Brouwerij Kestemont
Microbrewery
in
Dilbeek,
Flemish Brabant,
Belgium 🇧🇪
Associated Venue: Brouwerij Kestemont
Established in 2022
Contact
Description
Het Pajottenland, de streek ten zuidwesten van Brussel, is samen met de Zennevallei, waarin Brussel deels ligt, de geboorteplaats van de lambik. Op zijn hoogtepunt waren er honderden lambikbrouwerijen en geuzestekers verspreid over deze regio. Op heden zijn er minder dan 20 actieve brouwerijen of stekers meer over.
Brouwerij Goossens was tot 1967 een van de vele aanwezige brouwerijen in Dilbeek en omgeving, waarvan de eerste bronnen teruggaan tot 1767. Verschillende van de huidige gebouwen staan op de Ferraris kaarten van de lage landen. Na bijna 25 jaren leegstand werden de gebouwen overgekocht van de familie Goossens door Frans Appelmans en Yvette Mary, die begonnen aan een stevige renovatie. Op een boogscheut van deze prachtige site kan je verschillende voormalige brouwerijen terugvinden, zoals Brouwerij De Neve, Eylenbosch en het Spanuit.
In 2016 wordt de volledige site aangekocht door de familie Kestemont, geboren en getogen Pajotten. Drie jaren later wordt er begonnen met lambik te steken op eiken vaten. In 2021 wordt er een brouwzaal ingericht om de eerste brouwsels zelfgebrouwen lambik te maken. Na een halve eeuw afwezigheid kunnen we opnieuw de geur van afkoelende wort in de straten van Pede ruiken en zo een deel streekgeschiedenis in ere herstellen. Vast wat Brueghel rook tijdens het schilderen van de oude molen en kapel van Pede zo'n 400 jaar geleden, op wandelafstand van de brouwerij.
Brouwerij Goossens was tot 1967 een van de vele aanwezige brouwerijen in Dilbeek en omgeving, waarvan de eerste bronnen teruggaan tot 1767. Verschillende van de huidige gebouwen staan op de Ferraris kaarten van de lage landen. Na bijna 25 jaren leegstand werden de gebouwen overgekocht van de familie Goossens door Frans Appelmans en Yvette Mary, die begonnen aan een stevige renovatie. Op een boogscheut van deze prachtige site kan je verschillende voormalige brouwerijen terugvinden, zoals Brouwerij De Neve, Eylenbosch en het Spanuit.
In 2016 wordt de volledige site aangekocht door de familie Kestemont, geboren en getogen Pajotten. Drie jaren later wordt er begonnen met lambik te steken op eiken vaten. In 2021 wordt er een brouwzaal ingericht om de eerste brouwsels zelfgebrouwen lambik te maken. Na een halve eeuw afwezigheid kunnen we opnieuw de geur van afkoelende wort in de straten van Pede ruiken en zo een deel streekgeschiedenis in ere herstellen. Vast wat Brueghel rook tijdens het schilderen van de oude molen en kapel van Pede zo'n 400 jaar geleden, op wandelafstand van de brouwerij.
7.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle directly from brewery webshop. Color: Slightly hazy pinkish red, pinkish off-white head. Aroma: Farmyard and horse manure funk, fruity. Taste: Strong horse manure funk, fruity blackberry notes. Light to moderate sweet, slight tart and light bitterness. Hints of oak wood. Dry finish. Medium body, below average carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Nov 2022
at 19:47
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle directly from brewery webshop. A lot of foam keeps coming out of the bottle. Color: Hazy dark orange, dark orange head. Apricot particles. Aroma: Apricot, funky hints. Taste: Tart and bit sweet apricot, apricot skin, subtle funky and some oak wood. Moderate tart and light to sweet. Medium body, below average carbonation. Very fruit forward, even going towards apricot juice. There definitely are a lot better apricot Lambics / apricot Wild Ales on the market right now. Will try again in a couple of years, but I'm not impressed now.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Nov 2022
at 20:29
6.8/10
—
Appearance 3
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 8
Texture 7
Overall 6.5
One of several new lambics launched in a frontal attack on the contemporary lambic market by the Kestemont family, operating in the site where, decades ago, the Goossens lambic brewery used to be located - talk about coming onto the scene with a mission to impress... Belated gusher, but I saw it coming a second after removing the cork so I managed to pour this beer without any loss. Audibly crackling, egg-white, densely moussy, busily 'dot-lacing', stable head slowly 'curdling' into bits (like curdled milk) and eventually dissolving altogether, over a weirdly cloudy ochre-blonde beer with beige hue - almost opaque in its murkiness, something I do not recall ever having seen in a lambic and frankly not very appealing to the eye. Weird and not too convincingly 'lambic-y' aroma of sweetish apricots indeed - even dried ones - but not as strong as expected, fermenting pear juice, homemade apple vinegar, overripe medlar, mud, spoiled brown bread dough, wet wood, green tree leaves, cobwebbed cellar, very old newspapers and - excusez le mot - a vague hint at baby puke. Fruity onset, relatively low in effervescence, apricot pulp and dried apricots dominating with side notes of oxidized apple, fermenting pear and medlar, tartly edged but not sharply acidic - in fact lacking in the volatile acids that normally happen in lambic, feeling a bit like some homemade vinegar with sweet fruit added to it, yet without