Beer collectors – Beerndx

The collector and his beer #4

Beer lovers of all shapes and sizes increasingly share their love for beer online. We like to see what others drink, so we regularly check social media. On the Belgian Beer Board group we came across a photo that triggered our curiosity, a US Marine with an obvious passion for Belgian beer. We reached out to him and moments later we got ourselves an interview.

Who is the man behind the photo of a cellar full of Belgian beers?

My name is Scott Patchcowski, a man of 49.9 🙂 in a month I turn 50, from Doylestown Pennsylvania. Former Marine and currently employed by the US Census Bureau.

Scott Patchcowski proudly next to his Belgian collectibles.

You stood out with an online picture of your beercollection, how would you describe your collection?

The collection is my attempt to try every Belgian beer I can get my hands on. It started as a way to decorate the basement, but has taken over. Most are empty bottles, but I do have the St Bernardus Collectors Editions Magnums (every year except 2016), and 3L 2015 Corsendonk Dubbel on display. I also have an extensive glass collection, as required to properly enjoy a Belgian Beer! In addition, I also have started buying a 12 pack of Orval every few months, drinking half, and stashing the other half in the basement to forget about for a couple years.

How big is your collection currently?

According to my Excel Spreadsheet (and I have a few in the beer fridge that haven’t made the list), I have 697 different beers.

What made you start collecting Belgian beer?

I met a beautiful lady at a local drinking establishment in 2011 that I started dating in 2012. No one could (and still can’t) figure out where her accent is from… well it turned out to be Brussels, Belgium! We celebrated our 5th anniversary in January.

She took me home to Belgium for the first time in 2013. I had always been a fan of craft beers and preferred stronger beers to the “Miller Lite” scene. From my first beer in Belgium ( I believe it was a Waterloo Tripel at the restaurant next to the Waterloo Battlefield), I was hooked.

She is not even a beer drinker (can get her to sip a framboise lambic on occasion, but that is about all), but we visited both Orval and Chimay on that trip to visit the Abbeys. We were at The Lambic Expo in Beersel and found out it happened to be the day of the Open Door reopening of ‘3 Fonteinen’. I met Armand (the Master Brewer) and was introduced to lambic beers and loved them as well. She and her father also took me to Brugge and Ghent. It was in Brugge that her father bought me “All Belgian Beers”, which at that time was a 1200 page encyclopedia attempting to list and describe every beer brewed in Belgium… The old US Marine in me considered that a challenge, and the collection began!

I have been to Belgium 4 times to date and always come back with as many bottles as I can carry. My father in law visits once or twice a year (just got the devastating news his flight for next month is cancelled) and always brings new beers for the collection. I keep my Excel spreadsheet up to date for him and any friends that may be coming to visit us from Belgium. My wife’s friends have been absolutely great to me. For a wedding we attended in 2018 the groom gifted me 4 Westvleteren XIIs! They are aging comfortably in the basement…

Where do you purchase your beers?

It is obviously getting difficult to find new beers for the collection, but I’m always on the lookout. I get down to Monks Café in Philadelphia (about an hour away) a few times a year to enjoy harder to find beers and can usually find something new. Occasionally I’ll find a restaurant in the US with a good beer list.

What is the best place to buy your beer?

The best place I’ve found to order beer is online. I have ordered beers several times in Europe and often they charge Belgian prices. Despite the high shipping costs to the US, I think it is no more expensive than the price you pay at a specialty beer store. Moreover, Belgian beer is really difficult to obtain.

Do you have a favorite brewer/ favorite beer, both domestic as international?

My favorites are the traditional Trappist and abbey style Dubbels and Tripels, with a properly aged Westvleteren XII at the top of the list (shocker, I’m sure). For something more obscure, I love the Pannepot Fisherman’s Ales (the more age, the better).
I mostly drink Belgiums, but I’m from Michigan, and enjoy a good stout such as CBS or KBS from Founders in Grand Rapids Michigan.

These beers are ready to drink, good choices!

Which beer is on the top of your wishlist?

A rare Cantillon.

With whom would you like to drink a bottle of beer and why?

I’ve tried to think of someone, but I’m not a starchaser… I just like drinking with friends or drinking with and where people are having fun!

What is the showpiece of your collection and why?

I’ll go with my 20+ Brasserie De La Senne beers. Not only were most of them fantastic, memorable beers, but the artwork is very cool as well. For full beer, it’s a a 25.03.18 Wesvleteren XII that is about to be enjoyed for my 50th birthday a few days after its 5th!

What would you give as advice to someone just starting to collect beers?

Try everything you can… Share what you love.

What do you think is the beertrend of 2020?

I’ve heard that sours are “The next IPA”… I hope that’s true… I sure know I can’t understand the IPA craze here in the USA.

Dear reader, if you know someone or if you have a Cantillon yourself, please send us an email to info@beerndx.com and we can put you in touch with Scott Patchcowski. It will undoubtedly get a nice place in his collection!

