Master Brewer, Yves-Benoit & 5th Generation Owner, Albert De Brabandere, Presenting:
Petrus Sour Beers at the 2015 European Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference
Saturday, August 29 4:10-5:10 PM in the Hitchcock Auditorium
A Note from EBBC15 Partner, Petrus Sour Beers
Petrus Sour Beers is excited to present on the scientific approach on how sour beers are brewed and aged at the upcoming European Beer Bloggers & Writers conference in Brussels.
Making sours is science with a touch of magic.
This session will make a clear difference between barrels and foeders and we look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday afternoon in the Hitchcock Auditorium.
Belgium is seen as THE beer country worldwide. With all the different styles and heritage, Belgians (almost!) have too many choices when it comes to beers and styles. So it is important that people make the right choice if they chose one beer.
Everybody knows a good lager or a fruit beer, but who knows a real Belgian Sour? Sour beers have been brewed in Belgian since the 19th century. Because of the long experience in making sour beers, Brewery De Brabandere could say that they are mastering this style.
But do not confuse a real sour with a Geuze or a barrel aged beer, because those are different kind of beers in process and style. If you want make a real sour you need time, a lot of time. The process to make a sour takes up to 24 months. Off course, it doesn’t take 24 months to brew this beer, but it takes up to 24 months to age this beer in French oak foeders. Foeders are big (really big!) oak barrels of 220HL.
Petrus is a slow, unpredictable and wild beer that takes lots of patience. No wonder it is a beer for people who understand the urge to slow down. This beer, aged for 2 years in oak foeders, should be enjoyed sip by sip. Indeed, a real sour… takes time.
There is much more to it, than just making a basic brew and aging the beer, because only doing that would result in unbalanced and unpleasant beer. You need a couple of bacteria and yeasts to make the beer freshly sour. There is only one person who completely masters this recipe, the master-brewer of our brewery. And he will be presenting on Saturday at EBBC15.
Do you want to learn more about the sours and its scientifically approach on how to make a good sour, come and listen to our master-brewer Yves-Benoit and Albert De Brabandere, 5th generation owner of Brewery De Brabandere.