the vinegar sting, if you get my drift; fluffy body, yoghurty lactic tartness and sharper apricot acidity continuing, bread-pulp-like core, side notes of bitter weeds and tree leaves as well as a sweeter medlar-like aspect. Astringent apricot kernel and wood tannins in the finish, ending dry but still with apricot juiciness remaining; all the way, this beer feels very yeasty, fruit-pulpy and a little bit dirty, with a ripe fruit sweetness weirdly lingering in the throat, alongside a very simple, one-sided kind of tartness and astringent tannic effects. Looks very unpleasant, I may have got the bottom of the barrel in my bottle here but still something must have gone wrong here, in any case, because the flavours too are unbalanced and unfinished, though not necessarily unpleasant. Feels more like fermented apricot juice with some or other sour agent (fruit vinegar or something) added... The Kestemont Oude Kriek I had last week was very solid, this one on the other hand is failed to some extent and clearly needs a whole lot of work to even come close to the great apricot lambics of the Senne Valley (like of course the granddaddy of them all, Cantillon's famed Fou'Foune, or even De Cam's radiant Abrikoos Lambic). Well, I guess fruit lambics are not an easy style family to bring to perfection and I am sure these Kestemonts are passionate enough and eager to learn, so I see no reason not to give them another chance in one of their other creations. For this one, however, I am afraid I will have to pass, at least for now...
Tried
on 21 Oct 2022
at 22:01
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle directly from Kestemont webshop. Color: Hazy reddish orange, very thin white head. Aroma: Funky, fruiy berries, some hay. Taste: Very smooth. Fruity Gooseberries, clearly present farmyard funk, oak wood and some hay and old hop. Light to moderate tart and sweet, very light bitterness. Medium body, below average carbonation. Long lasting finish. Second beer from this new Lambic brewery and Geuze blendery, like the fist one, surely doesn't disappoint. Very nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Oct 2022
at 14:56
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
I vividly remember tasting a sample of a vintage Geuze Goossens, at that time no less than sixty years old, shared with the late Filip Van Damme at an exclusive tasting in Antwerp. The lambic brewery Goossens existed from the 18th century till the seventies and has been quite an important name in the field from what I read, so perhaps it was not such a huge surprise when I was told last year that the site was going to be revived, now in the hands of the Kestemont family. The result is an already wide array of lambics now on the market, including the classic geuze and kriek formulas but also some 'new' fruit combinations. Pinkish-tinged off-white, moussy, thinnish head, initially retaining well around the edge but eventually dissolving, over a hazy, deep carmine red robe with almost salmon-pinkish edges. Aroma of lots of ripe fleshy cherries, cherry wine, cherry jam and even a volatile touch of burnt cherries on an oven-baked cherry pie, stewed rhubarb, purple gooseberries, fried apple slices, wet wood, vague hint blood orange, subtle hints of wet wood, hay, Durondeau pear and swimming pool. Tart onset, lots of sour cherry juiciness filling the onset with side notes of crabapple, redcurrant and rhubarb, a tad astringent in exactly the right way, lively carbonated with supple, rounded, bit vinous mouthfeel; ripe cherry fleshiness, tart with a fruity-sweet core and a very faint salty note, keeps dominating in the middle, completely covering a bready backbone and matching perfectly with lactic acidity, gentle woodiness and mild retronasal funky notes (wet leather) - but the Brett remains well in the background here, so that the sheer fleshiness and juiciness of these doubtlessly excellent cherries gets the last word. Very generous and ripe cherry-forward, a bit like Lambiek Fabriek's Jart-Elle; lambic yeasts and bacteria do what they are supposed to do without overruling the feast of cherry juiciness and 'fullness'. A very promising start for an exciting revivalist, who will undoubtedly be able to find its place among the established traditional lambic brewers and geuze blenders.
Tried
on 14 Oct 2022
at 23:20
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle. Color: Hazy dark purplish red, thin purple-pink head. Aroma: Funky, farm, dark cherry. Taste: Smooth, almost foamy, quite some farm-like and bit horseblanket wild yeast funk, oak wood, dark cherries, cherry pit and hints of hay. Light sweet and light tart, light to moderate bitterness. Long lasting farm-like and dry wild yeast finish. Less Kriek, somewhat smoother and less tart than most other Oude Krieks I've had and I like that.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Oct 2022
at 18:49
8.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
A golden lambic with a very thin off white head. In aroma, nice fruity malt with horse blanket, light Epsom salts, light earthy notes, very nice and smooth. In mouth, a nice light bodied lambic with light horse blanket, light Epsom salts, very nice and smooth. On tap at Ebenezer.
Tried
from Draft
on 06 Sep 2022
at 15:58