New Podcast Takes Listeners to Belgium to Illuminate Legendary Beers

Show notes

Ask many experts, and they’ll tell you that Belgium is to beer what France is to wine or what Scotland is to single malt whiskey – in other words, the best. However, many of the defining breweries in the small and often unassuming country remain shrouded in mystery.

Belgian Beer Quest is a new podcast that highlights the fascinating stories that define some of the top beers in the world. Hosted by Nate Cairney, each episode focuses on a single brewery or a theme related to Belgian beer, and uses a blend of storytelling, travel narrative, and expert interviews. During the first season, audiences will get an inside look at legendary labels like Westvleteren, Orval, Chimay, Lindemans, and others.

Belgian Beer Quest isn’t just for beer geeks, either. Though it respects the fundamentals of brewing, the series uses a multifaceted approach to reveal how history, war, religion, personality, economics and geography have helped shape contemporary Belgian beers. Listeners will also be introduced to aspects of beer culture that are uniquely Belgian, including austere Trappist abbeys, and breweries that defined now-global styles like tripel or saison.

The podcast is in English and available on all major podcast platforms.

Transcript

Nate Carney: (00:06)
Since the beginning, humans have been defined by our quests. We search for meaning, for love, for excellence, for truth, for beauty, for the divine, and sometimes we find all of these things and more in unexpected places like say, in Belgium, and with beer. I’m Nate Carney, host of Belgian Beer Quest, a podcast about the people, places, histories and mysteries behind the legendary Belgian beers. I want to invite you to join me as we travel throughout Belgium, a small, beautiful and often unassuming country that has an unparalleled beer culture. I mean, Belgium is to beer what France is to wine or what Scotland is to single malt whiskey. It’s the best. Along the way, we’ll visit remote monasteries, charming villages, and rarely seen brewing operations, like the famed Westvleteren Abbey, were cloistered monks brew, extremely limited amounts of a beer that is often cited as one of the top, if not the top, beers in the world.

Breanden Karney: (01:07)
I’m inside the walls of the Abbey. There’s a group of photographers surrounding Brother [Manu 00:00:01:11]. In the distance. I can see a tin roof covering thousands of bottles of Westvleteren. This is an incredible opportunity.

Nate Carney: (01:19)
You’ll learn about Orval, the Trappist monastery, which produces a single amazing beer, is possibly the most respected brewery in Belgium and just might owe its existence to the most gallant medieval fish the world has ever known.

Breanden Karney: (01:34)
Legend has it that Matilda, an 11th century widowed Tuscan Royal, lost her wedding ring one day in a spring, in what is now Belgium. Distraught at her loss, she prayed for the ring’s return. A gallant trout swam upward, ring in its mouth, causing the princess to exclaim that, “Truly, this place was a golden Valley,” or as it would be said in French, “[French 00:01:58] Orval.”

Nate Carney: (01:59)
You’ll hear why a purchase of Chimay strikes a blow for good in the world. How Lindeman’s Beers are something almost magical, why [St-Feuillien 00:02:07] may be the archetypal Belgian brewery and so much more. Together we’ll journey into sometimes strange, often incredible, and always excellent, worlds of shiny steel, massive bottles, austere chapels and mad beer scientists. It’s time to learn more about what makes Belgian beer so special. It’s time for a quest, a Belgian beer quest. We can’t wait to have you join us.