Zwanze Day at the Sovereign this year.
Doors, Cantillon Drafts & Zwanze Tasting Tickets at 12 pm. Zwanze Pours at 3pm
The Sovereign is incredibly honored to host Cantillon's Zwanze Day for the first time ever in 2016. The privilege of pouring their Zwanze blend each year is bestowed upon fewer than 60 locations across the entire globe. Our sister bar ChurchKey has had the distinct pleasure of hosting this event for the last 5 years and we couldn't be more excited to carry the torch on October 1st. We'll be opening the bar and restaurant at 12 PM for customers and along with the other participating bars we'll be tapping the Zwanze keg at 3 PM sharp.
This year's Zwanze offering is going to be a throwback to the Framboise Cantillon was producing until about 30 years ago. As the name implies, it was a lambic aged on raspberries, but back in the eighties they used fresh fruit that lost its color quickly and often made filtration difficult, so cherries were also used to help maintain some rosiness and to act as a secondary filter bed beneath the raspberries. Vanilla was also added to round out the flavor of the offering. With modern flash-freezing techniques helping to maintain color and consistency, Cantillon began producing Rosé de Gambrinus with 100% raspberries in the middle of the 1980s as well. This will be the first raspberry/cherry blend they've done since 1986, and definitely the only Cantillon lambic to incorporate vanilla since then.
Though we will not be officially pouring Zwanze 2016 until 3 PM–as we share in a worldwide toast with all of the other Zwanze Day breweries, bars and bottle shops–we will be preselling tickets for pours of Zwanze 2016 right when we open at 12PM. Do try to get to The Sovereign as close to our opening time as possible; we anticipate huge crowds and want to be sure that the first to arrive get to taste Zwanze 2016. All those with Zwanze 2016 tickets will get to taste this delicious rarity once the keg is tapped at 3PM. Additionally, all other Cantillon drafts will be available for purchase right when we open at 12PM for Zwanze Day.
Cantillon Zwanze Day 2016 Draft List (so far…):
Cantillon Zwanze 2016 (Tasting tickets begin selling at 12pm; Zwanze 2016 tapping at 3pm)
Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic (Available at 12pm)
Cantillon Kriek (Available at 12pm)
Cantillon Mamouche (Available at 12pm)
Cantillon Iris Grand Cru (Available at 12pm)