Transcontinental Collaboration - Bruz and Omer Vander Ghinste

From the time we first opened Bruz Beers in 2016, we have longed to brew a collaboration beer with a major Belgian brewery. After four years of searching for the right collaboration partner, we finally realized that goal. We produced a series of collaboration beers with the famed Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinste in Bellegem, Belgium.

Omer Vander Ghinste, named after its founder, was founded in 1892 and is still a family-run brewery that makes high-quality beers. Their broad product line includes Omer Traditional Blond, Omer Brut Nature, LeFort (a strong dark beer), Tripel LeFort, Bockor pilsner, BLAUW export lager, VanderGhinste Oud Bruin (sour), Kriek Max (cherry sour), Rosé Max, Rouge Max (8%), and the Cuvée des Jacobins series of sour ales.

In 2020, we contacted Vander Ghinste’s distributor, Artisanal Imports, about a possible collaboration with one of their Belgian brewery clients. They spoke to several and came back with possible interest from Omer Vander Ghinste. Artisanal Imports brokered an introduction and we began discussions with them. The original plan was to brew with them at their brewery, but Covid put an end to that. Plan B was to ship some of their beer to us, which we would then blend with some of our beers. The result was that they provided us with a shipment of Cuvée des Jacobins Prestige and we set about developing recipes to blend with it.

Cuvée des Jacobins Prestige is a sour Flanders ale with an orange-amber color, a funky brettanomyces character, pleasant tartness and an overall fruity character. It is a blend of 24-month old beers from selected foudres and comes in at 7.6% ABV. We ultimately decided on a series of four beers – all using the Vander Ghinste sour base beer and a specially formulated beer of our own design.

Omer Jean Vander Ghinste talks with Ryan and Charlie about the collaboration beers

The first in the series was Biere de Mars – a blend of the Prestige with a Petite Saison. The second was Roodbruin – a Flanders-style Brown ale that was a blend of the Prestige with a special dark ale. The third, and one of the most interesting blends, was Redwood Grand - a combination of Prestige and a bourbon barrel-aged Belgian-style Quadrupel. The fourth in the series is not yet finished, but will be a blend of Prestige, a classic old-school Saison and over a thousand pounds of Colorado Palisade peaches.

Bruz/Vander Ghinste Roodbruin, Biere de Mars and Redwood Grand

We have gotten rave reviews on the first three beers, which are all bottle-conditioned in 375 ml and 500 ml corked and caged bottles. They should all develop nicely over time. Tasting the peach beer out of the tank has let us know that this one will be a classic.

From left: Josh Martin, Dave Olson, Charlie Gottenkieny, Omer Jean Vander Ghinste and Ryan Evans

 We hope to have the opportunity to work further with Omer Vander Ghinste in the future.