The Smisje Brewery (Brouwerij Smisje in Dutch), with a tiny production of only 200 hectoliters per year, is one of the smallest existing Belgiancraft breweries. Begun in 1995 by former printer and homebrewer[2] Johan Brandt, it was originally titled "De Regenboog" (The Rainbow), the same name as his earlier printing business. Brandt is also a bee-keeper, which accounts for the prominent use of honey in some of the brewery's offerings, including its first commercial beer, which was named 't Smisje or "the little blacksmith" to reflect the hand-crafted nature of the product as well as a local landmark blacksmith's house near the brewery's original location.
From 1995-2008, the brewery was located in the West Flanders municipality of Assebroek, a suburb of Bruges. In 2008 it relocated to the village of Mater in Oudenaarde, East Flanders and changed its name to simply "Smisje". Smisje is known for beers in both traditional Belgian styles and others, but particularly for brewing with distinctive ingredients and flavorings,[3] often fruits or herbs. This experimental brewery exports roughly half of its annual product outside Belgium to countries such as the United States, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Denmark. Despite its minuscule size, for many years Smisje has kept six beers in regular production in addition to a large variety of seasonal and occasional brews. Many of their beers have featured label art by Brooklyn cartoonist and craft beer enthusiast Bill Coleman.
In 2010, the brewery announced that it would be discontinuing all of its historic products in order to focus on a new blond, hoppy ale to be called "Smiske". Only the annual "Smisje Christmas" would be preserved. Following the example of Duvel Moortgat, who offered to brew again their limited-edition "Duvel Triple Hop" if 10,000 people would sign a petition for it, Brandt announced that if 20,000 people would join a Facebook group supporting it, he would offer to brew one additional historic recipe per year.[4]
Brandt began brewing in 1995 with a jury-rigged system capable of producing only 250 liters per batch, and slowly expanded the equipment over time in the original Bruges location. The new premises in Mater utilize the second-hand equipment of the now-defunct De Teut brewery of Neerpelt. The brewer maintains his own distinctive house yeast strain and utilizes primarily native Belgian hops. In addition to various spices and non-traditional ingredients such as sloe berries, Smisje is known to utilize the traditional Belgian method of using a significant amount of candi sugar in their recipes to lighten the body of stronger brews.[citation needed]
Beersedit
Beers formerly in regular production:
't Smisje Blond - 6% ABV: A moderately strong golden-colored ale flavored with linden blossoms.
't Smisje Dubbel - 9% ABV: A strong brown ale in the Belgian Abbey Dubbel style which uses fresh dates in the recipe.
't Smisje Tripel - 9% ABV: A beer in the Belgian Abbey Tripel style.
't Smisje Wostyntje - 7% ABV: A strong golden ale flavored with mustard seeds from the nearby village of Tourhout.[5]
Vuuve - 5% ABV: A cloudy wheat beer in the Belgian Witbier style, brewed with coriander and bitter orange peel. Vuuve is the Flemish word for the number five, a reference to the beer's alcohol content.
't Smisje BBBourgondier - 12% ABV: A dark strong specialty beer flavored with valerian root and lemon balm. Malty with raisin and caramel notes.[6]
't Smisje Calva Reserva - 12% ABV: A strong ale matured for six months in Calvados barrels.
't Smisje Catherine The Great Imperial Stout - 10% ABV
't Smisje Cuvee 2005 - 10% ABV: A beer inspired by American microbrews, using Challenger, Cascade, Magnum and Newport hops, and further dry-hopped with Cascade.
't Smisje Fiori - 7% ABV
't Smisje Grande Reserva - 11% ABV
't Smisje Great Reserva - 10% ABV
't Smisje Guido - 8% ABV: A brown ale brewed with honey and raisins in commemoration of Guido Gezelle, a poet that wrote in the West Flemish dialect, Roman Catholic priest and native of Bruges.
't Smisje Halloween - 10.5%
't Smisje Honingbier - 6% ABV: A golden ale brewed with honey.
't Smisje Honingbier Bruin - 6% ABV: A brown ale brewed with honey.
't Smisje Kerst - 11% ABV: A seasonal Christmas offering.
't Smisje Meso - 2.5% ABV: A low-alcohol beer.
't Smisje Sleedoornbier - 6% ABV: A beer flavored with sloe berries (literally "sleigh-thorns").
't Smisje Sleedoorn Extra - 7% ABV: A stronger version of the Sleedornbier
't Smisje Speciale - 10.5% ABV
't Zwarte Gat Bier - 6%
Terracotta - 7%
Brugs Beertje 20 - 6.5% ABV: Brewed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of celebrated local craft beer pub the "Brugs Beertje" (lit. "Little Bear of Bruges", a reference to the animal on the town's coat of arms, but also a pun on the similar-sounding "Biertje" or little beer)
Brugs Beertje 25 - 9% ABV: Brewed for the 25th anniversary of the "Brugs Beertje".
De Regenboog IJzer - 6%
De Regenboog Naamloos - 6%
Lombardus - 7%
Pandreitje - 7%
Pierewietje - 6%
Snuffelbeer - 7%
Referencesedit
^"Beer Me! — Brouwerij de Regenboog — Oudenaarde, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium".
^"Tietje & the Beautiful After Breast Cancer Foundation".
