June 24: Cantillon Brewery

When in Belgium, make sure to eat waffles & chocolate and drink beer.  I took care of two of these requirements today.

Ashley got up at 4:30 am to workout at the gym.  I was just waking up at about 6:00 when she returned to the room. Although groggy, I was able to find the energy to complete a workout before heading down for breakfast. The morning food was incredible as I devoured eggs, yogurt, chicken wings, toast, cheese, fresh fruit and the most delicious waffle I’ve ever eaten in my life. 

After a quick stop in the room, it was off to buy a few vegetables for lunch and then for a tour of the Cantillon brewery.  The tour was self-directed as I had to read about how beer was made in this particular brewery.  It was pretty interesting about the process that is used without any shortcuts — an absolutely pure system. They used the  spontaneous fermentation method, which avoids the artificially inoculated yeast and rather depended on wild airborne fermenting agents.

I was able to sample a Lambic, Gueuze and fruit beer as part of the tour.  These sour beers did nothing to inspire me so I passed on buying a bottle.