The Land of Beer: Wilderen brings brewery and distillery under one roof
Flanders is home to the best beer in the world and our new guide is here to prove it. This week we visit a family brewer from Sint-Truiden, Limburg
Of bats and mice
Owner Mike Janssen (pictured) has had a colourful history in the trade. His interest in brewing was sparked 30 years ago while studying in Leuven. He worked in a bar and had the chance to meet the legendary Pierre Celis, who was making the rounds to promote Hoegaarden wheat beer, which he developed in the 1960s.
In 1988, Janssen became commercial director for Riva in Dentergem, West Flanders, helping turn their business from pils to more speciality beers, including Dentergems Wit, a wheat beer that has become a strong competitor to Hoegaarden. On Janssen’s advice, Riva bought Liefmans (now owned by Duvel Moortgat), Straffe Hendrik (now owned by Halve Maan) and 50% of Carolus (now owned by Het Anker).
It would be 2007 before Janssen and his wife struck out on their own. “My wife, Roniek, saw an ad for a house for sale with an old distillery in the garden. A house and one hectare of building land.”
He drove from Veurne, where he lived in West Flanders, all the way to Limburg. “I begged the owner to let me look just for a minute. I said, look I came all the way from Veurne, I don’t want to see your house, just the brewery-distillery.”
He must have been convincing because she opened the door. “It had been more than 20 years since anyone had entered the distillery building. There were bats and rats and mice and owls all living here. But I immediately had the whole project for this building in my head.”
The land was worth more than the asking price, he says, “but you have to be a little crazy to start renovating. I like being able to save a building that would otherwise be lost.”
It took a frustrating three years to get all the necessary permits together, but the new Wilderen finally opened in the summer of 2011, with long-time collaborator Roland Vanderlinden in charge of both brewing and distilling. They’re now brewing Wilderen Gold, a slightly spicy top-fermented lager, and Kanunnik Tripel, a full-bodied beer using barley, wheat, oats and rye, as well as the ruby-red Cuvée Clarisse.
Wilderen also distils one barrel of whisky a month, which has to be aged for at least three years. They make a very palatable grain jenever at 32% alcohol, the same strength as the Eau de Bière made by distilling Kanunnik beer. And there’s the Double You gin, made with 21 spices and botanicals.
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