Every year the start of school and turning leaves once again signal the coming of autumn, and in the stunning rolling countryside of Belgium’s Pajottenland and Zenne Valley, another way of celebrating fall takes place.
“Lambic month” brings with it a season of special activities and brewery events to keep you active and warm and to wet your whistle as the days and nights draw in. This year the month is happening a little later than usual, from 25 October to 24 November 2024. Here’s the lowdown, so there’s no chance of missing out on some of the best this exceptionally beautiful part of Belgium has to offer.
What is lambic?
Lambic beer is said to date back to around the 13th century and is unique to Flemish Brabant and area southwest of Brussels. This is because it is made through a “spontaneous” brewing process where fermentation is prompted by wild yeasts in the air, rather than cultivated strains of brewers’ yeasts. The wort, a liquid produced by mashing barley, malt and wheat, is left in large vessels called “coolships” and the natural yeasts float in overnight on the breeze. The cultures also reside in the timber brewing vessels used by makers.
Traditionally lambic is unblended and is a cloudy, flat, and deliciously sour beverage that in some ways recalls a traditional British “scrumpy” cider. Usually described as jonge (young) or oude (old), big names include Cantillon and De Cam.
Many people conflate lambic with geuze (or gueuze in the French spelling), pronounced with a hard g. Geuze is another similarly tart beverage, but is a blended offering created by mixing old and young lambic that is double fermented in the bottle.
Lambic-themed cycling routes
One way to make the most of Lambic Month is to jump on a bike and get out into the landscapes and breweries that help to make these beverages such a beloved part of Belgian culture.
To that end, Flemish Brabant Tourism has put together a selection of nine cycling routes that borrow from the Flemish Brabant Cycling Network and link a variety of beermakers, fascinating buildings, canals and country estates, ensuring there is something for everyone to sample. While the relevant webpages are in Dutch, they can be easily translated and provide key details such as length, interactive and downloadable mapping, start and end points, and tempting waypoints.
For example, the 42-km Lambic Tasting Route will take you from Ruisbroek station, past the picturesque village of Sint-Anna-Pede with its 13th century church, watermill and viaduct through the beautiful Gaasbeek castle and estate, as well as crossing Halle and taking advantage of a brand new canalside “cycle highway”. And of course, along the way you will encounter Kestemont brewery, Lindemans brewery, the Lambiekfabriek, Timmermans brewery, Den Herberg café-brewery, and the 3 Fonteinen brewery.
Or why not try the 44.5-km Hop Route, taking in the landscape around Asse and Aalst to find the vestiges of the area’s ancient hop harvesting. Hop fields can be spotted along Ternatstraat near Mostinckx House, a mini-museum. You’ll also spy the distinctive roof of a hop kiln (a funnel-shaped chimney for drying hops, known as an oast house in parts of the UK) and again be able to sample the liquid gold for yourself at Timmermans, Girardin, Mort Subite, Eylenbosch, Angerik and Kestemont breweries.
Don’t miss out on the other route options too. They include a 97-km trail partly on gravel and unpaved tracks for those who want more of a challenge, as well as an exploration of some of the region’s lesser-known heritage such as a NATO communications tower or the 17th century fortified farm of Bree-Eik, once reputed to be a robbers’ den.
These boots are made for walking
If walking boots are more your style than two wheels, check out these three expertly curated lambic-themed hikes.
The Wild Yeast Walk again ventures out near Pede, where the landscape seems straight out of a Bruegel painting, populated by the signs of rural industry such as the gentle giant farm horses and waterwheels. It’s a 13.3-km walk, signposted in red and estimated to take 2 hours and 40 minutes, but you might want to prolong the pleasure with thirst-quenching breaks at Kestemont Brewery, Lindemans Brewery, ‘t Guldenhooft farm brewery or 4Pajot. Gaasbeek Castle and Groenenberg also await.
The shorter 7.1-km Alambic Walk uses the Zenne Valley trail and can be followed on the walking junction app. As you walk you can ponder the origins of the word “alambic” which some say comes from a French name for distilling apparatus, while the village of Lembeek and its surroundings stake their own claim to the etymology. Traversing Lembeek, the banks of the Zenne, the Brussels-Charleroi canal and the Malakoff domain you will discover a ruined 19th century “folly” tower, set in the former grounds of an 11th century castle. And of course, don’t forget to sample the lambic delights in the Boon brewery bar.
Finally, the lambicstoemper or “Lambic Masher” walk does not refer to how tipsy or tired you’ll be at the end, but a way of crushing sugar into the iconic drink to sweeten it to taste. This 8.8-km trail can again be followed on the afore-mentioned app and gives you the chance to try a lambicstoemper in one of the cafes along the Zenne Valley paths. The Buizingen and Kluisbos forest air here was considered so health-giving that sanatoriums for tuberculosis patients and children were built in the area. Catch your own breath with a pause in Den Herberg café-brewery with a newly minted Oude Geuze Devillé and a milder Herberg Lambic.
