden color in our glasses, releasing

a continuous stream of effervescent

bubbles from below. This is nicely

carbonated from the bottle

conditioning, as a dense, finely packed

layer of white bubbles caps things. The

generous aromatics, particularly from

the Brettanomyces, are immediately

apparent, highlighting pineapple

and hay and peppery spice, with an

herbaceous and mineral-driven hop

character seamlessly supporting the

yeast. There’s a lot of generous fruit

present: from ripe apple and cherries

to sweet Meyer lemons.

This local Brett beer is one of

the finest beers we’ve ever had

from De La Senne, offering up a

complex bitterness throughout the

experience—making us think of their

Taras Boulba, for sure—but it also adds

in a complex Brussels Brettanomyces

contribution throughout. A vibrant

and effervescent lift of carbonation

hits the tongue first, with subtle

tropics that range from pineapple to

passion fruit, while an undercurrent

of perfectly handled bitterness wells

up as we’re focusing on those Brett

notes, bringing rich herbal notes, pine,

and complementary citruses. Ripe

cherry, leather, and even a hint of

smoke courtesy the Brett, add layers

into a masterful beer.

Aging & Pairing Notes:

The brewery suggests a best-before

date of about two years out for

Bruxellensis, so feel free to experiment

with some shorter-term cellaring with

this one—keeping in mind that this

will continue to develop in the bottle

courtesy of its Brettanomyces, though

that hop bitterness will fall off with

time. (We’re digging it fresh.) For

food pairings, we’re inclined to bring

in some Humboldt Fog, fresh Brie, or

herb-crusted chevre: robust cheeses

for a remarkable wild ale.

M o n t h l y C l u b s . c o m t m

Volume 15 Issue 6

Weyerbacher Brewing Company is one of

many outstanding breweries from a state

that has long been home to some of the

nation’s finest brewers—both pre- and post-

Prohibition. Most of the great Pennsylvania

brewers tend to keep their products fairly

close to home and are perfectly happy

serving just their local or regional market.

As a result, you may not have had the

benefit of enjoying many beers from PA,

but brewers throughout the state produce

some of the country’s finest.

For a few years after their founding in

1995, Weyerbacher flew a bit under the

regional radar, opting at first to brew

only traditional, true-to-style beers.

Founder and homebrewer Dan Weirback

(Weyerbacher—pronounced “why-er-bock-

er”—is the original spelling of the Weirback

family name used by the first immigrants

from Germany about 200 years ago) and

his wife Sue intentionally started out

sticking to mainstream microbrews. Who

could blame them; things were different

in the mid-90s. But in 1997 they scaled up

one of Dan’s favorite homebrew recipes,

Raspberry Imperial Stout, and the locals

really responded to their first taste of locally

brewed extreme beer. The following year

they brewed Blithering Idiot Barleywine,

a massive 11%+ beer, and began brewing

Belgian-style beers as well, like their Merry

Monks’ Ale (originally called “Belgian Style

Tripel”). The experience of brewing these

beers, and positive reception by better

beer drinkers, led Dan & Co. to set a new

path, which he sums up as: “Let’s make full-

flavored high-quality brews for a discerning

customer.”

They haven’t looked back.

That move ultimately allowed them to

relocate from a 4,500-square-foot livery

stable in downtown Easton, Pennsylvania,

where they also ran a small brewpub,

to a 20,000-square-foot, brewery-

only site at the end of 2001. While

there, their creative endeavors

have been unending. Weyerbacher

beers were among early big beers

to be barrel aged, and they’ve taken

many of their existing beers, put

them on wood and retitled those

versions (rightfully so, as there’s a

huge transformation). Their Merry

Monks’ Ale on wood becomes

Prophecy. Their massive 11.8%

ABV Quad turns into Blasphemy.

Blithering Idiot Barleywine aged in oak

bourbon casks transforms into Insanity,

while their Old Heathen Imperial Stout aged

in oak barrels that were used for making

Kentucky bourbon grows to be Heresy.

Wood aging has become increasingly

common these days, but the approach

Weyerbacher used showcases the early

intrigue and systematic rigor employed in

their happy experimentation process back

in the early 2000s—not to mention the risk:

barrels can be expensive, bulky, take up

tons of space, need time, and often yield

unpredictable results. In Weyerbacher’s

case, the results are worth it—their barrel-

aged beers continue to be some of their

most highly demanded.

