Cuvee Soeur'Ise (ABV 8%) from De Leite Brewery is made by adding 250 grams of whole unpitted sour cherries per liter of the base beer, which is their "Enfant Terriple" Tripel. Over 6 months, the cherries lend their flavor and color, and the microorganisms are given time to digest the sugars, resulting in a soft natural souring. Transferred to oak wine barrels, the beer ages further, adding woody notes to the succulent, tart cherry flavor.
Brewery De Leite: Ruddervoorde, Belgium
In 1997 Luc Vermeersch decided to channel his love of traditional, rustic crafts into the construction of a little garden shed that soon became the home of a tiny brewery and bread oven. When he bought his 30-liter system, the Finnish manufacturer gave him one week of training, and for about a decade the rest of his brewing education was self-taught. After enrolling in a brewing course, however, he started to dream of a larger brewery, and in 2008, Brewery De Leite was born.
The next phase of his dream was to produce his own barrel-aged sour beers, so in 2011 he bought his first 14 barrels from wine-grower friends in France. That program quickly expanded into his current array of 105 barriques and eight 4000-5000L foeders, and his love for sour beers could finally be translated in his own brewery into a series of 'cuvée beers'.
In 1997 Luc Vermeersch decided to channel his love of traditional, rustic crafts into the construction of a little garden shed that soon became the home of a tiny brewery and bread oven. When he bought his 30-liter system, the Finnish manufacturer gave him one week of training, and for about a decade the rest of his brewing education was self-taught. After enrolling in a brewing course, however, he started to dream of a larger brewery, and in 2008, Brewery De Leite was born.
The next phase of his dream was to produce his own barrel-aged sour beers, so in 2011 he bought his first 14 barrels from wine-grower friends in France. That program quickly expanded into his current array of 105 barriques and eight 4000-5000L foeders, and his love for sour beers could finally be translated in his own brewery into a series of 'cuvée beers'.
