Zwanze Day 2014 at Bier Station

Zwanze Toast
Santé! Zwanze!

Holy Cantillon, it’s back!

Bier Station will be hosting this annual celebration of lambics and the art of experimentation. Brasserie Cantillon, a fine purveyor of the wild, spontaneously-fermented Belgian beers called lambics, creates a special, one-off beer each year and sends it to a limited number of bars across the world. Bier Station has been tapped to host this year.

This year’s zwanze beer, which is a Flemish word meaning “to mess around”, is Cuvée de Florian. It’s a beer their head brewer made for his son. It is a much like Cantillon Iris (a lambic with noticeable hop character) aged on a small amount of cherries.

To get a flavor of what might be in store, you can see a couple of the very first posts on this websites, announcing the last Zwanze Day held in Kansas City, and my review of the festivities.

This will be a ticketed event, but Bier Station has not announced the details. We will update when we know more.

Update

Bier Station posted an update on Facebook on how Zwanze Day will be handled.

  • The event will start at 2:00 pm on Saturday, Sept. 20
  • There will be NO TICKETS for this event. Admission will be free and open to the public. For safety reasons, we will have to limit crowd size, but we will do our best to keep things moving.
  • All Cantillon pours will be limited to 4 oz. and served one at a time. No flights, which could cause huge line clogs. The 4 oz. pour limit will help stretch the kegs’ life, move lines, and give as many folks as possible a chance to try these special beers
  • The four confirmed kegs for now are: 1) The 2014 Zwanze Beer: a Cuvée de Florian version — basically Iris (hoppy lambic) aged on a small amount of cherries 2) Mamouche 3) Geuze 4) Iris
  • Sorry, no Cantillon bottle sales that day (we want to keep it peaceful)
  • No extra charges because this is a special event. All pours will be priced according to our normal pricing structure
  • We are working on some special Belgian food pairings
  • Commemorative T-shirts will be for sale
  • We ask one thing of everyone: please be considerate of your fellow beer fans. If there is a line to get in and you feel you’ve had your fair share, please help us open space and make this a special day for as many people as possible.

NEW Update (September 5)

Yeah, forget all that. Here’s how it’s going down, from the Bier Station Facebook feed:

THREE TICKETED SESSIONS 2-10 P.M. ON SATURDAY, SEPT 20. 

Our ticketing goal is only to help recoup expenses needed to expand this event while keeping it reasonable to you. Most importantly, we want to keep you safe and comfortable, so we are NOT overselling this event. 

2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tasting Sessions. Ticket cost: $14

2 p.m. Tasting Session: Tickets will be sold at the Bier Station bar only and the ticket price will include a 4 oz. pour of Cantillon’s 2014 Zwanze Beer. Pours for three other Cantillon kegs (Mamouche, Gueuze, and Iris) will be sold separately. Tickets will be available for sale at Bier Station’s bar only on various days and at various times to allow as many people as possible the chance to get tickets. Ticket announcements will be posted on Facebook and/or Twitter, so watch social media. A maximum of two(2) tickets per person will be sold, so one person cannot come in on separate days and buy additional tickets. 2 p.m. Tasting Session ticket holders can remain for later sessions. A maximum of two 4 oz. pours will be poured at a time, per person. All Cantillon pours will be 4 oz. Other beers on tap will be served as usual (taster and full pours). Entry for the 2 p.m. session will be permitted starting at 1:45 p.m.
3 p.m. Tasting Session: Tickets will be sold at the Bier Station bar only and the ticket price will include a 4 oz. pour of Cantillon’s 2014 Zwanze Beer. Pours for three other Cantillon kegs (Mamouche, Gueuze, and Iris) will be sold separately. Tickets will be available for sale at Bier Station on various days and at various times to allow as many people as possible the chance to get tickets. Ticket announcements will also be posted on Facebook and/or Twitter. A maximum of two(2) tickets per person will be sold, so one person cannot come in on separate days and buy additional tickets. A maximum of two 4 oz. pours can be poured at a time per person. All Cantillon pours will be 4 oz. Other beers on tap will be served as usual (taster and full pours). 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. tasting session ticket holders can remain when General Admission begins. 

4 p.m. General Admission: Ticket cost: $4

General Admission tickets will be sold online in advance. We will tap two, additional Cantillon kegs (for a total of six!) at 4 p.m: Cuvée Saint-Gilloise and Rosé de Gambrinus. Plus, we will tap a host of special kegs from Shelton Brothers distribution, so everyone will get their fair share of great beer.

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