Zwanze Day: What is it anyway?

This Saturday is a special holiday for beer lovers around the world. If you’re not into sour beer (yet!) you may have never heard of Zwanze Day. Trust me, it’s worth all the hype you are seeing in your twitter or instagram feed. Plus, there is still time to make plans to go to an event that doesn’t require tickets! So here’s everything you need to know about  this special beer holiday. In 2022 Zwanze day will be held on Saturday, September 24.

A Zwanze Day Explainer 

The world-famous lambic brewery, Cantillon, created the celebrated and cherished series of beers called Zwanze in 2008. The series was (and still is) a creation of brewer John Van Roy that allowed him to release an experimental, limited quantity beer.

From 2008 to 2010 Zwanze beers were released under cover to various undisclosed locations and very, very lucky drinkers. In 2011, the world-wide release party known as Zwanze Day was born. 

The toast and party holiday was created for many reasons, the first was to help dedicated lovers of spontaneous-fermented beer find these special brews and the second was to combat resellers. Van Roy said he was informed of Zwanze being sold on eBay for 600% mark ups. 

The 2011 world-wide Zwanze release party had 22 locations. In 2017 Zwanze Day locations have tripled to include 66 worldwide. 

The last special thing about Zwanze Day is that event goers are bonded together in a world-wide simultaneous toast! Bartenders and owners tap their kegs of the special Zwanze blend at the exact same time no matter the time zone. So when you’re feeling excited as the beer is passed around – know that their are beer lovers all over the world that feel the exact same way. 

Zwanze Day Beer

The Zwanze Day beer changes every year. The 2022 Zwanze day beer is a two year old lambic accented with black pepper. It’s not the standard black pepper you would see in a grinder on the dinner table. This pepper is wild and grows naturally in the forests of the Republic of the Congo. The Cantillon announcement states that it is, “Aromatic, but not too spicy, it blends beautifully with the refreshing acidity of our Lambic.”

In 2017 Zwanze was a lambic, tea blend inspired by John Van Roy’s son’s love of iced tea. The label art is inspired by another of his son’s loves – Game of Thrones. And c’mon how cool was this label?! 

My favorite part of the 2017 Zwanze announcement post was Jon Van Roy’s care to explain what Game of Thrones would be like in Cantillon’s world, “But in our version, no one dies and everyone has a good beer!”

As awesome as this label art is my favorite Cantillon Zwanze Day 2017 graphic comes from a brewery just outside of Austin, Texas, Jester King. They make a shirt for their event each year and 2017 is so funny to me. Below is their Instagram post with the shirt art. 

Zwanze Day 2022 Locations

The locations change every year for Zwanze day as they are hand picked by the team at Cantillon as places that will take good care of the beer and not over commercialize the event. It’s amazing to see the love of Lambic spread all over the world from Austria, to China, to Greece. In Cantillon’s home country of Belgium there are just five selected locations fewer than the event spots in Great Britain and France!

Australia Craft Beer Locations

• The Gilbert Street Hotel in Adelaide

• Blackhearts and Sparrows in Melbourne

Austria Craft Beer Locations

• Tribaun, Innsbruck

• Ammutson, Vienna

Belgium Craft Beer Locations

• Moeder Lambic Fontainas, Brussels

• Moeder Lambic Saint-Gilles, Brussels

• Le Comptoir Mi-Orge Mi-Houblon, Arlon

• De Gebrande Winning, Sint-Truiden

• Café Pardaf, Antwerpen

Canada Craft Beer Locations

• Dieu du Ciel, Montréal, Québec

• Birreria Volo, Toronto, Ontario

China Craft Beer Locations

• Beer&Barrel谷木, Shanghai

South Korea Craft Beer Locations

• Coolship Korea, Seoul

Denmark Craft Beer Locations

• Drikkeriget., Copenhagen

Estonia Craft Beer Locations

• Taptap

Finland Craft Beer Locations

• Stadin Panimobaari, Helsinki

France Craft Beer Locations

• La Fine Mousse, Paris

• La Capsule, Lille

• Brasserie du Mont-Salève, Neydens

• Le Bièrographe, Toulouse

• Le Sur Mesure, Nantes

• Orgao Beer House, Lyon

• Bear’s House, Montpellier

Germany Craft Beer Locations

• Café Herman, Berlin

• Mon Petit Café, Stuttgart

Great Britain Craft Beer Locations

• six°north, The Marine Hotel, Stonehaven

• Moor Beer, Bristol

• Beer Riff, Swansea

• Dead Crafty, Liverpool

• The Cross Keys, Leeds

• Beermerchants Tap, London

• Fuggles Beer Café, Tunbridge Wells

• The Free Trade Inn, Newcastle.

Greece Craft Beer Locations

• The Hoppy Pub, Thessaloniki

Italy Craft Beer Locations

• Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fà, Roma

• Abbazia di Sherwood, Caprino Bergamasco

• LambicZoon, Milano

• The Drunken Duck, Quinto Vicentino

• Malto Gradimento, Reggio Calabria

• Birre & Mondo Crudele, Crema

• Storie di Pinte, San Lazzaro

• Mosaik Beer House, Catania

• Diorama, Firenze

Japan Craft Beer Locations

• Aglio (Tokyo)

• Wine no Ouji Sama (Nara)

• Beer Boutique Kiya (Nagoya)

Netherlands Craft Beer Locations

• Het Lagerhuys, Amsterdam

Poland Craft Beer Locations

• Kufle i Kapsle Nowogrodzka (Varsovie)

• Dobry Zbeer (Gliwice)

Spain Craft Beer Locations

• Masia Agullons, Sant Joan de Mediona

• Chinaski Lavapiés, Madrid

• Homo Sibaris, Barcelona

• Cierzo, Zaragoza

• Desy, Donostia-San Sebastián

Sweden Craft Beer Locations

• Zum Franziskaner, Stockholm

Switzerland Craft Beer Locations

• Bière Café Au Trappiste, Bern

United States Craft Beer Locations

• Armsby Abbey — Worcester, Massachusetts

• Avenue Pub — New Orleans, Louisiana

• Bagby Beer — Oceanside, California

• Beachwood BBQ — Seal Beach, California

• Beer Temple — Chicago, IL

• Brick Store — Atlanta, GA

• Craft Wine & Beer — Reno, Nevada

• Crooked Stave — Denver, Colorado

• De Garde Brewing — Tillamook, Oregon

• DeCiccio’s — Somers, New York

• Delaware Supply — Albany, New York

• Edmund’s Oast — Charleston, South Carolina

• Garden Path — Burlington, Washington

• Holy Grale — Louisville, Kentucky

• Jester King Brewery — Austin, Texas

• Monk’s Café — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Moor Room — Buffalo, New York

• Novare Res Bier Café — Portland, Maine

• Redlight — Orlando, Florida

• Russian River Brewing — Santa Rosa, California

• Sante Adairius Portal — Santa Cruz, California

• Side Project Brewing Cellar — Maplewood, Missouri

• Slow Boat — Seattle, WA

• Spuyten Duyvil — New York

• The Sovereign — Washington D.C.

• The Veil Brewing Co. — Richmond, Virginia

• The Whale — Asheville, North Carolina

• Urban Roots — Sacramento, California

• Yazoo — Tennessee