Clockwise from right : An alleyway leading |
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off Grand Place ; sign outside the Cantillon |
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Brewery ; waiter serving traditional Belgian |
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beer ; Winter Wonderland |
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Previous pages : Vintage Van Roy Brewery sign |
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images : alamy ; awl images |
Delirium Tremens range from Brouwerij Huyghe ; or the powerful Bush beers of Brasserie Dubuisson . And there are Belgium ’ s spontaneously fermented lambics and blended geuzes , produced by breweries like Cantillon here in Brussels , which have , in recent decades , acquired new international audiences .
In fact , Belgium is the only country in the world whose beer culture is recognised by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity , and the country ’ s capital city is leading the way right now in showcasing the scene ’ s diversity and quality .
Since Nacim and his colleagues at l ’ Ermitage opened their doors in 2017 , the city has welcomed a new wave of younger brewers : brewpub La Source Beer Co , perhaps the leading light in Belgium for hop-forward ales ; Brasserie La Jungle , which experiments with low-alcohol , mixed fermentation fruit beers in a former textile warehouse in Anderlecht ; the Germaninfluenced brewery and taproom Brasserie La Mule in Schaerbeek ; Tipsy Tribe , Brussels ’ first ‘ brewstillery ’; and Brasserie Le Surréaliste , a flamboyant producer located in an iconic art deco building in Dansaert that was formerly used as a banana warehouse .
Nacim pours me a glass of Theoreme de l ’ Empereur , a green tea and jasmine pale Ale of 6.4 % ABV . It ’ s based on ‘ The Emperor ’ tarot card , its label design inspired by the graphic work of avant-garde filmmaker and tarot enthusiast Alejandro Jodorowsky . Nacim was a film student in Brussels when he fell in love with the work of Jodorowsky , including his movies The Holy Mountain , El Topo , and Poesía Sin Fin . In 2010 , Nacim even travelled to Paris to try to find Jodorowsky at Café Le Téméraire , an establishment where he ’ d been rumoured to give tarot readings .
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“ He ’ s like the pope of tarot ,” says Nacim , referring to the tarot symbology in Jodorowsky ’ s films .
I get the rundown on the brewery ’ s origins story . Nacim was living in an apartment block on La Rue de l ’ Ermitage in Brussels ’ Ixelles district . The co-living space became a burgeoning community of artists , musicians and culinary creatives during the 2010s , known as L ’ Ermitage . The community would drink tea together and discuss tarot , movies and drinks . The fresh tea leaves they used were purchased from a store close to the Hermitage , La Septième Tasse , and the earthy , floral flavours of the green tea and jasmine they drank inspired the creation of Théorème de l ’ Empereur .
The green tea and jasmine are added to the Théorème de l ’ Empereur beer as a double infusion . The green tea gives the beer a grassy note while the jasmine flowers offer a subtle sweetness and floral quality . This is all complemented by the use of Ekuanot hops , which enhance the floral , grassy and fruity flavours of the beer .
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As a tea and flower beer , Théorème de l ’ Empereur risks being niche , but it ’ s become one of L ’ Ermitage ’ s best-selling beers out of the approximately 220 brands it ’ s produced to date . On the beer-rating website Untappd , it ’ s L ’ Ermitage ’ s highestrated beer .
Nacim tells me ‘ The Emperor ’ tarot card symbolises structure ; one reading , he suggests , is that you can pursue your creative goals in a similar fashion to The Emperor — methodically , rigidly , strategically . It seems Nacim and his team have built systems and processes at their brewery to ensure their creative goals are accomplished , no matter how abstract those ambitions are . There ’ s a pragmatism in Belgian beer .
It ’ s only a mile from L ’ Ermitage to La Fleur en Papier Doré — a Brussels bar of note , on Rue des Alexiens in the city centre , whose name translates to ‘ the gold paper flower ’. It was once popular with artists and writers of the surrealist movement and Flemish art magazines . Contemporary
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WINTER 2024 • 47 |