A moment with Tom, Antidoot Wilde Fermenten

In the beer world, Antidoot Wilde Fermenten is one of the productions with confidential quantities but in world renown. After being a professor of philosophy, Tom Jacobs converted to a brewer, but to confine his work to that of cereals and hops would be far too simplistic. It also produces ciders, recently wine and it develops its products with multiple plants and fruits. His approach is global and thus touches the profession of cultivator, winemaker, breeder, assembler ... His vision of what he does is like his products: unclassifiable and exciting.

Thank you Tom for receiving us at home. Can you introduce us to your field?

We are here in the garden of our house and it is also the place where the brewery is located. We moved here with my family 15 years ago. At the beginning we did not have a specific plan but we succeeded in becoming self -sufficient, especially with regard to fruits, vegetables ...

The first thing we have set up was to plant fruit trees, starting with those who take time to grow and give fruit. At the beginning, between the house, the garden, and what we cultivate in the back, we had a hectare.

After the fruit trees, have you started planting grapes?

Yes, we started planting vines ten years ago, with Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer and resistant varieties such as the French Léon Millot, the Swiss Cabernet Jura and Sauvignac.

Recently, we expanded our estate with a new parcel of land, planting new vines as well as cider apples, mirabelle plums and any other tree that can be used for cider variants. For the grapes, we mainly selected white varieties, because they are less susceptible to insect pests, but also because they are the grapes we appreciate most, notably for the acidity they can bring.

We therefore planted a number of classic grape varieties, such as Riesling, Chardonnay, Savagnin, Cabernet France, Pinot gris... and some less classic ones, such as red Riesling, Johanniter and a number of new varieties from Austria, such as Donauriesling and Donauvetliner, and from France, with Calardis Blanc, Voltis, which is now authorized in Champagne, Sauvitage... We've also planted Muscat, not that we like it in wine, but we find it goes very well with beer.

Our vines are planted among our fruit trees. Our aim is to be able to adapt to climate change and attract insects that are allies of both crops and soil. The diversity of the trees we have planted brings diversity to the soil life, which helps us minimize our treatments and naturally produce healthy grapes.

We have a total of one hectare of vines, and I have to admit I'm surprised at the amount of work involved. Every year, we'll have different cuvées depending on what we've been able to harvest.

And with regard to aromatic plants and herbs that you have everywhere?

They make their lives!

We don't need to do this follow -up work as with the vines. There are some who were already where they pushed themselves and others that I planted myself, after discovering them in other places where I went.

In the end, how many trees are there to maintain?

We have planted around 200 trees, but that's without counting blackcurrants and other bays, figs ... especially since we don't use the fruits, sometimes these are also the leaves, the branches ... Today I'm happy We only use our grapes to produce our beers, ciders and for the first time our wines. We were able to make 4 barrels of our own wine.

With this production carried out by ourselves, we have total control over what we offer. We could of course buy fruit on the right and left, or in a geographic sector limited around the brewery, but I must admit that there is both pleasure and a state of mind that suits us well doing everything ourselves. We create a wide variety of products with our own means.

  

Does your old job have an influence on what you are doing today?

Previously I was a professor of philosophy, of course I no longer work at all on theory but I think that I tried to keep a certain vision, especially with regard to freedom. We try not to look too much to look at what others do, we are inspired by many other things and we avoid following fashions. We want to do things that we like, that we take pleasure in drinking without worrying about bringing this into boxes.

We regularly come to mix beer, cider, wine ... because for us it is a continuous set of natural fermentations. Above all, we are looking for flavors and a balance in what we do, regardless of the product.

Where do the quotes that can be found on your bottles come from?

They mainly come from poets of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, some of which are romantic current and in connection with nature. It echoes what we do because there is an ecological inspiration. This is why we are called Antidoot, it is a remedy for ourselves, an antidote to modern mass production, in which we enter into processes where we must always grow.

As soon as I started, I decided that our production would always be the same in terms of volumes, it is the essence of our project. Otherwise, we would lose all the spirit of freedom that we have now and we could no longer be able to do what we do.

Nor would we have time to know people who consume our products in person, and we know a majority of them, which is very important for us and which is part of the poetry of our profession. We try to ensure that this poetry that we find on our labels is also found in our bottles.

Speaking of modern production, is there a beer that you still appreciate in modern productions?

It is sometimes difficult to draw a clear line between modern or traditional, industrial or craft production beer. If I had to choose a beer in a beer bar it would be the XX-Bitter of de Ranke. It is not a typical craft beer in the strict sense of the term, we are far from an IPA, but it is a bitter beer with cones of fresh hops, that I appreciate.

Besides, in many beers that we realize we like to bring bitterness, certainly combined with acidity, but it is true that I like bitterness. I like Italian ammaros, very dry pils with a nice hoppy profile, but it is more something that I drink during festivals for example.

Besides, do you have a favorite beer festival?

In general, I am not too fan of festivals, because I find that they are not necessarily tasting places suitable for very balanced beers. This is also found on wine festivals, where you can taste lots of things in very small quantities. From my point of view it does not really appreciate what you taste. I like to be able to have a "zone of contemplation of the product", like the one where we are now.

But there is a festival in which we are always delighted to participate is the Brettanomyces carnival, in Amsterdam, because there is a different approach there, with many rooms to discuss very different subjects and tastings where we take our time.

For our part, we try not to stay only in the world of craft beer, and to open up to other universes, to other people, for example via wine, poetry, ceramics. This multitude of horizons provides pretty tasting experiences.

We know that you like wine, if you had to choose only one region, which one would it be?

Ahaha, you already know! This is of course the Jura.

A favorite grape variety?

Savagnin.

And a favorite winemaker?

The Labet Domaine!

Regarding your good gastronomic addresses, if you had to recommend 3 in Belgium to us?

Oh there is one that is very easy, it's a place not far from here and it's called Wannes Raps, in Diest, a very pretty medieval city in the Brabant region. It looks a bit like a Parisian bistro, it's affordable, with good ingredientss worked.

The second is in Louvain, it's the Hopgastrobar. It is a little more gastronomic place that is also affordable, where there is a very nice selection of beers and wines.

Finally, I would say, Veranda, in Antwerp. In terms of food it's incredible, it's gastronomic but without doing it too much. This is one of my favorite places in Belgium and they have a fantastic wine card.

Which restaurant do you say the most beautiful beer card?

It’s most likely De Gebrande Winning, in Saint-Trond.

What about ciders?

I would say Badi, in Brussels, we eat very well too, there is no need to book, it's very nice.

Thank you Tom for this exchange!

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