Cross-Country Cheeses

I thought I was done knocking on doors of breweries last week, but over the weekend I did a bit more research and found three more to go to. They had seemed too far away at first, but I discovered that the train ride wouldn't be too bad after all. This realization was a welcome one after the lukewarm reception I got at the job agencies yesterday. Though my initial list of breweries was rather long, experience and logic made my list much shorter. Some breweries had closed and others were just not convenient to get to by train, bus, or foot.

Anyway, I headed east from Brussels today, to three towns in relative proximity to each other: Oudenaarde, Eine (a suburb of Oudenaarde), and Zottegem. A nice trip and exposure to some more "darling little towns" which a person sure wouldn't mind living in. I found all the breweries quite easily.

BUT, Brouwerij Clarysse seemed, for all intents and purposes, to be permanently or temporarily closed. There was no open front entrance, the "C" on the brewery's sign was about to fall off the building, and the equipment inside seemed to have been sitting dormant for quite some time. A large bay-door was open in the back. I ventured inside, but found no one. There was a line of concrete dividers pushed up against the large fermentors and machinery, dividing the warehouse. Against these barriers, a couple of postal trucks were parked. I'd say the owners basically went out of business and the landlord decided to lease some space to the post office. Either way, they certainly weren't hiring.

HOWEVER, if anyone out there is interested in a winning investment, my feeling is that whoever owns the building and the equipment inside would be willing to sell rather cheaply. I'd say with a couple hundred thousand euros, I could get that place cranking. Churn out some good beers. Whaddya say? Interested? Call me! The time is now! Strike while the iron is hot!

...Back to our regularly scheduled program. The second brewery, Brouwerij Cnudde, seemed more promising. The gate was open and there were kegs and crated bottles in the courtyard. However, nobody was there! I don't know if it was the goat-auction around the corner or the raging party in the adjacent pub this morning, but I couldn't find a soul in the brewery. Not even my lurking presence in their courtyard summoned anyone forth. So, I left a CV on a table inside an open door and went to see about Belgian goat ownership.

In the town center, there was a stantioned-off circle were men in blue over-coats were parading around young goats on a leash. People would occasionally make the winning bid and then left with a goat on a leash. There was also an area where some older goats were being sold (silent auction maybe?). Who knows? Every goat auction is different, it's hard to keep track. Anyway, I bought some artisanal goat cheese from a guy selling from a table set-up at the back of his car. He had some interesting amalgamations: Greek spice, Italian spice, Garlic, Nettle, Mustard seed, and Plain. I bought a piece of the Greek, the Nettle, and some plain for 4.50 euros. This trip would not be wasted. And, by the way, where's a camera when you need one?

The third town was a bit bigger. No goat auctions, but there was a huge street market today instead which I wandered around in for a bit. Oh, the brewery... well, I found it, but the only employee I could see was in the middle of giving a tour or entertaining a group of Dutch-speaking tourists. Having used up all of my nerve to approach each brewery in the first place, I wasn't about to blunder into a group tour and embarrass myself with my pitifully small amount of Dutch. So, I dropped a CV in the mail slot and ducked out of there.

Since I had some time to kill before my train back to Brussels, I wandered around the street market. These are very typical in Belgium and it seems like every town has one at least one day a week. A section of intersecting streets in the town center is closed to car traffic from early morning to about 2 or 3. Lots of vendors selling everything from clothing and sundries to fresh meat, produce and cheese. Cheese!? That reminds me, where's my goat cheese!? Jeesis, I lost my cheeses! Left them on the train! Bummer! I was really looking forward to trying that aged Nettle goat cheese. Seemed like a once in a lifetime thing. Oops.

And then it began to rain.

So, now I'm back in our Brussels apartment, cheeseless and jobless. With three more breweries in the bag, the brewery-employment-search part of moving here is pretty much done. Visited 16 breweries in all, including the few that were duds or closed. No one hired me, but the seeds have been planted. I will "water them" from time to time, perhaps they will grow into something. For now, I'll just have to find a "normal" job which doesn't appear to be easy either.

As for the learning and on-the-job expertise I had hoped to gain from working in a brewery, I will just have to go to school instead. There is a three-week course starting in March at the school in Leuven which I am intending to enroll in. But since we don't rightly know where we'll be by next fall, that's the only schooling I can plan for at the moment. There are a few other options, though: Siebel in Chicago and/or Germany, UC Davis in California, Heriot-Watt in Scotland, IGB in England, and a number of "distance learning" programs. I'm leaning towards an education "a la carte" as opposed to going for a degree because I'd rather get going with my own brewery sooner than later.

What's that noise I hear? Sounds like a grind-stone. That's my cue. Better put my nose where it belongs...

--RP--