Zwanze Day 2021

Zwanze Day…

If you don’t know… then you don’t know…

Hey. Who am I joking - you’re here to find out the AMAZINGNESS of whatever a Zwanze is, right?

Base Knowledge: It’s an event that happens worldwide throughout cities across this fair planet to celebrate the yearly release of a beer from one of Belgium’s most premier breweries: Cantillon.

“The definition of zwanze in the dictionary is joke, a mystification often quite big, characteristic of Brussels humor. Spirit of mystification, a form of humor in Brussels.”

-A French Dictionary

Now that the basics have been covered let’s dive in. Cantillon is ALL about Lambic beers. Lambics are a type of sour that have been brewed through the process of open fermentation which allows wild yeast to get into the beer and do its thing! Lambics are usually aged a few years in barrels and are quite exquisite and refined with most not being more than 7% ABV. These beers take you on a journey and can actually be good for you! I’ve heard that they can be on par with a probiotic or digestif and can be good for your gut biome!

This past Saturday I was fortunate enough to be able attend the only location in Oregon that was chosen to host Zwanze - de Garde Brewing in Tillamook.

A very well mannered and behaved line.

This event was extremely well organized and was optimized to work with the exact right amount of people so that everyone was as safe as possible. This included mandatory proof of vaccination and of course the usual masking rules! It was amazing. Everyone was on the same page and it was an intimate crowd. I only use that term to describe how people were acting there. Everyone was extremely happy that this was going on. Especially since last year’s event was cancelled. Since this event was all about lambics and required people to drive out to the coast of Oregon… you got the kind of people that were serious about having a proper good time and were not there to get blitzed.

Nothing quite like some Patio action, eh?

There were two locations to get the various beers that were included with your ticket. The indoor bar which had a giant garage door that was open which provided a lovely cross breeze and the outdoor station. Each beer even had its own color coded ticket!

You must CHOOSE!

Before I get to the beers themselves… I have to talk about my history with Cantillon. Cantillon in the States is usually a hot commodity. When you have one… it's kind of a deal? A little bit? So when I went to Brussels in 2016 for Zwanze Day… AT Cantillon. I was stoked beyond belief. A Beer Destination like none other! This place was founded in 1900. They have the history… and I love me some history… especially when I’m drinking an aged Lambic from close-to 15 years ago. Which I did. At Zwanze Day in 2016. At the original location that it was brewed at! It was glorious. Craft Beer in its purest form for me takes you places when you drink it. I don’t care how many times I say it. It is an elixir that brings together a ton of different ingredients from various locations to produce something that is far more than the some of its parts.

The Promise of Craft Beer is the experimentation and not knowing where its going but trusting that when done well… it can transcend itself.

This beer right here is the exact thing I’m talking about. A gentleman that was sitting across the patio from us purchased this bottle only to try a little bit and then gave a nearly full bottle to the table behind us. They in turn did us a grand gesture and gave us the bottle with just under a half left. This beer was $73. I hate to bring in prices when we are talking about this stuff but it is a fact. Cantillon can sometimes get expensive… especially when you are not in Europe. Over there? Extremely reasonable prices. Here? Yeah… you get into the higher ranges. ANYWAYS. This beer was made in November of 2018 and was aged in Port wine barrels. This thing is 6% ABV and is delicate like there is no tomorrow. The Port character is a light touch that just lets this beer sing. You could almost say it's a very light and effervescent beer but it has an extremely solid body. The nuance and craftsmanship of this beer can’t be overstated. To think we were only able to get it because someone wanted to share it. I love it.

I do think I forgot to mention that each year the Zwanze beer is a completely different beer. This year the main ingredient was Oranges which served as the primary focus of the type of lambic that would be made. I liked it. I don’t think I’ve ever had a beer like it before. It was not at all overly citrus-y but a tad bit rind forward… but in a pleasant way. The other stand out for me at least had to have been the Magic Lambic. This thing has blueberries, raspberries and vanilla. It's a freaking Berry Pie Lambic. Insane!

Overall… an amazing day. Here’s to Cantillon doing their ‘joke’ beer every year… we are all incredibly fortunate.

Proost!

We were at the Oregon Coast anyways… so we went on a hike.