Announcing winners for the Whole Foods Market-Vanberg and DeWulf Homebrew competition. See website for details. http://wholefoodsmarket.com/service/home-brewing-competition-vanberg-dewulf
We'll be selling a fantastic lambic flight of some amazing drinks this night, De Cam from Gooik, Belgium being the rare diamond here. Few cases make it in to the US at the whim of the blender. On average it gets released every 2.5 years here. We'll also be serving older vintages of Don Feinberg's proprietary blends on the flight: Lambickx Private Domain 2012 and De Troch 2011. To round it out, we'll have Lambickx's first ever Kriek. It's hitting the market this next week and I've gotten a preview of it and can testify to how great it is.
First crack at these flights starts at 6PM and is reserved only for people who have entered the homebrew competition. At 7 we'll open up sales to everyone, winners announced at 7:30 or so. Wendy Littefield, co-founder of Vanberg Imports will be around to help announce winners.
Also, if you've entered the competition you'll have the chance to enter a raffle for the purchase of a bottle of Bzart by Oud Beersel. This has never been imported into the USA, has a stupid high rating on rating sites, and Chicago is only getting 6 bottles of the stuff from what I can tell. It's expensive, 60 bucks or so. I couldn't find a lot of info on it so I've copied and pasted Don's own description of Bzart and the De Cam:
"BZART- For me simply the most elegant Geuze I have ever had. Is it super funky or sour? Definitely Not! But well balanced, bone dry and refined, without doubt! It makes sense how they achieved this result. BZart is Oude Beersel Lambic (+/- 18months old) that is bottled at one of Flander’s premier sparkling wine (cannot say champagne) producers where champagne yeast is added. The beer then follows the same maturation process as champagne including riddling out the yeast. The result is a perfectly clear, incredibly bubbly and as I said, elegant, dry Gueze."
"DeCam Oude Lambiek- Karel Goddeau is one of the really passionate young Geuzestekerij (lambic blenders) in Belgium. Not only is the brewer at Slaghmuylder (Witkap Singel and Tripel) but he is the founder of the Decam Bending operation in located in GooiK, the heart of Payottenland, where Lambic is considered to have originated. Karel carefully selects young lambic from various producers (eg Boon, Cantillon, Girardin) and then ages his selection in his unique oak casks purchased from Pilsener Urquel Brewery. An incredible stickler for detail with a completely unique palate, Karel’s Oude Lambiek is a blend of his finest 2-3 year old lambic. Wonderfully organic aromas and assertive acidity combine with an essential dryness to make a clean, refreshing yet complex drinking experience."
