Smisje Brewery

Last updated
Brouwerij Smisje
Industry Alcoholic beverage
Founded1995
FounderJohan Brandt
Headquarters
Driesleutelstraat 1, Mater, Oudenaarde
,
Products Beer
Production output
200 hL [1]
Website www.smisje.belgianbeerboard.com   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Smisje Brewery (Brouwerij Smisje in Dutch), with a tiny production of only 200 hectoliters per year, is one of the smallest existing Belgian craft breweries. Begun in 1995 by former printer and homebrewer [2] Johan Brandt, it was originally titled "De Regenboog" (The Rainbow), the same name as his earlier printing business. Brandt is also a bee-keeper, which accounts for the prominent use of honey in some of the brewery's offerings, including its first commercial beer, which was named 't Smisje or "the little blacksmith" to reflect the hand-crafted nature of the product as well as a local landmark blacksmith's house near the brewery's original location.

Contents

From 1995-2008, the brewery was located in the West Flanders municipality of Assebroek, a suburb of Bruges. In 2008 it relocated to the village of Mater in Oudenaarde, East Flanders and changed its name to simply "Smisje". Smisje is known for beers in both traditional Belgian styles and others, but particularly for brewing with distinctive ingredients and flavorings, [3] often fruits or herbs. This experimental brewery exports roughly half of its annual product outside Belgium to countries such as the United States, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Denmark. Despite its minuscule size, for many years Smisje has kept six beers in regular production in addition to a large variety of seasonal and occasional brews. Many of their beers have featured label art by Brooklyn cartoonist and craft beer enthusiast Bill Coleman.

In 2010, the brewery announced that it would be discontinuing all of its historic products in order to focus on a new blond, hoppy ale to be called "Smiske". Only the annual "Smisje Christmas" would be preserved. Following the example of Duvel Moortgat, who offered to brew again their limited-edition "Duvel Triple Hop" if 10,000 people would sign a petition for it, Brandt announced that if 20,000 people would join a Facebook group supporting it, he would offer to brew one additional historic recipe per year. [4]

Technical

Brandt began brewing in 1995 with a jury-rigged system capable of producing only 250 liters per batch, and slowly expanded the equipment over time in the original Bruges location. The new premises in Mater utilize the second-hand equipment of the now-defunct De Teut brewery of Neerpelt. The brewer maintains his own distinctive house yeast strain and utilizes primarily native Belgian hops. In addition to various spices and non-traditional ingredients such as sloe berries, Smisje is known to utilize the traditional Belgian method of using a significant amount of candi sugar in their recipes to lighten the body of stronger brews.[ citation needed ]

Beers

Beers formerly in regular production:

Seasonal or limited-run beers (past and present):

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trappist beer</span> Beer brewed by Trappist monks

Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain— produce beer, but the Authentic Trappist Product label is assigned by the International Trappist Association (ITA) to just ten breweries that meet their strict criteria. As of 2021, Achel is no longer recognized as a Trappist brewery because it does not have any monks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victory Brewing Company</span> Brewery founded in 1996 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania

Victory Brewing Company (Victory) is a brewery founded in 1996 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, United States. The main brands are HopDevil, Prima Pils, Headwaters Pale Ale, Golden Monkey, DirtWolf, and Storm King, which are distributed in 34 states and nine countries. Victory Brewing is located at 420 Acorn Lane Downingtown, Pennsylvania 19335.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duvel Moortgat Brewery</span> Flemish family-controlled brewery founded in 1871 in Belgium

Duvel Moortgat Brewery is a Flemish family-controlled brewery founded in 1871 in Antwerp Province, Belgium. Its strong golden pale ale, Duvel, is exported to more than forty countries. Duvel is Brabantian, Ghent and Antwerp dialect for devil, the standard Dutch word being duivel. Other popular beers include Maredsous and Vedett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westmalle Brewery</span> Belgian Trappist brewery

Westmalle Brewery is a Trappist brewery in the Westmalle Abbey, Belgium. It produces three beers, designated as Trappist beer by the International Trappist Association. Westmalle Tripel is credited with being the first golden strong pale ale to use the term Tripel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in Belgium</span> Overview of beer in Belgium

Beer in Belgium includes pale ales, lambics, Flemish red ales, sour brown ales, strong ales and stouts. In 2018, there were 304 breweries in Belgium, including international companies, such as AB InBev, and traditional breweries, such as Trappist monasteries. On average, Belgians drink 68 litres of beer each year, down from around 200 each year in 1900. Most beers are bought or served in bottles, rather than cans, and almost every beer has its own branded, sometimes uniquely shaped, glass. In 2016, UNESCO inscribed Belgian beer culture on their list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

