EP030 | Making the Megablend 2021

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS. Toer de Geuze couldn’t go ahead this year because of COVID-19. Its cancellation was very sad. The Toer de Geuze is a unique event for its incredible history, compelling characters, charming villages, and wonderful beers. One of those beers is the HORAL Megablend, a special blend which contains Lambic from each of the HORAL members released every two years for the Toer de Geuze. But despite there being no event in real life, HORAL still produced a Megablend this year. It was released to coincide with a new digital initiative, the Toer de Geuze At Home, an online event showcasing each of the Lambic breweries and blenderies in specially filmed videos, as well as a series of interactive live sessions during which the public could ask questions of the brewers and blenders.  HORAL teamed up with Visit Flanders, Toerisme Vlaams Brabant, and a live event streaming company called Bitstream to set up a small studio in one of the most respected beer cafes in Belgium for Lambic: Café In de Verzekering Tegen De Grote Dorst in the village of Eizeringen. Lieselot Caura of Beer Secrets hosted the event and I moderated the live sessions with the brewers and blenders. We had perspex screens between us, wore our masks religiously between streams, and to follow Belgian COVID guidelines, we didn’t share any beer during the event. We wanted it to be safe and it really was.  What you’re about to hear is my conversation during the Toer de Geuze At Home with Frank Boon of Brouwerij Boon, in which we discuss the 2021 Megablend. The questions that I’m asking Frank are coming in from a live chat feed. Before each conversation, I have no idea what will be asked or what we’ll be talking about. This interactive format gives the public the chance to ask questions directly to Frank in a live scenario. You can watch all of the sessions with HORAL Lambic brewers and blenders during the Toer de Geuze At Home 2021 in their entirety on the event website: https://toerdegeuze.be/ Sit back, listen, and enjoy my conversation with Frank Boon about the 2021 Megablend during the Toer de Geuze At Home.  *