Come with me on a journey to Zammel (of all places), a small town in North-East Belgium, where we find ourselves at the doorsteps of GCB (God Child Brewery). Maybe it’s a Belgian thing, but over here you can just as easily be a craft brewer as well as a craft cidermaker. So it is with Mauro Vissers, brewer and cidermaker at GCB. You’re as likely to find a Dark Quadruple Christmas beer from Mauro, as you are a co-ferment of apple, pear, quince, and hops. Whilst not impossible in the UK, from the little I know of the duty system, the different official forms and registration required from His Majesty’s Government make things a bit more challenging if you want to make cider, co-ferments, and beer as a producer. Like I say, not impossible, but maybe a hinderance to full-on experimentation with alcoholic beverages. This appears to not be the case in Belgium, where Mauro’s output the past couple of years has been prolific and is sure to stimulate your taste buds.

I first met Mauro on a sponsored bike ride through Belgium and Holland, over to Northern England and up to Scotland and the Isle of Arran a few years ago. Back then he was not brewing or fermenting anything (to the best of my knowledge!), but with a father who runs an excellent beer and spirits shop (Prik & Tik in Zammel), and a grandfather who brews a delicious serious of Belgian beers, Ne Flierefluiter, it was only a matter of time before Mauro stepped up to some form of interaction with the drinks industry in Belgium. I did not necessarily expect him to produce quite the range of co-ferments and differing styles of beers and ciders so early into his drinks-making career. It’s very much appreciated however! I’m happy (nervously cautious) myself working with orchard blends and different single variety ciders and perries for the first few years of my side project, Toye’s Cider. Mauro is steaming ahead with an almost alchemical desire to see what fruit works with what hop, and how a barrel can influence the overall flavour of the drink. It’s inspiring to see, so it’s only right and proper that GCB gets covered here on Cider Review – particularly after his bottle Three Guys, One Barrel, made it to the list of my Top Ciders & Perries of 2023. 

Let’s delve in now to ask Mauro a few questions and find out more about GCB.

CR: How’s it going Mauro? What’s the cider, perry, and beer scene like over in Belgium? I imagine the beer scene is thriving as ever, but cider and perry?

Mauro: It’s actually a hard time for small breweries in Belgium, because there are just too many off them. Cider and perry is getting more popular every day, especially in the big cities.

CR: What inspired you to set up GCB, and where does the name come from?

Mauro: I started GCB because of my passion for beers, and my curiosity for the brewing process. I started making cider because my dad once brought a bottle from Scotland that was aged on a whisky cask. I had never seen anything like that in Belgium so I decided to start making it myself. The name comes from GodChildBrewery, because I started brewing with my Godfather.

CR: What’s your set-up like? Where do you produce your drinks?

Mauro: I make my cider in a small unit which I hire. But it has become a bit too small. I have stock literally everywhere 😅

CR: You have a ready-made route to market with your family’s great shop, Prik & Tik. What’s your experience been like of building the brand within the local community that the shops serves?

Mauro: As I mentioned earlier, cider is getting much more popular, especially in the big cities. So, I sell most of my cider in our own shop, and in bars in big cities. It’s too special to sell in the local bars unfortunately.

CR: When I think of Belgium, I think of cherry tree orchards. What’s the availability of apple and pear varieties out there? Do you have to go far for the fruit?

Mauro: No, I am lucky I have a big fruit company with a lot of different varieties only 15 minutes away from me.

CR: Does much UK cider and perry make it over to Belgium? Or is it mostly drinks from mainland Europe?

Mauro: If I want to order some cider to sell in our shop, it comes either from Belgium or from the UK. There is definitely quite a bit of cider coming from the UK to Belgium.

CR: How willing are Belgians to spend on high quality, full juice ciders and perries?

Mauro: It’s easier to sell a special, more expensive cider than a cheaper simpler cider.

CR: Can you explain the rules to us around co-ferments in Belgium? Do you have to register differently with the tax authority as a beer brewer, cidermaker, and co-fermented drinks maker?

Mauro: The are not so strict, only for the taxes you have a lot off different categories for co-ferments.

