La Brasserie de Blaugies is a farmhouse brewery, located in the town of Dour which is directly south of Ghent right down on the French border. This family enterprise began in 1988, and now involves the two sons as well as their parents who together founded the brewery.
They mostly make saisons – and very good ones at that, though their range does extend to a tripel, an imperial stout and a winter beer.
But the farmhouse brews are what this brasserie is about, so we must start there.
La Vermontoise is a collaborative brew with Hill Farmstead from the US. The name shares this collaboration – Hill Farmstead is in Vermont, and the area around Blaugies (the nearest city is Mons) is known as Montoise.
Rather than do anything too drastic, the beer is based on one of Blaugies other beers (the Saison d’Epeautre which is made with spelt) and then US Amarillo hops added. The beer retains the rustic farmhouse character of all the Blaugies beers, earthy, flowery and slightly spicy with more than enough funk to be interesting. The Amarillo hops add some citrus notes and a little more bitterness.