But barrel-aged options aren’t the only

tricks Weyerbacher has to its credit. Even

before they began growing their own hops

at the Weyerbacher Hop Farm, Dan and

fellow brewer Chris Wilson embraced the

Style Belgian-Style Imperial Stout

Alcohol By Volume 11.8%

Serving Temperature 45–55° F

Suggested Glassware Tulip, Snifter, Small Nonic or Pinot Glass

SPECIFICATIONS

(Continued on reverse page)

Tiny

Weyerbacher Brewing Company Easton, Pennsylvania

power of the little green flowers, producing

Hops Infusion, a session-style IPA brewed

with seven hop varieties. Then came their

interpretation of an imperial or double IPA:

Double Simcoe IPA. This is a beer that we

think really shows Weyerbacher’s brewing

prowess—a massive IPA that is absolutely

huge on flavor, but eminently smooth and

balanced. The special 750ml, unfiltered and

bottle-conditioned version we brought

to our members years ago was one of the

only times Weyerbacher appeared in The

Rare Beer Club, so we’re excited to revisit

them—with a very different offering this

time around.

Tiny is a Belgian-style imperial stout for

a brewery well-versed in big, generous

beers. It’s a hefty release with limited

distribution—and we’re taking a sizeable

allotment for Rare Beer Club members. This

is a beautifully fine-tuned stout, and it’s

perfectly sized for sharing.

Tiny

This Belgian-style imperial stout is one of

our very favorite Weyerbacher beers: an

immense, carefully executed beer that

satisfies as both a Belgian-style standout

(emphasizing its Abbey yeast strain) and a

generous display of everything that we’re

looking for from a big imperial stout. For

fans of Weyerbacher’s highly regarded

Double Simcoe IPA and Imperial Pumpkin

Ale (the brewery makes an exceptional

one), Tiny offers another massively dense

home run.

Tiny pours an especially dark, inky-black

core with chocolate-brown edges, and

there’s just a touch of added viscosity

here, though nothing that screams, I’m

almost 12% ABV. Tiny has a considerable

amount of light-brown foam given that

ABV, which forms a lasting perimeter of

small bubbles. This offers up plenty of rich,

perfectly rendered stout notes in the aroma

as soon it’s poured—baker’s chocolate,

cocoa, lots of roasted maltiness—as well

as a significant core of chewy caramelized

sugars and rich fruit. The Belgian-style yeast

strain comes through with vibrant peppery

notes, seemingly with hints of vanilla and

ripe fruit. This opens up fast.

Tiny will definitely benefit from a bit of

time to warm up in one’s glass, but it gets

off to just a great start almost immediately.

Reasonable levels of carbonation add a bit

of lift to robust chocolates and caramel

at the core of things, accompanied by

M o n t h l y C l u b s . c o m t m

Beyond the Bottle: Extraordinary CharacterB y K e n W e a v e r

significant structure from roast and peppery

yeast character. There’s a brilliant non-

hop bitterness here from all the specialty

malts and that spicy yeast character, which

(much like this month’s other featured

selection from De La Senne) offers a highly

welcome secondary structure that goes

above and beyond what one would expect

from an imperial stout. That Belgian yeast

strain Weyerbacher uses leaves this feeling

especially light and nimble for its 11.8% ABV,

and, for us, this proved to be one of those

perfect examples of a beer that packs a ton

of flavor—but also disappears like that.

Aging & Pairing Notes:

The potent ABV on this suggests that it

should stand up quite well to some additional

cellar time, though keep an eye on bottles

to make sure that the caramelization isn’t

growing to be too much, given the gradual

effects of oxidation. The current levels

of bitterness are exactly where we’d like

them, personally, and we’d encourage Rare

Beer Club members to check this out fresh.

For pairings: the brewery recommends

braised beef or potent cheeses that are able

to stand up alongside this hefty Belgian-

style stout. (Rogue River Smokey Blue, for

example.)

vinous and sour side [corresponded] to the ‘taste of the North’

(Belgium and Northern France), and was the ‘must have’ of the

era. The nose of old saisons was clearly marked by Brettanomyces.”

In concluding his historical deep dive into classic saisons, the De La

Senne brewer added, “An authentic saison has a small ‘wild’ side,

rustic, indefinable, far from the clean aspect of certain engineered

beers of today. In one word, it must have an extraordinary

character.”

Ken Weaver (@KenWeaver) is a beer writer, industry

consultant, and cartoonist based in Petaluma, California.

Check out his latest project, a post-apocalyptic beer comic, at

www.massivepotions.com.

Researching historical beer styles can be a bumpy ride. Saisons in

particular tend to be a very broad, fraught framework of beers to

dive into, and I’ll frequently head to the chapter in Phil Markowski’s

Farmhouse Ales titled “A History of Saison,” which was contributed

by Brasserie de la Senne’s co-founder Yvan De Baets—both a great

brewer and a well-regarded historian.

In the context of this month’s featured 100%-Brett beer via De La

Senne, this chapter notes how crucial the impact of Brettanomyces

yeast was to old-school saisons (before things shifted away

from frequent sourness, in favor of the more bitter-forward

interpretations of saison). De Baets, in compiling a profile of these

older saisons, writes, “An important characteristic was their wine-

like character, a sign of aged beers that were properly made. This