To celebrate the excellence of the Belgian brewing tradition Ho Chi Minh’s Belgo have released a “Grands Crus” collection of three limited edition beers.

Known more for their easy drinking Blonde, Wit and Amber, the Belgian themed brewery and restaurant which opened their first outlet in 2016 in Ho Chi Minh City’s central District 1 decided to brew up something special for their regular customers.

A year in the making

Brewmaster Gert Keersmaekers, himself a native of Belgium, has for some time had the desire to build a unique selection of beers for the two Belgo outlets.

Wanting to use the very best ingredients he selected a range of premium products in Glenlivet Whisky, Marou Chocolate and Gekkeiken Sake and set to work crafting the perfect base beers using his favoured Belgian malts to showcase these iconic products.

It took Gert over a year to craft and fine tune his recipes into the current selection of finely balanced and complex beers. A celebration of the Belgian brewing tradition and know how.

Finding the right beer and balance to showcase these products Gert embraced both the art and science of brewing, he told the Asia Brewers Network “Brewing is a subtle combination of science and love and I enjoyed the challenge to bring it to another level”

Collaboration with global brands

After brewing his base beers, Gert then infused them with the subtle flavours and aromas of the world renowned brands. The result, a selection of three complex, yet balanced uniquely crafted beers.

• Belgo Grand Cru The Glenlivet 12, an unfiltered, unpasteurized and triple fermented Belgian style Tripel infused with aged Scottish whisky. Tasting notes: A rich grassy and floral nose, elegantly followed by a bouquet of fruity flavours that smooth out to a delicate long-lasting vanilla, wood and warm taste.
• Belgo Grand Cru Marou Chocolate, a decadent imperial stout brewed with Madagascan vanilla beans and cacao nibs from Vietnam’s celebrated chocolatier. Tasting notes: Bold bitter cocoa nose, sumptuous flavours of chocolate softened by sweet vanilla tones, followed by hints of dark forest fruits and balanced maltyness.
• Belgo Grand Cru Gekkeikan Sake, a unique flavourful beer brewed with 7 different malts and unmalted grains, a house-cultured yeast unique to the Belgo brewery and infused with Japanese sake. Tasting notes: Ending with a herbal, lemony dryness, the use of wheat brings light and fresh flavours while the fruity notes originate from the yeast and selected cereals. The complexity of the infused Gekkeikan sake allows a warm but delicate balance, enriched with a creamy texture arising from the oats.

As a lover of sake Gert embraced the opportunity to combine its complex flavours with his beer “I always appreciated the many layers of complexity in a Sake and wanted not only to complement these layers but also the complexity of the Sake needed to be present in the beer.”

In order to achieve this he combined 7 different types of malt in timed additions during the mash, trimmed a yeast to give the exact profile he was looking for and worked extensively on the beer’s water profile to ensure it highlighted the flavours he was aiming for.

The three exclusive offerings also pack a boozy punch with the Sake, Whisky and Chocolate beers coming in at 9%, 11% and 13% ABV (alcohol by volume) respectively.

Belgo co-founder Gauthier Lagasse is delighted with the resultant collection from his brewmaster, noting that the beers have been well received by their customers “We are extremely happy to see the very enthusiastic answer from our customers, even before the release of the collection, with many Vietnamese pre-ordering bottles online and in our venues.”

He continues “It shows how much work has been done in Saigon by all the craft breweries, enabling the craft beer scene to be extremely rich with a true appreciation of complex beers!” viewing this as a good indication of the developing Vietnamese acceptance of bolder craft beer flavours.

For this first batch only 200 bottles of each variety (75cl each) have been released. They are currently only available through the two Belgo outlets in Ho Chi Min’s D1 and D3 as well as the Belgo online shop. Soon, however, Vietnam beer lovers will be able to try them in selected high end venues and spirit bars in Saigon and hopefully Hanoi and Danang.