Marc Limet began his lifelong romance with Belgian beer at the age of 18, when he and his friends began travelling to small breweries to taste traditional-style brews. One of their favourites was a small farmhouse brewery on the outskirts of Sint-Truiden.

The owner, Jean Clerinckx, started Kerkom in 1988 on the site of his family’s old brewery, which had closed 20 years before. When Limet first visited, Kerkom had only one beer, a blonde, and the cafe was only open on Sundays. He and his friends spent many a Sunday afternoon drinking that blonde and talking with the brewer.

When Clerinckx retired in 1997, he asked his young friend, the beer enthusiast, to take over. Limet didn’t exactly jump at the opportunity. Despite his love of beer, he had never planned to run a brewery himself. Finally, he realised it was the chance of a lifetime. “If I don’t do it, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life,” he told himself.

It was a rocky start. Kerkom by then had added a brown, and, like his predecessor, Limet brewed just the two beers. The first year, he and his team produced only 250 hectolitres of beer. In 2000, they added two saisons, based on the seasonal “farmhouse” brews native to Wallonia. The first takes its inspiration from the local Haspengouw region, famous for its fruit trees. Made with pear syrup and honey, Bink Bloesem was inaugurated during the annual Blossom Festival in Sint-Truiden.

Limet already had the idea to make a winter beer with the name Winterkoninkse, after a small wren native to Belgium, when he saw an illustration in a book that showed the winterkoning sitting on a hops vine. The brewer took that as a good sign and put both bird and hops on the label.

A burst of new beers

In 2002, Kerkom was asked to brew an abbey-style beer for the first Open Abbey Day in Sint-Truiden. Adelardus Dubbel is named after the city’s first abbot. A few years later, Kerkom came out with a Tripel to celebrate the opening of the abbey tower. Both beers are made with the addition of gruut, a blend of medieval herbs originally used by monks as a preservative in brewing before the advent of hops.

Kerkom has three other beers: Kerkomse Tripel, a special dark called Winterkoningske Grand Cru, and the newest, Bloesem Kriek (not to be confused with Bink Bloesem). Bloesem Kriek is a sweet cherry beer, but, during the summer months, you can find a traditional-style sour kriek on draft in the brewery’s cafe.

The busiest time for the cafe is in spring, when tourists flock to the region for the apple and pear blossoms. The outdoor terrace, enclosed within the walls of the old four-sided farm, is an ideal place to sip a beer. Just in front of the entrance is an information board showing walks in the area.

Abbot’s refuge: Ter Dolen

Despite being 40 kilometres away, another Limburg brewery also has close ties with the city of Sint-Truiden. Ter Dolen, in Helchteren, was originally the summer home and refuge of the abbot of Sint- Truiden. Unlike in Kerkom, there was no brewery at Ter Dolen before Mieke Desplenter bought the castle property in 1994. She comes from a long line of brewers, and her family members run several other breweries scattered across Flanders. Brewing is in her blood.

Ter Dolen makes three abbey-style beers: a blonde, a brown and a Tripel. A special arrangement with the non-profit organisation responsible for the former abbey buildings in Sint-Truiden allows Ter Dolen to use the official “abbey beer” seal.

Ter Dolen’s newest beer appeared just over a year ago. It’s called Armand, after Desplenter’s father, a brewer who provided the original recipe for Ter Dolen blonde. Armand is an unfiltered, bitter beer made with Cascade hops from the US, and the only place you can get it is in the brewery’s own cafe.

The cafe and brewery are housed in what were originally the farm buildings of the castle. At weekends, you can take a tour of the brewery, followed by a drink in the cafe or on the terrace in the farm’s courtyard. (The castle itself is not open to the public.)

Ter Dolen is very popular with locals and tourists, who arrive by car, bicycle and on foot. Tourism in Limburg in general is booming, with visitors – mostly from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany – drawn by the nature, ideal for walking and cycling, and by streekproducten like local craft beer, cheese and fruit syrup.

Secret blends: Wilderen

The newest draw for beer lovers are the brewery, distillery and cafe in Wilderen, just outside Sint-Truiden. Opened last summer, the cafe is full to capacity on weekends, and the brewery is already becoming a top tourist attraction for the Haspengouw region.

Owner Mike Janssen has been brewing beer and opening cafes for more than 20 years. He says Wilderen is his last brewery, and it’s hard to imagine him topping it. At Wilderen, he jokes, he has “everything I ever wanted!”

The brewery is state-of-the-art, a self-contained, fully-automated system in a new facility. Brewer Roland Vanderlinden, formerly of Ter Dolen, has two beers in production here: Wilderen Goud, a blonde, and Kannunik Tripel, made from four types of grain, two kinds of hops and a secret blend of three spices.

Next door, the old distillery from 1890 is virtually unchanged since its closure in 1939. Miraculously overlooked by the Germans, it’s a monument of industrial archaeology, the original copper vessels and distillation tower still intact. It was this, more than anything, that convinced Janssen to buy the property, which also included a farm dating to the 17th century.

Janssen left the original distillery as it was and installed a new one next door, where he produces both a graanjenever and an eau-de-vie called “eau-de-bière”, made from the Kannunik Tripel. He also has a dozen barrels of whiskey in aged oak barrels from Kentucky laid down in the cellar and will release the first bottles in August 2014.

Wilderen has one of the most impressive beer cafes in Limburg. Installed in a restored barn, it boasts huge wooden beams, authentic wattle-and-daub walls and a large open hearth in the centre of the room. The open, airy interior strikes a perfect balance between old and new, with an atmosphere that’s both authentic and modern.

Finally, the outdoor terrace, between the 18th-century barn and the 19th-century distillery, seats up to 500 and includes a playground for kids. On weekends, tours take visitors through the old distillery and the brewery. A visit to Wilderen combines history, architecture, brewing and local gastronomy, followed by a leisurely drink in beautiful surroundings.

Ultimately, that’s what brewing in Limburg is all about: not just a love of beer, but an appreciation for local heritage and a strong sense of hospitality. For these brewers, beer isn’t just a product. It’s something to be enjoyed with family, friends – and visitors – while sitting in a cosy cafe or on a sunny terrace. 

www.brouwerijkerkom.be 

www.terdolen.be 

www.brouwerijwilderen.be