Breweries

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Strubbe

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The Strubbe brewery from the village of Ichtegem in West Flanders offers two Flemish red-brown beers (Vlaams roodbruin): Ichtegem’s Oud Bruin and the Ichtegemse Grand Cru, cold-stored in wooden barrels. Both sweetly-sour beers have soured naturally in wooden foeders, as prescribed by local tradition. In common with many breweries, the origins of Strubbe lie in agriculture. Over the summer months the farmer would cultivate his fields; in winter he would be found working in the maltings and at the mashing basin. Farmers would grow their own barley, wheat, other varieties of grain, and hops. This brewery used to manufacture or repair their own barrels and basins. This artisan approach explains how barrels can vary greatly in size as well as contents. 
Sample the Keyte Dobbel Tripel, brewed with roast malt and candy sugar, or the Dikke Mathilde (“Fat Mathilda”) amber beer, a humorous reference to the statue of the same name to be found in Ostend, close to the park where the festival will take place.