The collector and his beer #3

A source of beer knowledge, special beers and warm hospitality. That’s how a visit to Huub van Dijk can be summarized. Huub is the brewer of multiple prize winner ‘saison Wittekop’, a phenomenal beer with which he won the Brussels Beer Challenge and the Dutch Beer Challenge. He is also an award-winning zythologist and collector of just about anything that has to do with beer. To combine the useful with the pleasant, we went to visit Huub with the BeerNDX team.

Time for the interview!

“Sorry for the mess men, but we have just returned from 2 days in Antwerp and have not had much time to clean up.” Once we started talking about Antwerp and its bars, the conversation really takes off. “Do you know where you should go? Café Mombasa in Borgerhout; very nice beers that you can’t drink anywhere else. Also very hospitable, highly recommended. ” While we are being served a ‘Wittekop’, he picks up a number of folders. In these folders – described in detail – are the places in the Netherlands and Belgium which true beerlovers must visit. Quite an undertaking, while browsing through the scriptures.

Team BeerNDX listens carefully to the stories of Huub.

While we talk about the visit to Antwerp and the collection of beers, related beer items are discussed as well. Clearly it is not only beer that he collects, we notice that when he shows us the rooms upstairs. “I think I have about 80 beer neon signs and they all still work.” he hasn’t exaggerated one bit, especially by showing us the neon sign of Sint Sixtus (!). There are even 2 rooms and cupboards in the corridor that are filled with enamel signs from breweries that no longer exist or at least have adopted a clearly different house style.

Pretty impressive Huub, I am very curious about the beers in your collection, how many bottles do you think you have?

There was a long pause, after which he answered: “I don’t dare to estimate, I think somewhere between 500 and 600.” A very modest estimate, I can tell you.

The La Trappe oak aged collection is also complete!

When did you start collecting beer?

The real collection must have started somewhere in 2009. At least, most of my beers are from that time. I certainly have older beers in my collection, but I often bought them later. How do I get them? I have been in the beer world for quite some time now, and after a while you will get to know a lot of people in there. As a result, I have nice beers that sometimes even the brewer himself no longer has.

Can you name such a showpiece?

For example, I still have a closed box with 12 ‘Cuvée van de Keizer Blauw’ from 1999. The beer will be over its top by now, but it is really special to have. I don’t believe there are many of them around in this condition.

Another showpiece of Huub: Ter Dolen Limited Edition.

Where do you purchase your beer?

I particularly like the traditional beer culture and that is why I like to visit Belgian stores a lot. You will almost always find special items, especially at smaller stores in unknown places. I can recommend it to anyone who visits Belgian. Oh wait, on second thought, rather not. Otherwise the specials are gone before I can get there, haha.

And when you have found a nice beer, with whom do you prefer to taste it?

That’s easy, with Mieke Desplenter from Ter Dolen and Hildegard van Ostaden from the Leyerth. These ladies have meant a lot to the beer world and they are also very knowledgeable.

Any tips for the starting collector?

Make sure you have a good environment to store the beer. Beer should not have too much light and it should not be too hot. But the most important tip: “Don’t forget to drink!”

The collector and his beer #1

The very first collector we visit is Jaap Mulders (35) from Wouw, The Netherlands. Besides being a beer enthusiast, Jaap also been collecting extraordinary beers for a few years. He takes us into his personal beer cellar.

Jaap Mulders (35) from Wouw, The Netherlands.

Collection size:
80 bottles of 75 cl
72 bottles of 30 cl

Hi Jaap, when did you start collecting beer?

As a present for my 30th birthday, my friend gave me a bottle of Gouden Carolus Cuvee van de Keizer blue. He told me I had to store this beer for at least 10 years to be at its best. I figured storing only one bottle would make no sense, so I started buying more.

*The Gouden Carolus Cuvee van de Keizer*

Which style you think is best suited for storing?

Quadrupels and barleywines for sure, these beer become a lot smoother in time. Recently I started drinking and storing gueuze beers. This still offers a whole new world to explore.

What do you prefer to add to your collection?

I like to go to specialized liquor stores to look at the big bottles to see if there’s something that appeals to me. I’m always looking out for bottles I think that will increase in value in time. However, a Duvel Barrel Aged for 25 euros per bottle is a little too expensive for me. At this moment, a big bottle of La Trappe Quadrupel from 2015 is also worth 25 euros and I’d rather drink this.

Which bottle in your collection are you most proud of? Why this one?

Not particularly one bottle. Every volumes of Cuvee van de Keizer blue since 2013. Since 2017 I have been buying a box for every volume. This way I also have something to drink in the meantime while my beers are increasing in value.

Which beer is on your wishlist?

The St. Bernardus Oak Aged is definitely on top of my list. At the time I thought it was expensive at 9 euros. Now I can really punch myself in the face for this.