The term dubbel is a Belgian Trappist beer naming convention. The origin of the dubbel was a strong version of a brown beer brewed in Westmalle Abbey in 1856, which is known to have been on sale to the public by June 1861. In 1926, the recipe was changed by brewer Henrik Verlinden, and it was sold as Dubbel Bruin. Following World War Two, abbey beers became popular in Belgium and the name "dubbel" was used by several breweries for commercial purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palm Breweries</span>

Palm Breweries is a brewery company. It owns several different Belgian breweries. Total production was 1,700,000 hl of beer in 2004. The brewery was a member of the Belgian Family Brewers society until 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Koningshoeven Brewery</span> Dutch Trappist brewery

De Koningshoeven Brewery (Brouwerij de Koningshoeven) is a Dutch Trappist brewery founded in 1884 within the walls of Koningshoeven Abbey in Berkel-Enschot (near Tilburg).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brewery Ommegang</span> Brewery near Cooperstown, New York

Brewery Ommegang is a brewery located near Cooperstown, New York, United States, that specializes in Belgian-style ales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Dolle Brouwers</span> Belgian brewery

De Dolle Brouwers is a Belgian brewery, based in Esen in the province of West Flanders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Bernardus Brewery</span> Brewery in Belgium

St. Bernardus is a brewery in Watou, Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvinne</span> Brewery in Zwevegem, Belgium

Alvinne is a small brewery in the hamlet of Moen near the Belgian city of Zwevegem, founded in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Lawrence Brewing Company</span> Craft brewery located in Elmsford, New York

Captain Lawrence Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in Elmsford, New York. The brewery is owned and run by head brewer Scott Vaccaro. Vaccaro, a homebrewer since 1995, trained in brewing science at UC Davis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Struise Brouwers</span> Microbrewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium

De Struise Brouwers is a microbrewery located in Oostvleteren, Belgium.

Brasserie de Brunehaut is the trade name for Brunehaut brewery, located in Rongy-Brunehaut (Hainaut), Wallonia, 80 km south/southwest of Brussels, Belgium, near the French border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huyghe Brewery</span> Belgian brewery

Huyghe Brewery is a brewery founded in 1906 by Leon Huyghe in the city of Melle in East Flanders, Belgium. Its flagship beer is Delirium Tremens, a golden ale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tripel</span> Type of high-alcohol blonde beer

Tripel is a term used by brewers mainly in the Low Countries, some other European countries, and the U.S. to describe a strong pale ale, loosely in the style of Westmalle Tripel. The origin of the term is unknown, though the main theory is that it indicates strength in some way. It was used in 1956 by the Trappist brewery, Westmalle, to rename the strongest beer in their range, though both the term Tripel and the style of beer associated with the name, were in existence before 1956. The style of Westmalle's Tripel and the name was widely copied by the breweries of Belgium, and in 1987 another Trappist brewery, the Koningshoeven in the Netherlands, expanded their range with a beer called La Trappe Tripel, though they also produced a stronger beer they termed La Trappe Quadrupel. The term spread to the U.S. and other countries, and is applied by a range of secular brewers to a strong pale ale in the style of Westmalle Tripel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slaghmuylder Brewery</span>

The Slaghmuylder Brewery is a small brewery in Ninove, Belgium. It was founded in 1860 and is still run by the same family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bosteels Brewery</span> Belgian brewery

Bosteels Brewery is a brewery in Buggenhout, Belgium. The brewery was founded in 1791 and was owned and operated by the same family. Bosteels brew three beers: Tripel Karmeliet, DeuS, and Pauwel Kwak. In 2019 a new beer was added for the first time in 17 years; Monte Cristo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbey Brewing Company</span> American brewing company

The Abbey Brewing Company is an American craft brewing company located in the Chama River Wilderness Area near Abiquiú, New Mexico. The microbrewery was founded in 2003 as a Benedictine joint venture of Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery in Pecos, New Mexico and the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in Abiquiú. It is the first American monastery brewery founded before the Prohibition Era. The brewery's motto is "Made with care and prayer".

References

  1. "Beer Me! — Brouwerij de Regenboog — Oudenaarde, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium".
  2. "Tietje & the Beautiful After Breast Cancer Foundation".
  3. "Drinks" by Vincent Gasnier, Durnling Kinderly pub. 2005, p. 240
  4. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126573157364335 [ user-generated source ][ dead link ]
  5. "All Belgian Beers" by Hilde Deweer, Stichting Kunstboek pub. 2008
  6. "The Beer Guide" by Josh Oakes, Savory House Press pub. 2006, p. 239