Breweries
Omer Vander Ghinste
Omer VanderGhinste from Bellegem used to be named Bockor after its pils. This brewery used four different fermentation methods on the same site: spontaneous fermentation (lambic), bottom fermentation (pils), mixed fermentation (oudbruin) and top fermentation (strong blond). Vintage copper kettles are used for brewing. The old brewery tower with its open koelschip (the cooling vessel) is used for the spontaneous fermentation of the lambic. Here, the wort spends a night cooling down and is ‘infected’ with the wild yeasts and ambient bacteria, including those of the Brettanomyces type, which give lambic its characteristic flavour. This brewery’s best known beer is the strong blond Omer. VanderGhinste Oud Bruin is a red-brown beer, typical of the West Flanders region, which has been cut with oak-matured lambic beer. In the foeder room, the lambic ferments in vertical foeders (giant barrels), where it will mature for at least one-and-a-half years. The Cuvée des Jacobins is an ‘uncut’ lambic, a pure foeder beer in other words. Other members of the same family include the Gueuze Jacobins and the Kriek Jacobins as well as the light fruit beers Kriek Max, Passion Max with its exotic fruits, and Rosé Max, made with raspberry juice. A new addition to the range is Brasserie Le Fort, a complex and dark degustation beer named after a former brewery from Kortrijk (Courtrai).
