Dok’s Brewery: From the kitchen to the cellar via the garage

Together with partner Inge Du Bois, Filip Meert is the owner of Dok’s Brewery. They have just returned from Tenerife, but even there, their passion for beer wasn’t a secret. They visited a local brewery, which resulted in the plan to make a new beer together.

For Filip and Inge, beer is 100% passion. Brewing isn’t their main profession, but rather a hobby that got out of hand. “I’ve been brewing since 2000,” says Filip. “I bought a starter kit from Brouwland and got to work in the kitchen. That project quickly moved from the pantry to the garage and now I brew in our basement. The smell and size keep forcing me to move!”

The next step
In 2005, after five years of trying, Filip decided to take a beer course for a few years. “My father was a chef. I spent a lot of my childhood hanging around in kitchens, watching him invent recipes. That inspired me. I love coming up with creative brews. But it’s still useful to start from a proper base.” In 2016, the time was ripe to upgrade the equipment as well. “Our budget was limited, so we had to get creative with second-hand material. So we bought a 250-litre boiler from an ice cream maker who was retiring.”

Now that they had the necessary knowledge and good equipment, it was time for the next step. “I like to experiment with recipes. Once you know what you’re doing, you can let your imagination run wild. That is delicious in more ways than one! I myself like to use various herbs in my beers. Our first real beer was a blond of 6 to 7%. Other types of beers followed soon after.”

Passion for brewing
An important part of the Dok’s story is their choice to use only natural raw materials and traditional brewing processes. “We have a microbrewery, but it’s not our main source of income. Everything is fuelled by our passion. That’s why we’re not as focused on cost efficiency, but rather on our values. We don’t want to compromise in our choice of ingredients and in the pursuit of the high-quality beer we envisage.”

Dok’s range now includes five beers. It all started with a blond, a brown, and an amber in 2017. In 2018, they added an IPA and then their ‘Avondgloed’, a Belgian strong ale of 9.8% in 2020. “Our brown beer is somewhat atypical: it doesn’t have much sugar and doesn’t have that expected caramel taste; instead, it’s got a crisper, softer aroma due to the addition of young Lambic.” This brown beer won silver at the 2018 Brussels Beer Challenge and bronze at the 2019 World Beer Awards. The Avondgloed also won prizes this year: silver at the World Beer Awards!

More beer and more beer styles
Dok’s recently updated their materials. At the beginning of 2022, Filip and Inge bought a new 500 L Ss Brewtech. Together with their three 710 L fermentation tanks, they can now handle a larger beer volume. “Five hundred or fifty litres, it all takes the same amount of time to brew,” Filip points out. “But our capacity is now twice as big.”

“The future? I’d like to make another IPA-like beer. Plus, we’ve got that project with a microbrewery from Tenerife now. I’ll keep making new things in any case. Because that’s what’s great about brewing: you can get as creative as you want.”

Tips for beginning brewers?
“Don’t wait! If you’re interested, just start brewing. There is an enormous amount of information available on websites, in videos, through forums… The hobby brewer community has a strong bond and everyone helps each other. Brouwland is an excellent starting point for materials and ingredients. Brewing is a beautiful, inexpensive, and international hobby. You quickly get to know new people and cultures. However, brewing does require patience: beer isn’t ready immediately. But that’s what I like about it: you make your own mark, see everything evolve, and present your beer to your friends when it’s finally ready. Plus, if the beer also tastes good… Then it’s really a party!

Filip and Inge are complementary as the pillars of the Dok’s Brewery. He is the brewer, while she takes care of logistics, accounting, and sales. Would you like to taste the Dok’s Brewery beers? You can order the five beers via their website or via their partner site Curieuseneus. You can also find them in a variety of beer shops around Asse and sometimes even abroad.