Brouwerij Ter Dolen N.V.

Brewery, Bar, Eatery

Eikendreef 21
Helchteren, 3530
Belgium

+32 (0)11 60 69 99 | map
terdolen.com

Appear to have changed the spelling from "Doolen" to "Dolen".
BEER STATS
Average:
3.73
Beers:
8
Ratings:
230
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.96
Reviews:
1
Ratings:
2
pDev:
2.02%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
 
Rated: 4.04 by HopBelT from Belgium

Aug 07, 2015
Photo of TheLongBeachBum
Reviewed by TheLongBeachBum from California

3.88/5  rDev -2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3 | food: 3
14th April 2001, and after a short visit to Achel, we headed for a Brewery Trip & a few hours at the Kasteel-Brouwerij Ter Doolen. As the name hints, the Brewery is housed in the old outhouses of the local Castle, a mighty impressive building & once home of the former Prime Ministers of Belgium. Treasure is reputedly hidden within the grounds from a former resident, but to date no one has found it. This story forms part of the Breweries marketing.
The Brewery itself is immensely impressive, this is no hobby brewer for sure. There is some **very** serious highly automated Brewing kit within this most traditional of settings. All stainless steel brewing equipment & vast quantities of massive stainless storage tanks, all hard connected with miles of stainless piping, no temporary hoses here. It is all neatly housed in a very large traditional building. The building was completely gutted & restored to its former glory, the replacement roof was the last item to be completed after the installation of the Brewery, there is now no way out for this most modern Brewery! It is one of only a handful of Breweries that I have seen that actually cleans itself after every brew with just the flick of a switch.
So much for the shiny new kit – what about the beers? They can all be sampled in the adjoining Café, also in the outbuildings, a nice 2 story building. In keeping with the surroundings, interior is very traditional, basic wooden Tables & Chairs, and smartly dressed waitresses that appeared to be attired in some old local costumes. Service is excellent.
Three beers were available; Abdijbier at 6.1%ABV, Double Dark at 7.1% & the best of the bunch for me, the superb Tripel at 8.1% - an excellent beer. Beers are available on Draft & from rather well-presented Grolsch style stoppered Bottles in a variety of sizes. But for all the high-tech brewing equipment, bottling of the beers is done by Koningshoeven. No real meals whilst we were there, but it did do rather nice snacks of Cheese, Cold Meats, Pickles and Local Pâtés, which accompany the Tripel rather well.
A highly automated modern Brewery, set sympathetically in very traditional surroundings, with a great Café to try the beers. In the summer, this is a very popular place with locals & visitors alike - and has run out of beer in the past on more than one occasion!!!
Jan 07, 2003
Brouwerij Ter Dolen N.V. in Helchteren, Belgium
Brewery rating: 3.73 out of 5 with 230 ratings