Some people at my work organised a private tour of the Lindemans brewery in Brussels. Lindemans brew lambics, a beer that uses “spontaneous fermentation”, rather than the introduction of a specific yeast. It is a family-owned business that is still based on the farm where the beer was first brewed seven generations ago. As there were no crops to tend during winter, the family turned to brewing lambics during the colder months. They became so successful that they stopped farming altogether in 1930 to focus on their brewing full time.

The beer is only brewed between October and May when the conditions are perfect. In summer it is too hot, and the wrong bacteria will enter and spoil the beer. After the water from their own well is mixed with and wheat and barley are boiled in giant copper boilers, the liquid is then poured into a broad shallow pool up in the attic. The windows are opened, and 86 different types of wild yeast drift inside to impregnate the liquid. Wooden beams line the rafters to act as a sponge and slowly release the microorganisms over the day. In order to prevent spoilage, aged dry hops are added to the beer to prevent bacterial spoilage.

The department of health decided that this process was not safe for public consumption. So the association of lambic brewers went to the European Commission to plead the case. The EC recognised that it was a unique and important process, and granted them permission to continue brewing in this method. They drafted strict rules to ensure that any beer marked as a traditional lambic had to follow a specific brewing process, including a round of pasteurization to sterilise the beer.

We sampled four different beers. Faro, Gueuze Cuvée René, the traditional Kriek Cuvée René, and the modern Kriek.

Faro is one of the simplest types of lambics to brew, based upon the recipe discovered in the middle ages. It is a blonde beer that is quick and easy to make, with candied sugar added at the end of the process to make it sweeter. The Belgians call it a light, low alcohol beer, as it is only 4.2%.

The gueuze is a mixture of lambics of different ages to give a particular sweetness and taste. The young beer contains enough sugar to permit fermentation for another year in the bottle, producing bubbles and peals. Our guide called it the champagne of beer.

The traditional old-style kreik lambic is fermented for at least three years in giant wooden barrels along with whole black cherries, then fermented again in the bottle. It is not filtered and all the sugar has been fermented into alcohol. It is dark and murky, and tastes muddy and sour.

The new modern kreik is much sweeter and is fermented for less than a year in metal drums. Cherry juice and sugar are added to the broth, and the result is a very sweet and delicious drink. While it was interesting to taste the traditionally-brewed lambics, I still prefer the taste of the modern sugary kriek.

I had always heard the story of David and Goliath, but had never stopped to consider it from Goliath’s point of view. In the city of Ath, I was able to see a whole new side of him during the Festival of the Giants. On the fourth Friday in August, the townspeople gather in the park to burn Goliath’s trousers. Why? Because the next day he is to be married.

On Saturday he and his tall bride gather in the town square, accompanied by his personal guard – the devil Magnon, two wild men covered with ivy, and two horsemen. The giants and their entourage dance down the street to the church, accompanied by the “Bleus”, French soldiers who periodically fire blanks into the air after a dramatic drum roll.

They two giants are married in front of the church, in the language of Picard (not French) before dancing back to the town square. Suddenly, shepherd David approaches, dressed in white and red. He challenges Goliath to a duel in a dialogue (“bonimée”) that dates back to the 16th century. This dialogue has been passed down by oral tradition, and now some segments are so garbled that they have lost all meaning, even to historians. At the end of the banter, David calls on his lord to give him strength and power to bring vengeance on the villain. The young shepherd has a single attempt to throw a stone through the peephole in Goliath’s wicker frame. If he succeeds, the town will be bathed in a year of happiness.

This year, David was played by seven year old Noa Depôtre, the son of the chief carrier of Madame Goliath. Unfortunately, for the second consecutive year, the shepherd did not succeed, and Goliath lived. This meant that the giants did not perform their final dance, which is seen as a bad omen for the town. David slunk off, ashamed and disappointed. His mother said “Of course, we are very disappointed for Noa, but the festival continues. I am very proud of him because he perfectly recited his lines perfectly. We cannot blame him because the pressure was so great, especially for a child so young.”

It might have been a dark moment for Ath, but our day was bathed in beer and sunshine. Friends Grant and Michelle were visiting from Cambridge, and we were able to sit together amongst the festivities and sample special grape beers that were brewed just for the event. A short ride on the train, and we were back in Brussels to end the day with some magnificent Cuban cuisine for dinner.