Brewery tour

One of the highlights of the recent Failte Ireland workshop in Leuven was a study trip to the Drie Fonteinen SME Brewery and Vistor Centre in Beersel.

The owners Lydie and Armand DeBelder took our group on a tour of the Brewery and gave a very interesting talk that focused on the history of their enterprise and the cooperative approach that they took with other local businesses.

We were struck by the passion that they both had for what they were doing. The brewery is one of a number of micro-breweries in the region that have managed to preserve the traditional way they make their beer in spite of fierce competition from large brewers. During the talk they were joined by the chairman of the local artisan food producers group who told us about the steps that his group had taken to get Flemish produce used widely again in their region and further afield.

We got a chance to sample some of these local deliquesces including cheese, pate, bread, black and white puddings and of course some of Armand's beers including an unusual cherry flavoured one.

I was struck by how much they had in common with what we are doing here in Ireland to give visitors an authentic local experience and wish them well in the future.