Triporteur

Bert started as home brewer and learned the tricks of the trade in some world-famous breweries! As a graduated brewing engineer, he did an internship at the Orval brewery and at Rodenbach famous for the original Flemish red-brown beers brewery. Bert worked at the Gueuze Boon brewery as a cellar master and at the Sint Bernardus brewery as the brew master. He gained experience abroad in breweries in Fort Collins (USA), in Brooklyn (USA), as brew master in Suzhou (China) and in Galati (Romania).
His international experience earned him a place as a jury member during the World Beer Cup. In Austin, Texas, Bert built the new Celis Brewery where the Pierre Celis white beer is brewed again and also in Franschhoek, South Africa, where he built a new brewery according to his own BOM BREW design. In Bert’s search to master his craft he asked, ‘how do I do this myself, but better?’ He was inspired by the traditional way of creating specialty malts and how Rodenbach in earlier times used a unique brewing method – by using a ‘Kiln’ to prepare their own malt.

Bert purchased a coffee roaster and re-modeled it to create his own special malt. He purchased a white malt, (this is a basic malt that is light in colour and has only been kilned) and uses it for making his new variation of malt. Baking malt at low temperatures makes the malt smooth and light. Roasting malt at higher temperatures makes the malt darker and more intense. Super fresh malt is used for brewing beer within the 48 hours.
Bert creates an individual recipe for every single beer. The homemade malt forms the basis for a secret composition of ingredients, called a “BOM package”. On the basis of that secret recipe Bert himself brews (in the kettles) that he hires as a gypsy brewer. He follows up the whole brewing process himself, from A to Z.