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Even if February is just begun we look straight to March at one of the most important events in Europe: the Zythos Bier Festival, the largest beer fair of Belgium. Since Belgium is a brewing paradise, it’s easy to understand the expectation that spread every year among beer enthusiasts across the whole continent. This year the Zythos will be held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 March.

The list of present breweries is impressive. Among others: De Dolle, Glazen Toren, De Ranke, Rulles, Rodenbach, Fantôme, the Trappist Orval, Chimay, Achel and St. Remy (which produces Rochefort), the “sour” Boon, Girardin, Oud Berseel, and others. A popular vote contest will crown the queen of the festival: after the triumphs of Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor (2008) and De Dolle Cosmos Porter (2009), will see who will win in 2010. If you want to try and make a prediction you can find the list of the beers on the Zythos web-site. By the way, De Dolle will introduce an enigmatic Exprmtl Brew AD2010… is it a new beer especially brewed for the event?

Like other similar events, even the Zythos will host a restaurant area, a beershop, a big raffle and even a children’s area, where is possible to park kids while you merrily get drunk .The entrance is free, beer tastings (15cl) cost 1.20 euros each, a tasting glass will be available for a deposit of 3 euros.The Zythos is held in St. Niklaas, a little town close to Antwerp.

Since 2008, Zythos is anticipated by another great event, the Pre-ZBF Festival. The event will be organized by the Alvinne brewery, which will allow participants to sample the house products, as well as those of other breweries: Struise, Urthel and De Molen (Netherlands), Brewdog (Scotland), Thornbridge (England).The event will be held Friday March 5 (although Thursday 4 there will be the Night of Whiskey & Beers), in the incredible setting of Castle Lakebosschen, situated between Bruges and Kortrijk.There will be a beershop, a restaurant and even a “tent for raters”, where the true beer geeks will gather to rate beers. For further information see the pdf of the event.