Comedian Stu Stuart To Host Belgian Beer Tours
By Eric Fish

Stu Stuart with his Belgian beer at Mary's Bistro. The 13-year Island summer resident works as a stand-up comedian. He will host Belgian beer tours in Europe this fall.

From May to October, Stu Stuart performs stand-up comedy on Mackinac Island, but this fall, he will embark on a new adventure conducting beer tours in Belgum through his new touring company, "Belgian Beer Me!"

Although Belgium is less than 12,000 square miles and could fit inside the state of Michigan, the country produces more than 500 varieties of beer at 125 breweries. It was on a Belgian beer tour years ago that Mr. Stuart became interested in the country's specialty beverages and came up with the idea to form his own independent tour company.

"My tours are really about spreading the word about beers I like," he said. "We're going to see some really cool, unique breweries that produce arguably the world's best beers."

Much of the logistics for Mr. Stuart's new business have been planned out this summer in between regular comedy stints at the Lilac Tree Hotel.

Participants will need to provide their own air transportation to Europe for the tours. They'll then meet with Mr. Stuart for 4- to 10-day motor coach tours of breweries, beer cafes, restaurants, and beer museums. Alittle education on the history and culture of Belgian beer is included.

Unlike those in the United States, different ingredients and fermentation techniques allow Belgian beer to get better with time. Belgian brewers, Mr. Stuart said, employ different strains of yeast, sugars, spices, and fruits in the ales, in addition to using spontaneous fermentation techniques. "I've never had a bad Belgian beer," Mr. Stuart notes with confidence.

A heavy "head" on poured beer is common there, and flavors are enhanced as the beer becomes warmer.

On Mackinac Island, he said, the Ice House, Mary's Bistro, and the Island House all carry select Belgian beers.

"Belgian beers are starting to become trendy," Mr. Stuart said. "They're still sub-mainstream, but I think in the next five years, you're going to see Belgian beer consumption gaining popularity."

Mr. Stuart has always had an interest in the romanticism, tradition, and history behind beer brewing.

"I've been involved with beer since I was a child," he laughed. "That's going to sound wrong, but I started collecting beer cans back in the early '70s, and, obviously, I was not drinking beer then."

Mr. Stuart does some homebrewing of his own, and last winter, while conducting a Belgian beer appreciation session in Seattle, he was inspired to illustrate his lessons with site visits.

"It's a means to share what I know with other people," he said of his proposed tours. "One of the beauties of Belgian beers is, with there being more than 500 varieties, you can spend a lifetime and not have them all."

He notes, "Beers are like clothing; you don't wear the same clothes to every occasion."

Mr. Stuart's other profession, comedy, will help make the tour entertaining for participants through situational humor, he said.

"You're going to get the beer personality, and my background," he said. "Belgium is such a treat. It's an undiscovered gem for most people."

Belgian Beer Me! tours that have already been planned include The Beer Cafes of Bruges Tour and The Herentalse Bierfeesten (Beer Festival) Tour, both in late October. They can be found on his Web site, belgianbeerme. com.