Z is for Zwanze Day 2021 – Churches, Funk and Parasols

Play that funky music, white boy!

If beer is your religion then Zwanze Day is one of its many annual observances, albeit one reserved for particularly fervent churchgoers.1

Well, take me to church!

This year Zwanze Day is on the 25th of September and it is celebrated in 22 countries!!

I am beyond excited to be able to go and enjoy Zwanze 2021 at Beer Merchants Tap, not only because I do pray at the altar of Cantillon, but also because I’m going with friends I haven’t spent much time with in this post-Covid world! And it’s my first-time taking part #eeeek!

And let me tell you, getting my paws onto some tickets certainly wasn’t easy! They sold out faster than toiletpaper back in March 2020 (and that says something, amirite?)

I’ll be hittin’ London’s streets tomorrow with @Chimp.Rocket, the #DesignatedResponsibleAdult and the #Viking, with our timers set to 8pm sharp. Poised to be indoctrinated and ready to hail the wild yeast!

Head over to Instagram @AtomicDucks to follow us on our quest #DrinkiesWithTheChimp

My introduction into the funky world of spontaneous fermentation was in 2012, when @Chimp.Rocket and I spent a few days in Brussels.

Always keen to try local beers, we headed towards Brasserie Cantillon, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, blissfully unaware of how the taste of a 1-year-old Lambic would change the world as we knew it forever!
(I say that, but I remember we struggled to find and believe that the unassuming building in front of us was the magical birthplace of beers gone wild.)

I still remember how the young Lambic tasted, and I knew that I wanted more!
So instead of buying a bottle to take home with us, we opted to have it right in the taproom, paired with a chunk of Lambic cheese. Good times!

We enjoyed the beer scene so much we actually missed out flight back home as we were drinking and dancing with monks at the Grote Markt, but that’s a story for another time!

I get that sours beers are not for everyone, but disciples of this special Belgian ale all unite in the hype that is Zwanze! And by the gods, am I excited to go!
An annual gathering with limited pours of a limited-edition beer, synchronised tasting at 9pm Brussels time, across the globe: now that is spiritual!

And in 2021, our holy drink is called Parasol!

A nod to the past: Parasol is a special blend of Lambic and citrus (mostly oranges), made in honour of one of Paul Cantillon’s blending experiments in the early 1950’s.

Parasol is described as […] a thirst-quenching Zwanze […] , with a contrasting flavour profile of […] acidity of […] beer […] fruit and […] freshness of the citrus in contrast to […] bitterness of […] zests.2

If reading this doesn’t get your tastebuds going, you haven’t tasted a great Lambic!

Go on, try one, I dare ya!

And to top it all off, it’s Belgian Beer Month at Beer Merchants Tap which means they will be pouring some amazing wild brews, including 3 Fonteinen, Tilquin, Oud Beersel, Lindemans, Hanssens, Boon and Horal…. both on tap and in bottles! #eeeek

Just look at this tap list of Cantillon beauts for tomorrow *drool*

• Gueuze 100% Labic Bio, Brasserie Cantillon, 5%

• Rosé de Gambrinus, Brasserie Cantillon, 5%

• Cuvée Saint-Gilloise, Brasserie Cantillon, 5%

• 50°N-4°E, Brasserie Cantillon, 7%

• Lambic d’Aunis, Brasserie Cantillon, 6.5%

• Nath, Brasserie Cantillon, 5.5%

• Magic Lambic, Brasserie Cantillon, 5.5%

• Menu Pineau, Brasserie Cantillon, 6%

• Camerise, Brasserie Cantillon, 6.5%

• Zwanze 2020 – Brettrave, Brasserie Cantillon, 6%

Can I get an Amen up in here?!

And on that note, see you tomorrow?!

Sante‘

xx