The mark of a truly superb brewery is one that puts out nothing but great beers. Such breweries are a rare breed, as it requires a serious commitment to quality and consistency that is difficult to maintain.
 
There are a number of Belgian breweries that manage to achieve such excellence. Right off the top of my head, Brasserie Dupont in Tourpes and Brouwerij St. Bernardus in Watou are certainly among them, as are the lambic brewer/blenders Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen.
 
One of the “newest” Belgian breweries to be worthy of such status, in my opinion, is Brouwerij De Landtsheer, which crafts several of Belgium’s great beers under the Malheur label. De Landtsheer is located in Buggenhout, to the northwest of Brussels.
  Kleinbrouwerij De Landtsheer (Malheur.)
The President of the brewery, Manu de Landstheer, 53, is an important and interesting figure in the Belgian beer world. He is from a long line of brewers, dating back to at least his great-great grandfather.
 
As Manu and I took a tour around the brewery complex on a warm Spring day in 2008, he pointed out an old building, dating to the 17th century: “That’s where the old brewery was. My grandfather used to brew there. Unfortunately, the Germans took the copper kettles away twice, during both world wars. But we still keep the building, as it is part of our family history” he said, contemplatively. We later toured the building, which is the scene to some expansion by this successful operation.
 
Manu opened the present brewery in 1997: “We used to grow hops here until the 1970’s. We often talked about opening a new brewery. When my father passed away in 1991, I decided I must fulfill this dream.”
 
Fulfill he did, and in spectacular form! Malheur’s beers- labeled 6, 8, 10, and 12- are well respected among beer lovers. The numbers correspond to the amount of alcohol in each beer. Malheur uses only whole hop flowers, and its brews are known for their pleasant hoppiness. Hallertauer, Saaz and Styrian hops are used.Manu de Landtsheer, President of Kleinbrouwerij De Landtsheer, with World Beer Cup awards.
 
The 6 is a tasty golden pale ale with a copper tint, while the 8 (mainly meant for export to France) and 10 are blond beers. The 10 has slight hints of bananas and spices, and hides its alcohol very well for a beer of its strength. It has a pleasing hop bitterness and a dry finish. The 12 is a dark red-brown color, with an enjoyable sweet malt character and warming alcohol. A great beer to drink by a fireplace in the winter!
 
Malheur also produces three excellent brews which could roughly be described as “Champagne-style”, though they use the term "à la méthode originale" to describe the process, which is similar to the “Méthode Champenoise.” The first to appear was the Brut Reserve (11% abv) a blond beer of great complexity. The Dark Brut (12%) which is one of Belgium’s great dark beers, was next. In 2005, the Cuvee Royale appeared. This is a light bodied Brut beer, but it contains 9% abv, making it deceptively easy to drink!
 
Manu’s involvement in the beer world does not stop at Brouwerij de Landtsheer. Anyone who has enjoyed a Westmalle Trappist beer in the U.S. has him to thank: De Landtsheer is also a successful distribution company in the province of Flemish Brabant, and Manu is the commercial representative for Westmalle there. As a reward, he was awarded the U.S. as an export country by Westmalle.
 
Brouwerij de Landtsheer offers group tours for 15 to 40 people on weekdays, by appointment only. There is a tasting room overlooking the brewhouse-which is a fine place to have a drink! You can get to the brewery by public transport: take a train to Baasrode, then with your back to the tracks, turn right on Manu de Landtsheer pouring Malheur Brut ReserveMandekensstraat. You will soon pass a bright yellow Malheur cafe, Hopveld, on the right (stop in for a beer!) Keep walking about 5 minutes, and the brewery will be on your right, at number 179. See www.malheur.be for more info.
 
You can also enjoy the Malheur beers in nearby Dendermonde, a thousand year old market town, at Gasthof Het Vaderland. This fine restaurant/cafe is located right on the main square of the town. Den Ommeganck, located right next door, is another cafe worth a stop.
 
Belukus Marketing of Houston, Texas, is the exclusive U.S. importer for Malheur, and has been importing these brews since 2007.

Brouwerij De Landtsheer (Malheur)
Mandekensstraat 179
Buggenhout
Tel 052 333 911
malheur.be

Den Ommeganck
Grote Markt 18
Dendermonde
Tel: 052 462 962
denommeganck18.be

Het Vaderland
Grote Markt 16
Dendermonde
Tel: 052 211 136
vaderland.be

Malheur Brut Reserve....bottle and glasses

Manu De Landtsheer, with sample of Dark Brut from barrel

Quality control blind tasting at Malheur

Malheur-American oak barrels

Cheers, Gezondheid and Sante!

Charles (“Chuck”) Cook

ccook@beerconnoisseur.com