A few years ago, I discovered the Omer Traditional Blond at the Grand Place beer festival. I had never heard of Brouwerij Bockor but since I became a fan, especially of the sour Cuvée des Jacobins and VanderGhinste Oud Bruin.
My interest in Mixed Fermentation beers led me to the Bockor Brewery. It’s situated just outside of Kortrijk in the small town of Bellegem, Belgium. They produce four different types of fermentation: High Fermentation, Low Fermentation, Spontaneous Fermentation, and Mixed Fermentation.
Producing some 90.000 hl/year in their copper kettles, this is the biggest brewery that I’ve visited even though it’s family owned since 1892. The brewers make new batches around the clock to keep up with demand. The High and Low fermentation beers take about three weeks to lager after fermentation. Omer takes another five weeks before its ready for consumption due to bottle re-fermentation. Sour base beer is aged for a minimum of 18 months in oak barrels.
When brewing spontaneous fermentation beers, the hot beer is cooled over night in the Koelschip in the roof of the brewery. Koelschip is a large metal vessel that holds the beer allowing it to come in contact with the air for cooling and imparting the wild yeast. The roof is vented and shaped in a special way to maximize air movement around the Koelschip. The beer sits in the Koelschip overnight then is moved from the top of the building to age in barrels. After a minimum of 18 months of aging, the beer is a lambic used to create the Cuvée des Jacobins. This lambic is also the base beer for the Gueuze Jacobins, Kriek Jacobins and the Max collection (Kriek,Framboise, Passion, Rosé).
Mixed fermentation of the VanderGhinste Oud Bruin happens when a high fermented beer is brewed, then blended with the aged lambic. This creates a sweeter beer base that has the sour notes without being a full on sour beer. Oud Bruin was my gateway into love of sour ales and the VanderGhinste is one of the better Oud Bruins I have tried.
At the end of the tour I got to taste two of their beers; the Jacobins Gueuze, and Bellegems Witbier. These are harder to find in Bruxelles. Tasting notes will be online soon. Special thanks to Jasper from Brouwerij Bockor for helping make this visit possible. Here is a link to info on their website for visiting the Bockor Brouwerij.
Brouwerij Bockor brews the following beers:
- OMER Traditional Blond
- Bellegems Witbier
- Bockor
- BLAUW
- VanderGhinste Oud Bruin
- Cuvée des Jacobins
- Gueuze Jacobins
- Kriek Jacobins
- Kriek Max
- Framboise Max
- Passion Max
- Rosé Max
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