Night of the Great Thirst

Or in Vlaams, De Nacht van de Grote Dorst.

First off, we were going to meet some beer friends at a famous beer cuisine restaurant in Schepdaal called De Rare Vos (the Sly Fox). It involved taking a train from Anwterp to Brussels South Station and then a bus to Schepdaal and then a short work. We left time for problems and ended up getting there an hour early, but hey, more time for beer...

They have a house beer (called, surprisingly Rare Vos) that is brewed for them by the Lambic brewery Giardan was dark gold/light amber in color and while didn't have the full on sourness of a lambic, had just enough to be refreshing...

After this and a couple of Orval's (of different ages) I got a text message from one of the people we were to meet, saying they were running late. Tom and I decided to go ahead and eat. I had Rabbit cooked in Gueze and Tom had Beef Stew cooked with Kriek (cherry lambic) Both were excellent. Of course, we ordered a bottle of each beer to go with the meal...

The original plan was to walk the 6km to Eizeringen, the site of the festival.  However it had started to rain our waiter (one of the owners?) offered us a ride, which we accepted. After a small hike up the hill (the street was blocked off for the fest) we arrived at the pub In de Verzekering Tegen Grote Dorst (Insurance Against the Great Thirst), which hosts the festival. 

We were early enough to grab one of the few tables -- most people had to make do with standing a tent outside. Soon our beer friends arrived and the lambic was flowing. Mostly, you bought full bottles, either 375ml or 750ml so it was good to have lots of people with which to share. Soon the table was full...

One of the treats was beer from a brewery that had been out of business for over 15 years, Eylenbosch (which was actually very near to the Rare Vos).  The bottle below is a Faro (sweetened lambic) from 1988! It was a little oxidized, but very, very nice and very drinkable.

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On the way out I held my camera up over the crowd to get a picture of the inside of the pub. I got too much ceiling, but maybe you can the the flavor...

Tomorrow, the Zythos Beer Festival in St Niklaas.