A Beery Belgian Break Pt 1 - Delirium Tremens

Enjoying our post tour Delirium

For my birthday and Christmas presents, Fi had booked accommodation in Ghent and Brugge. So, as the February half term approached, I had been busy organising an itinerary. The focus of the holiday was to be on beer, bars and breweries.

I had contacted Brouwerij Huyghe and Gentse Gruut about their brewery tours. Gruut were unable to fit us in, but Jose from Huyghe said we could join a tour at midday on Monday. Approaching le Shuttle we saw signs warning that some cars might have to wait for the next crossing. Fortunately we were one of the last to board. A slight delay to our departure still gave us just enough time to get to Melle, on the outskirts of Ghent, for the start of the tour.

Brew logs in the Huyghe Museum - just one of many interesting displays

As we arrived, we were greeted by our guide - Jose, who was just as friendly as he had come across in his emails. A glass of Delirium Tremens was waiting for us on the bar, and was a wonderful start to our week in Belgium. It turned out that there was a few minutes to look around a packed little museum, which also enabled us to escape from an annoyingly loud, and 'know it all', American craft beer enthusiast.

Jose tells us about the original brewhouse

Jose showed us a short video covering some of the history of the brewery, from its beginning in 1906 to recent developments making it one of the most environmentally friendly breweries in Belgium. We were then taken around the original brewhouse (now a museum piece), the new brewhouse, fermentation tanks, bottling and kegging plants, and the cold store. I have been around a handful of breweries in England, the largest being Adnams (a fair sized regional brewer), but I have never seen anything close to the sale of the operation at Huyghe; it was really quite spectacular. Also quite amazing was the number of different beers being produced. Although Huyghe is best known for the Delirium beers, it is also responsible for Mongozo and Floris fruit beers, and abbey beers for Aberbode, St Idesbald and Villers.  

Just a few of the beers on offer in the Huyghe bar.

However, the highlight of the tour was undoubtedly the beer tasting session at the end. For this we were joined by the former head brewer who devised the recipe for the flagship Delirium Tremens, and the current head brewer. I was expecting to be given a selection of beers, and to be told about them by the brewers. Instead there was an open bar for an hour or so and we were welcome to ask for virtually any of the vast range of beers that Brouwerij Huyghe produce. 

Head brewers past and present

The two brewers chatted informally to various members of our tour group, while we also talked amongst ourselves. It was interesting talking to two young American lads about beer culture in the States and the European tour that they were on. Two other highlights were when we were briefly joined by Alain de Laet (the brewery owner), and when a couple of experimental barrel aged beers were brought out form under the counter - look out for those when they are released!

The Brouwerij Huyghe tour cost us just €10 each, and we certainly got value for money just in terms of the beer that we tasted! I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Ghent. Melle is just a 10 minute bus ride from Ghent.