Brouwerij Van Eecke
Brouwerij Van Eecke down the street from ’t Hommelhof dates to 1862. It’s still family-owned (one of the 15 members of Belgian Family Brewers) and has only five employees producing about 18,000 hectoliters of beer a year. The brewery maintains a fleet of 10 trucks—each driver has 100 accounts—for villagers who can have their favorite Van Eecke beers delivered to their doorstep as in the olden days.
There are several lines of beer brewed at Brouwerij Van Eecke:
The Kapittel abbey beers come from recipes from the Catshill Monastery: Pater (6.0 percent ABV), Blonde (6.2 percent ABV), Dubbel (7.5 percent ABV), Prior (9.0 percent ABV) and Tripel Abt (10 percent ABV). The word Kapittel means the managing board of an abbey, which consists of the abbot and the prior, thus the names of the beers.
Poperings Hommelbier (7.5 percent), brewed with hops from nearby Poperinge. Hommel is local dialect for hops, explains Michael Russe of the brewery, and the varieties grown include Hallertau, Kent Goldings, Saaz and Challenger.
Watou’s Bière Blanche (5.0 percent ABV), a classic witbier.
Leroy Christmas (7.5 percent), a beer brewed since shortly after World War I. This beer is named after the Brouwerij Leroy in Boezinge, owned by the same family that owns Van Eecke.
Brouwerij Van Eecke and Leroy own 100 pubs, with the most interesting and quirky next door to the brewery, managed for the last seven years by Mira. Her style is eclectic, incorporating elements of popular and kitsch culture from the last century: paintings, record covers, lamps, etc. Asked how to define her style, Mira said: “It’s my hobby. I don’t think about a style, I just do it.”
