Brothers Yves and Kurt Panneels run one of Belgium’s great lambic cafes, In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst. The name translates to “In the Insurance Against the Great Thirst,” meaning you won’t go thirsty while visiting the atmospheric café.

Called Grote Dorst for short, the pub is located in the village of Eizeringen, 10 miles west of Brussels.

Kurt was just 28 years old, Yves, 32, when they purchased Grote Dorst from the retiring owner in 2000.

The Brothers Panneels: Yves (left) and Kurt Panneels behind the bar of their lambic cafe.

“The publican was 85 years old and had been running the café for 51 years,” Yves told me last spring as I sipped a 3 Fonteinen Oude Gueuze while soaking up the atmosphere. Grote Dorst is filled with all sorts of breweriana relating to Belgium’s lambic brewers and blenders.

“Everyone thought that the cafe would close when Marguerite retired, as so many other lambic bars in the Payottenland have in the last 20 years,” Yves continued. “That’s when Kurt and I stepped in and bought the place. We thought it would be a great shame to lose such a historic and much-loved village pub.

Lambic Brewerania: Note the wicker server baskets for both the 37.5 cl and 75 cl sizes.

"As you can see, the church is right across the street. Grote Dorst is the meeting place of all the locals before and after church on Sundays. Or during church services, for those that just say they attend mass. So, as was the case in Marguerite’s time, we are open from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. that day, as well as on days there are funerals. There are also special events from time to time throughout the year.”

Old Walls: The cafe is filled with all sorts of memorabilia. Many of the old enamel plates are from shuttered lambic breweries.The best known of these events is “the Night of the Great Thirst” which is held the Friday evening before the Zythos Beer festival (ZBF), Belgium’s biggest celebration of great brews. The next Night of Great Thirst is March 5, 2010. I attended the first of these fests, in 2004, and it was a great time. The weather was windy, rainy and cold, but the lambic, gueuze, kriek and framboise on offer in the cafe made it a night to remember. The event has since gained international acclaim.

Grote Dorst: Another view of the one-room cafe.

The café was also open all day on Sunday, April 26, 2009, for the Toer de Geuze, which is held every other year. Nine of Belgium’s remaining lambic producers held an open house that day. The Toer, which Yves and Kurt help organize, is Belgium’s premier lambic event. Yves is a Board Member of HORAL, an association that seeks to promote and protect traditional lambic beers. HORAL is the force behind the Toer de Geuze.

Yves and Kurt stock every available Belgian lambic and geuze beer in their café and even offer many for sale to go.

Kurt lives at the café, while Yves offers a couple of B&B rooms at his home, known as “the House of Gueuze.” It’s just a mile from the cafe.

If you stay there, you can expect Belgian hospitality at its best. In this case, B&B stands for “Bed and Beer.” You get a vintage gueuze beer tasting in the evening instead of breakfast in the morning! I think I’ll take the gueuze option every time.

Cheers, Gezondheid and Sante!

Charles (“Chuck”) Cook

In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst
Frans Baetensstraat 45
B-1750 Eizeringen (Lennik)
Tel: 02 532 58 58
www.dorst.be

Het Huis van de Geuze (The House of Gueuze)
B&B (Bed and Beer)
Tuitenberg 55 
B-1750 Lennik
Tel: 0498 522 322
www.eizeringen.be/bedandbeer
www.huisvandegeuze.be (beer shop)

"Lambic and Kriekenlambic on draft"