Last month, I had the great fortune to take a trip to Europe, spending time in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. Although all were worthy destinations, my very favorite part of the trip was visiting Cantillon's brewery in Brussels. Since this is topic I've got quite a bit to say about, I'll be splitting it into two posts. Today I want to give an overview of Cantillon and what makes them so special.
As I've previously mentioned, Cantillon enjoys a great reputation among craft beer geeks here in the US, for many reasons. The real mystique involves their process of brewing and fermentation - very rare among production breweries of any kind, both due to the mechanics of that process and the amount of labor that it requires.
Cantillon makes beer primarily through the process of spontaneous fermentation. Unlike yeast-inoculated ales and lagers, spontaneously fermented beers pick up natural yeast and other microorganisms through open-air exposure following the brewing process.
Fermentation begins naturally, as well - the yeast-infected wort is allowed to naturally cool overnight, meaning Cantillon can only make beer when the evening weather is cool enough to allow for proper fermentation temperatures. I was told the typical brewing season lasts from October until April. For the homebrewers out there, this'd be something like brewing a beer, putting the finished batch in a big tub, and letting it sit outside overnight to cool (without adding any yeast).
Further, this beer is allowed to further ferment and age in wood barrels, generally for three(!) years at a stretch. It's then blended with one and two-year aged beer, bottled, and allowed to condition in the bottle for several more months. The result, if you're drinking their flagship Gueuze, is a beer that's taken between 3-4 years to produce. Compare this to 3-4 weeks for a standard medium-gravity ale, and it's easy to see why there aren't many breweries using Cantillon's process anymore.
Cantillon is also limited in their yearly production to something like 1700 hectolitres (roughly 1450 US barrels) per year, both due to lack of further storage space and inability to produce more beer during their brewing season. All this adds up to a sophisticated, long-production beer that can be very hard to come by outside of Brussels. Effectively, this means finding bottles of Cantillon to try in the US is nigh-impossible (and very expensive - individual 375ml bottles can easily sell for $30+).
This combination of rarity, expense, tradition, and foreign-ness make Cantillon's beers extremely highly sought-after.
On Saturday I'll go into more detail about the brewery and its tour, quite unlike any other I've visited anywhere in the world.
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