Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

365: Alex Lippens and the Team at Verzet Are on a Quest to Make the Best Oud Bruin in the World

Jun 21, 2024

Join Alex Lippens from Verzet as they strive to create the best oud bruin, blending tradition with innovation. They discuss pushing the boundaries of drinkability, rethinking brewing techniques, and blending barrel-aged base beers. The team aims to make oud bruin cool and relevant for a younger generation while maintaining Belgian brewing traditions.

01:10:49

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Episode guests

Alex Lippens

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Pushing boundaries by blending tradition with innovation in brewing techniques.

Reimagining oud bruin by infusing new life into classic Belgian styles.

Achieving a unique oud bruin profile through careful barrel selection and blending.

Deep dives

Ode Bruhn: Striving for the Best Oudbroun in the World

Ode Bruhn aims to create the best oudbroun globally by experimenting with various techniques. This includes working with different brewers, altering aging and brewing methods, and using diverse grains like malted and unmalted barley to enhance their oudbruen. By striving for excellence, Ode Bruhn seeks to innovate and push boundaries within Belgian beer styles.

Intro

2min

The Story of Brewery Creation and Beer Focus

3min

Brewing Innovation and Tradition in Belgium

9min

Quest for the Best Oud Bruin Creation

4min

Crafting the Perfect Oud Bruin: The Malt and Brewing Process

14min

Exploring Flavor, Fermentation, and Risk Control in Crafting Oud Bruin Beer

5min

The Art of Crafting Oud Bruin Beer at Verzet

18min

Crafting Unique Oud Bruin Beers Through Blending and Innovation

11min

Quest for the Best Oud Bruin

4min

In Anzegem, Belgium, about 20 miles southwest of Ghent, Brouwerij ’t Verzet is no cover band. Sure, they could make some local waves by brewing up Citra-Mosaic hazy IPAs, but what would that mean to the strong brewing traditions in their corner of Flanders? Rather than play someone else’s tunes, could they instead take the familiar, culturally significant notes that everyone around them knows, and play them with a swagger and attitude that helps people see them in a new light?

Or, as cofounder Alex Lippens muses, could they drink these innovative hazy IPAs from the United States, learn from them, and inject that knowledge back into classic Belgian styles, to help move those traditions forward? Couldn’t they develop their own take on a classic Flemish style such as oud bruin—but instead of making it taste like Rodenbach, make it feel cool and relevant for a younger generation of drinkers?

These are among the questions that Lippens asks throughout this episode. While the answers are still in progress—check back with the Verzet team in 40 years, maybe, when their brewing careers are complete—he also touches on:

pushing the borders of drinkability and excitement
rethinking Michael Jackson’s categorization of oud bruin and Flemish red ale
brewing with a heavy caramel-malt load and 20 percent unmalted barley
using techniques such as cereal mashes and extremely long boils to build flavor and texture
blending parts of seven different barrel-aged base beers into Verzet Oud Bruin
maintaining and using a wild-caught mixed culture
promoting quicker Lactobacillus action by restricting hops and pitching on fully fermented wort
building an impression of fruit flavor without using actual fruit
blending to a total acidity goal

And more.

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