^"Drinks" by Vincent Gasnier, Durnling Kinderly pub. 2005, p. 240
smisje, brewery, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, available, a. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message The Smisje Brewery Brouwerij Smisje in Dutch with a tiny production of only 200 hectoliters per year is one of the smallest existing Belgian craft breweries Begun in 1995 by former printer and homebrewer 2 Johan Brandt it was originally titled De Regenboog The Rainbow the same name as his earlier printing business Brandt is also a bee keeper which accounts for the prominent use of honey in some of the brewery s offerings including its first commercial beer which was named t Smisje or the little blacksmith to reflect the hand crafted nature of the product as well as a local landmark blacksmith s house near the brewery s original location Brouwerij SmisjeIndustryAlcoholic beverageFounded1995FounderJohan BrandtHeadquartersDriesleutelstraat 1 Mater Oudenaarde BelgiumProductsBeerProduction output200 hL 1 Websitewww wbr smisje wbr belgianbeerboard wbr com From 1995 2008 the brewery was located in the West Flanders municipality of Assebroek a suburb of Bruges In 2008 it relocated to the village of Mater in Oudenaarde East Flanders and changed its name to simply Smisje Smisje is known for beers in both traditional Belgian styles and others but particularly for brewing with distinctive ingredients and flavorings 3 often fruits or herbs This experimental brewery exports roughly half of its annual product outside Belgium to countries such as the United States the Netherlands Italy Spain and Denmark Despite its minuscule size for many years Smisje has kept six beers in regular production in addition to a large variety of seasonal and occasional brews Many of their beers have featured label art by Brooklyn cartoonist and craft beer enthusiast Bill Coleman In 2010 the brewery announced that it would be discontinuing all of its historic products in order to focus on a new blond hoppy ale to be called Smiske Only the annual Smisje Christmas would be preserved Following the example of Duvel Moortgat who offered to brew again their limited edition Duvel Triple Hop if 10 000 people would sign a petition for it Brandt announced that if 20 000 people would join a Facebook group supporting it he would offer to brew one additional historic recipe per year 4 Contents 1 Technical 2 Beers 3 References 4 External linksTechnical editBrandt began brewing in 1995 with a jury rigged system capable of producing only 250 liters per batch and slowly expanded the equipment over time in the original Bruges location The new premises in Mater utilize the second hand equipment of the now defunct De Teut brewery of Neerpelt The brewer maintains his own distinctive house yeast strain and utilizes primarily native Belgian hops In addition to various spices and non traditional ingredients such as sloe berries Smisje is known to utilize the traditional Belgian method of using a significant amount of candi sugar in their recipes to lighten the body of stronger brews citation needed Beers editBeers formerly in regular production t Smisje Blond 6 ABV A moderately strong golden colored ale flavored with linden blossoms t Smisje Dubbel 9 ABV A strong brown ale in the Belgian Abbey Dubbel style which uses fresh dates in the recipe t Smisje Tripel 9 ABV A beer in the Belgian Abbey Tripel style t Smisje Wostyntje 7 ABV A strong golden ale flavored with mustard seeds from the nearby village of Tourhout 5 Vuuve 5 ABV A cloudy wheat beer in the Belgian Witbier style brewed with coriander and bitter orange peel Vuuve is the Flemish word for the number five a reference to the beer s alcohol content Seasonal or limited run beers past and present t Smisje Dubbel IPA 10 ABV t Smisje BBBourgondier 12 ABV A dark strong specialty beer flavored with valerian root and lemon balm Malty with raisin and caramel notes 6 t Smisje Calva Reserva 12 ABV A strong ale matured for six months in Calvados barrels t Smisje Catherine The Great Imperial Stout 10 ABV t Smisje Cuvee 2005 10 ABV A beer inspired by American microbrews using Challenger Cascade Magnum and Newport hops and further dry hopped with Cascade t Smisje Fiori 7 ABV t Smisje Grande Reserva 11 ABV t Smisje Great Reserva 10 ABV t Smisje Guido 8 ABV A brown ale brewed with honey and raisins in commemoration of Guido Gezelle a poet that wrote in the West Flemish dialect Roman Catholic priest and native of Bruges t Smisje Halloween 10 5 t Smisje Honingbier 6 ABV A golden ale brewed with honey t Smisje Honingbier Bruin 6 ABV A brown ale brewed with honey t Smisje Kerst 11 ABV A seasonal Christmas offering t Smisje Meso 2 5 ABV A low alcohol beer t Smisje Sleedoornbier 6 ABV A beer flavored with sloe berries literally sleigh thorns t Smisje Sleedoorn Extra 7 ABV A stronger version of the Sleedornbier t Smisje Speciale 10 5 ABV t Zwarte Gat Bier 6 Terracotta 7 Brugs Beertje 20 6 5 ABV Brewed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of celebrated local craft beer pub the Brugs Beertje lit Little Bear of Bruges a reference to the animal on the town s coat of arms but also a pun on the similar sounding Biertje or little beer Brugs Beertje 25 9 ABV Brewed for the 25th anniversary of the Brugs Beertje De Regenboog IJzer 6 De Regenboog Naamloos 6 Lombardus 7 Pandreitje 7 Pierewietje 6 Snuffelbeer 7 References edit Beer Me Brouwerij de Regenboog Oudenaarde Oost Vlaanderen Belgium Tietje amp the Beautiful After Breast Cancer Foundation Drinks by Vincent Gasnier Durnling Kinderly pub 2005 p 240 http www facebook com group php gid 126573157364335 user generated source All Belgian Beers by Hilde Deweer Stichting Kunstboek pub 2008 The Beer Guide by Josh Oakes Savory House Press pub 2006 p 239External links edithttp www smisje be The brewery s own website http beeradvocate com beer profile 322 Listing as Brouwerij Smisje at BeerAdvocate http www ratebeer com brewers brouwerij de regenboog 983 Listing as De Regenboog at RateBeer Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Smisje Brewery amp oldid 1141401470, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
