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Castle and farm offer great Flanders ale

Added: Monday, June 22nd 2015

Ter Dolen castle

The Ter Dolen brewery is a magical blend of fairytale and beer paradise. Here you can visit a small brewery set in old farm buildings once managed by monks, sample the beers in a spacious bar and tree-girt garden, and then admire the austere beauty of the adjacent castle where you can spend the night.

The complex of buildings is in Belgian Limburg, close to the German border and the region’s attractive old town of Hasselt. The beers are labelled “Abbey” as Ter Dolen works closely with the monks at the Abbey of Sint-Truiden: a royalty from beer sales goes to the church.

The castle in the grounds dates from the 11th century though the original building was badly damaged by a fire and the current structure, with white walls and impressive turrets, was rebuilt in the 16th century. This in turn was burnt down by the German army during World War Two but it’s been lovingly restored.

The brewery was installed 21 years ago by one of the great figures of Belgian brewing, Armand Desplenter and the entire site is now run by his daughter Mieke. The Desplenters are a dynasty and have been involved with, among others, Riva and Liefmans breweries and they have links to the Bosteels and Van Eecke brewing families. Annick Desplenter owns the acclaimed Gruut brewpub in Ghent where she makes medieval-style beers using herbs and spices. She is the daughter of Ivan Desplenter, who ran Liefmans in Oudenaarde, one of the famous East Flanders “Oud Bruin” [old brown] breweries.

So you enter Ter Dolen with a degree of reverence. Inside the main gates, photos of members of the Desplenters and their relatives make it clear you are on hallowed ground, even though the monks left some time ago. Armand Desplenter is the central figure and his role in creating the brewery is celebrated by a beer called simply Armand, a 7.1% bottle-fermented beer, also available on draught.

Mieke and team

The Italian brewing kit is in the former cattle byre, farmhouse and hay loft. Only warm-fermented ales are made and the brewing system is based on the traditional Belgian one of a dual purpose mash kettle, where the grain is mashed, filtered in a lauter vessel and then returned to the mash kettle for the boil with hops. Hop pellets are used and the main varieties are American Cascade, Belgian Challenger and Czech Saaz.

The 25-hectolitre plant feeds hopped wort to six conical fermenters. Following fermentation, the beer is aged in the same vessels for two weeks and is then filtered. Both kegs and bottles have a dosage of sugar and yeast and are warm conditioned. Draught beer for export goes in one-trip Key Kegs while a two-year-old filling line handles the growing demand for bottled beer. Sales used to be divided 50:50 draught and bottle but bottle sales are growing.

The main beers are Blond, Donker, Kriek, Armand and Tripel.

Blond (6.1%) has a spicy, peppery nose with grassy hops, lime fruit and a “fresh bread” malt note. The palate has spicy and fruity hops balanced by juicy malt and tart fruit, while the finish is dry with continuing notes of spicy hops, lime fruit and sappy malt.

Donker (7.1%) means Dark and it has a hazy russet/brown colour with a big malt loaf aroma, with dates, sultanas, tobacco, peppery hops and a hint of chocolate from the dark malts. Chocolate builds in the mouth with dark, burnt fruit and gentle hop bitterness. The finish is fruity from both malt and hops with an underlying hint of spice.

Kriek (4.5%) is a cherry-flavoured beer and has been an enormous success for the brewery. It was introduced just two years ago but has rapidly built sales. Ter Dolen claims it’s the only Abbey cherry beer in Belgium. It has a cherry pink colour and fruity, sweet nose and palate, with strong hints of vanilla and lemon balancing the dominate cherry. The finish is pleasingly dry, with a late burst of peppery hops balancing the fruit.

Armand (7.1%) has a pale hazy gold colour and a stunning aroma of citrus, lychee and melon fruits, with cracker-like malt and earthy hops. Hops dominate the palate with biscuit malt and bitter lemon fruit. Lemon, lime and lychee build in the finish, with spicy hop resins and a dry malt note. The beer is dry hopped with Cascade and it won a gold medal in the first Brussels Beer Challenge.

Tripel (8.1%) is a hazy pale bronze colour with perfumy hops on the nose, balanced by apricot and peach fruit and toasted malt. The bittersweet palate has rich malt balanced by a big spicy hop note and ripe fruit. Raisin fruit appears in the long finish with sweet, juicy malt and perfumy, grassy hops.

The accommodation in the castle is exquisite. I wasn’t told of any ghosts in this ancient pile but, after a few Armands and Tripels, it would have taken a noisy ghoul to disturb me.

As I was leaving the following morning, I noticed a small hop plant growing outside the brewery entrance. I was told it was a German Magnum variety, which all things considered is pretty magnanimous of the Belgians.

*Pictured centre: chief executive Mieke Desplenter with her brewing and sales team: Hendrick Hanssen, Giel Geerits, Andre Houben and Rob Vandistel.

*The complex goes under two names: De Dool, which is the domain name, while the brewery and its beers are called Ter Dolen. For information about opening times, brewery visits and accommodation contact Ter Dolen, 21 Eikendreet, 3530 Houthalen-Helchteren. Phone +32 11 60 69 99. www.terdolen.be.


Ter Dolen beers