The Bowsing Ken

116 : Barbe Ruby

  In the book "One Hundred Years of Brewing," printed back in 1901, the authors note:
   "The brewing industry of Belgium is of great importance and of ancient origin, being manufactured in Brussels in the 12th Century. In the 15th, the varieties known as "walgbaert" and "hoppe" were white beers, being made of a mixture of wheat and oats: there were also "roetbier (red) and "zwartzbier" (black). All of these, however, with others, were gradually displaced by the "lambic," or strong beer, the "mais," or small beer, and "faro," a mixture of each. Belgian beers are like those of France - rather vinous in their nature - and are often known as barley wines. To particularize as to localities, Flanders has become famous for the Uitzet, Antwerp for the Arge, and the Walloon provinces for their Fortes-saisons. The white, sparkling, refreshing summer beers of Louvain have become well known, as well as the Bieres-brunes of Malines, and the Saison of Liege."
     So, as one can see, even back in 1901, the world of beer in Belgium was quite diverse.
 Also, as noted in the abovementioned book, in 1897, official Belgian records indicate that there were 2,972 breweries in the country, with Flemish Region of Belgium - Flanders - having the majority with 1,121 breweries, which we must believe included the Brewery Verhaeghe Vichte.

  Founded in 1885, by Pol (Paul) Verhaeghe, the Brewery (Brouwerij) Verhaeghe Vichte was, and still is to this day, located in the small - less than 5,000 folks - village of Vichte, itself located in municipality of Anzegem, in the southwest of West Flanders. It would have been just over a decade old when the above listed survey was recorded. Back then, with nearly 3,000 breweries throughout Belgium, many breweries never sold their beers much farther afield than the local vicinity around their brewery. Pol Verhaeghe, however, took advantage of a nearly direct railroad line from Vichte to Brussels, some 85 kilometers to the east, and developed a following for his beer - which some called "the Blonde of Flanders (Blonde de Flandres)" in the capital city.
   Of course, the onset of World War One stopped most everything in Belgium, including the making of beer at the Brewery Verhaeghe Vichte. Brewing originally stopped at the behest of the Belgium government, so that no German soldier would be able to enjoy a Belgian beer. Not only was production halted, but later marauding German soldiers, some say as revenge for such impertinence, tore into the brew house and took most of equipment, comprised of a lot of copper.
    With the end of the war, the Verhaeghe family pretty much had to start for scratch, not only at the physical brewery, but also their business relationships - the Brussels market was gone - had been all but wiped out. Still, production eventually resumed, with the first bottled beer produced in the 1920s. Production did manage to continue throughout the Second World War, but on a lesser scale.

  Today, the Brewery Verhaeghe is still a family run business, now by fourth generation siblings Karl, Peter and Mercedes. According to one reference, there are less than 10 employees total at the brewery. Their current emphasis of making a variety of traditional - at last count 9 different types - of high quality beers, vice large production runs of lesser quality, has earned them a reputation that now spans to globe. As for North Americans, we are fortunate to be included in the global reach. I have found a few of their beers, in some of the larger retail outlets, in larger cities, and, it goes without saying, I am always on the outlook for more. Watch this space.
  As far as the name "Barbe" is concerned, here is a note from the brewery:
   “The name of the series of “Barbe” beers refers to the Liege brewery “Barbe d’Or”. Brewery Barbe d’Or was a medieval brewery in the old town of Liege, Belgium and belonged to the family “de Romsée,” an ancient Liege family whose coat of arms adorns the logo of the “Barbe” beers."