CR: What are you looking forward to making this year? Any new styles or varieties of fruit to work with?

Mauro: I have pressed a few cherries this summer, that’s the first time I have done that. Other than that, I will press some new grape, apple and pear varieties. I’m also experimenting with a strawberry cider.

Thank you to Mauro for that insight into his operations. On to the drinks at hand!

GCB, Three Guys, One Barrel – review

How I served: One hour in the fridge to lightly chill.

Appearance: Not sure it’s coming across fully in the photo but there’s an almost salmon pink hue to the liquid. A light Ross on Wye-esque sparkle, with a thin mantle on the top of the co-ferment cider.

On the nose: A sumptuous lambic beer nose to it, reminiscent of a gueuze or kriek. Thinking quince, gooseberries and culinary apples.

In the mouth: It’s gorgeous! Gueuze meets cider. Whether this is coming from the barrel, the yeast, or the fruit varieties I couldn’t say. The hops are working a treat. Theres a chocolate lime note, dusted in lemon sherbet. Mild stringency on the bottom of the mouth. A very satisfying sip. When at first I found out this was a co-ferment containing apple, crab apple, grape, quince, and hops…what a statement of intent from a young cidermaker. At 6.9% abv, like very little we can find in the UK thanks to slightly loopy duty regimes.

In a nutshell: The antithesis to generic fruit concentrate ciders – this is full juice, mega mix, delightfully fun, considerately made cider.

GCB, Elstar – Montepulciano 2023 – review

How I served: Hour and a half in the fridge, then out to watch the Paris Olympic opening ceremony.

Appearance: Quite unlike any other cider I’ve reviewed: dark ruby red. When it comes to a colour battle between apple and grape, Montepulciano wins. Shining a light on the glass reveals a light effervescence below the mantle that forms on top.

On the nose: Wow! Somewhere between cider, grape juice, and red wine. Slight cherry note there, it smells unctuous and syrupy.

In the mouth: Have you ever considered how fermented apple and grape sit together in a drink? I know there are sparkling red wines out there, I’ve yet to try something quite like this. At times I feel I’m drinking a cider with a red wine influence, and then vice versa. The 9.5% abv sits somewhere between the two. We talk about tannin in cider and how it’s readily accepted in red wine drinking circles, but can cause consternation in some cider drinkers. Well here’s the experimental fusion for you (available in Belgium, but perhaps not as easily accessible in countries with slightly recessive duty regimes…UK). This is everything cider, or even, craft drinks has the potential to be. Much easier to do in the EU with the range of markets available of course. Quite importantly, it tastes brilliant!

In a nutshell: Bringing together a Dutch apple variety, Elstar, with an Italian red wine variety, Montepulciano, by a Belgian cider maker, GCB.

GCB, Cuvée Louis – review

How I served: Day in the fridge and then out for 30mins before pouring.

Appearance: A blend of unnamed dessert apples going into this give a very pale, Sauvignon Blanc hue. Crystal clear clarity with very light effervescence. Kudos for listing the dosage level of 6 grams of sugar per litre on the label, along with all the picking, pressing, and bottling details!

On the nose: Highland Park calling, would you like to put your cider in our casks? The barrel influence here has noticeably increased since I tried this the first time, curious as it’s been in bottle then, but in the journey of the cider, the barrel is really expressing itself on the nose.

In the mouth: The apple notes have fallen away, which I thought were balanced and sherbety at 6.9% abv back in December 2023, and present now as rather solventy, ethyl acetate. The Highland Park barrel is exclaiming a bruising dominance here now, very woody. 8 months ago I thought this was exceptional, and I think if it had used slightly more acidic or tannic apple varieties, it may have still been that now. Pleased I tried it in December so I can see the journey a cider can make, even in bottle.

In a nutshell: An interesting example of the fragility of certain dessert fruit when they come up against a powerful barrel influence.

GCB, Pomper ‘23 – review

50% Delbare Estival apples and 50% Clapp’s Favourite pears.

