One of the most lauded lambic breweries and producer of some of the most sought-after beer in the world, Belgium’s Brasserie Cantillon sends kegs of Zwanze to select beer bars and breweries around the globe to be tapped and enjoyed each year on Zwanze Day.
This year, Zwanze Day will take place on September 28th, and Florida is lucky enough to have two host locations. Only 28 bars and breweries were chosen in the United States to receive this beer.
The list of host locations for Zwanze Day 2019 are:
United States
• Alewife — Long Island City, New York
• Armsby Abbey — Worcester, Massachusetts
• Avenue Pub — New Orleans, Louisiana
• Bagby Beer — Oceanside, California
• Beachwood BBQ — Seal Beach, California
• Brick Store Pub — Decatur, Georgia
• Crooked Stave Barrel Cellar — Denver, Colorado
• De Garde Brewing — Tillamook, Oregon
• E9 Brewing Co. — Tacoma, Washington
• Fonta Flora Brewery — Morganton, North Carolina
• Green Bench Brewing Co. — St. Petersburg, Florida
• Hill Farmstead Brewery — Greensboro, Vermont
• Holy Grale — Louisville, Kentucky
• Jester King Brewery — Austin, Texas
• Monk’s Café — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Novare Res Bier Café — Portland, Maine
• Redlight Redlight — Orlando, Florida
• Row 34 — Boston, Massachusetts
• Russian River Brewing — Santa Rosa, California
• Sante Adairius Portal — Santa Cruz, California
• Schera’s Restaurant and Bar — Elkader, Iowa
• Side Project Brewing Cellar — Maplewood, Missouri
• The Sovereign — Washington D.C.
• Spuyten Duyvil — Brooklyn, New York
• Thin Man Brewery — Buffalo, New-York
• The Veil Brewing Co. — Richmond, Virginia
• Hopleaf Bar — Chicago, Illinois
• Yazoo Brewing Co. — Madison, Tennessee
What is Zwanze? Zwanze Day?
Zwanze is an annual release from Brasserie Cantillon that is experimental in nature and is usually never brewed again. Beginning in 2011, after Cantillon owner Jean Van Roy noticed that Zwanze was being sold for hundreds of dollars on black market beer websites, Van Roy decided to change the format of the beer’s release from bottles to kegs. Zwanze’s release format was changed from a release of bottles to a worldwide celebration that only happens one day each year.
For more information on Zwanze, see the entry on Lambic.info.
What will Zwanze 2019 taste like?
From Cantillon’s owner Jean Van Roy via Facebook:
The beer for this year’s Zwanze was brewed in March 2016 and kegged January 26th 2018.
Contrary to past Zwanze beers, this beer is not the result of a special blend or the addition of a special fruit, but of a wholly unique brew.
On March 1st 2016, we brewed a smoked Lambic using a blend of classic pilsner malt and smoked malt.
Rather than taking the beer to an extreme, we looked instead to find a balance between the acidic character of Lambic and the woodiness of the smoked malt.
The result is a fine Gueuze with the classic notes of a Cantillon, complemented by an elegant smokiness in the nose and on the palate.