How I served: Day in the fridge then out to breathe for 30mins before serving

Appearance: Crystal clear clarity again, with a slightly electric green undertone to the hue. Theres a slightly higher dosage here of 8grams of sugar per litre, and slightly larger bubbles rising from the calm effervescence in the glass.

On the nose: Pear drop hard boiled sweets, alongside a slightly rhubarb and apple skin note. Quite different, as with all of Mauro’s drinks so far.

In the mouth: Maybe it’s the champagne yeast used here, but I’m getting a really familiar flavour on my palate. We’re in sour beer territory here, and it’s lovely. I’m drawn back to tasting a Lindemans Apple sour beer from this flavour profile, but at 6.9% abv. Light acidity, sherbet, those toxic waste super sour sweets from childhood – but on a good day where they were feeling a bit more forgiving. A relatively simple blend (by Mauro’s standards so far) of apple (a French cultivar) and pear( a US cultivar from Massachusetts), and one that works well for it.

In a nutshell: A Belgian co-ferment well-worth seeking out!

GCB, Boskoop-Sangiovese – review

How I served: A day in the fridge, then out 15 mins before serving.

Appearance: Lightly sparkling Ribena (a UK berry-based soft drink we call a squash). No real mantle to discern on the top of the drink. When held up to the sun, a pink and purple hue to the drink. The Sangiovese grape name apparently means “blood of Jupiter” in Latin. Maybe if Bacchus and Jupiter had gotten into fisticuffs after one too many glass of red wine.

On the nose: The Sangiovese grapes are winning here as nosing blind I’d have said you’d handed me a red wine, chilled and with a slight sparkle prickling my nose, but still a red wine.

In the mouth: It’s delicious, and is a co-ferment, but again I’m picking out Sangiovese grapes notes – plummy, red cherry fruit, soft tannins on the mouth, juicy, boozy ribena. Not sure Belle de Bosjkoop is getting a chance to shine here – it’s a bit like Fionn Regan and Taylor Swift both trying to duet together: great artists in themselves, but I imagine one would sing much louder in that stadium than the other. I’d like to see a single variety Belle de Boskoop as well so I can understand how that variety perhaps as a cider on its own. Would no doubt be lower than the hefty 9.5% abv here. By all accounts it sounds like an interesting russeted, duel-purpose apple that could work very well!

In a nutshell: Another brilliant co-ferment from Mauro. If this is the drink which brings a few more wine drinkers over to cider in Belgium and beyond, then I’m all for it!

Conclusions

It’s so refreshing to try a swathe of drinks which are highly experimental in one sense, but in harmony with the overall ambition and drive of the cidermaker/beermaker/drinks wizard. From what I could glean from Mauro, although there is a bit of parperwork involved, there’s not that much more of a challenge to make beer, cider, perry, or coferments over in Belgium. Where’s there’s a will, there’s a way. In the UK at least it seems like where there’s a will, there’s a new form to fill out for HMRC and another hoop to jump through. There seems to be little nuance between when a drink is a cider, or a made wine, or a full on bona fide wine itself, and whilst a cidermaker with the inkling to do so could probably quite easily make one of these drinks, selling it would be another matter. Not so in Belgium! I’m excited to follow Mauro’s career as he’s coming into this world in his early twenties, so has many more decades ahead of him to hone his craft and experiment further.

Well worth a re-visit is Adam’s article, Compound Corner, from back in 2021 looking at a few co-ferments from UK makers, proving it is just about possible to do with the right forms filled in. Across the pond you have the likes of Eden Cider branching out in a vino direction, buying into Shelburne Vineyard, bringing the orchard and vines under one operating handle. You have the likes of that with Once Upon A Tree here in the UK too, but I wonder at the difference in price point for a UK wine compared to cider and if some producers would find that off-putting to continue running both businesses?

Anyhow, off that tangent, the next time you’re in Belgium, visit Joran Cidrothèque in Brussels (resting place of Ross Cider’s Deja Bu releases), and then, head out to Zammel and pay a visit to the marvellous Prik & Tik, an Aladdin’s Cave of different bottlings of beer, cider, gin, and whisky galore – you might get to say hi to a certain up-and-coming cidermaking whilst you’re there…