Tournée Générale

Tournée Générale is a Flemish television programme and television format created by production house Sputnik Media, centred on Belgian beer culture. The first series aired in 2009 on the Flemish public broadcaster Canvas. In the show, beer expert Jean Blaute guides novice Ray Cokes through Belgium in a Volkswagen van, exploring the country's beer landscape and brewing culture. In each series, Blaute and Cokes brew their own beer based on the experience gained. The format originated in Flanders and was adapted for Wallonia by RTBF with hosts Bert Kruismans and Pierre Theunis. It was also sold to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it aired under the name 'Bier on Tour'. Sputnik Media itself produced a Dutch version called 'Leven in de Brouwerij'. A first ten-episode series was broadcast in 2009 on Canvas, a second series appeared in 2011 on één, and a third series was recorded in spring 2012 and aired on één in spring 2013. At the end of each series, a beer brewed on behalf of the programme was presented. These beers were sold among others at Delhaize in 75 cl bottles. The first beer, Tournée Générale, is an orange-coloured Spéciale belge with 6.5% alcohol, brewed by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat in Breendonk, launched in 2009 and no longer brewed. The second, Tournée Générale Tripel Hop, is a blond high-fermentation beer with bottle re-fermentation and 7.5% alcohol, dry-hopped with Cascade, brewed by Brouwerij Palm in Steenhuffel since 2011. The beer of the third series is called 'Premium Tripel', again brewed by Brouwerij Palm. Each series was accompanied by a book: in 2009 'Tournée Générale. De geheimen van het Belgische bier.' by Geert Degrande (Van Halewyck); in 2011 'Tournée Générale 2' by Joost Tack; and for the third series 'Tournée Générale, Trends & tradities' by Sofie Vanrafelghem, published in 2013 by Van Halewyck.

Tournée Générale originated as a Flemish television programme and television format from production house Sputnik Media, focused on Belgian beer culture. The first series was broadcast in 2009 on the Flemish public broadcaster Canvas. In the programme, beer expert Jean Blaute takes novice Ray Cokes through beer country Belgium in a Volkswagen van, exploring the beer landscape and beer culture. With the experience gained, Blaute and Cokes brew their own beer in each series. The format first appeared in Flanders. RTBF made a Walloon version of the programme with Bert Kruismans and Pierre Theunis as hosts. The format was also sold to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it was shown under the name 'Bier on Tour'. Sputnik itself also made a Dutch version of the programme under the name 'Leven in de Brouwerij'. A first ten-part series of the programme was broadcast in 2009 on Canvas, a second series appeared in 2011 on één. Series 3 was recorded in the spring of 2012 and broadcast on één in the spring of 2013. At the end of each series, a beer brewed on behalf of the programme was presented. The beers were sold among others at Delhaize in 75 cl bottles. Tournée Générale is an orange-coloured beer of the Spéciale belge type with an alcohol percentage of 6.5%. It was brewed by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat in Breendonk. The beer was launched in 2009 and is no longer brewed. Tournée Générale Tripel Hop is a blond beer of high fermentation with re-fermentation in the bottle with an alcohol percentage of 7.5%. During the lagering of the beer, Cascade hops are added without boiling them along. This is called dry hopping and provides the necessary bitterness. It has been brewed by Brouwerij Palm in Steenhuffel since 2011. The beer of the third series is called 'Premium Tripel' and was again brewed by Brouwerij Palm. With each series of the programme, a book also appeared. In 2009 the book 'Tournée Générale. De geheimen van het Belgische bier.' by Geert Degrande was published by Van Halewyck. In 2011 'Tournée Générale 2' appeared, by Joost Tack. The book accompanying the third series is called 'Tournée Générale, Trends & tradities' and was written by Sofie Vanrafelghem. It was released in 2013 by Van Halewyck.

• 2013

  Third series broadcast on één in spring; Premium Tripel beer and book 'Tournée Générale, Trends & tradities' released.

• 2012

  Third series recorded in spring.

• 2011

  Second series broadcast on één; Tournée Générale Tripel Hop launched, brewed by Palm.

• 2009

  First ten-part series broadcast on Canvas; first beer Tournée Générale launched, brewed by Duvel Moortgat.

A television format and beer brand celebrating Belgian beer culture, with limited-edition beers tied to each series.

• Tournée Générale (Spéciale belge, 6.5%)

  Orange-coloured beer brewed by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat in Breendonk, launched 2009, no longer brewed.

• Tournée Générale Tripel Hop (7.5%)

  Blond high-fermentation beer with bottle re-fermentation, dry-hopped with Cascade, brewed by Brouwerij Palm since 2011.

• Tournée Générale Premium Tripel

  Beer of the third series, brewed by Brouwerij Palm.

1. 1Tournée Générale - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Tournée Générale - Wikipedia (Dutch)nl.wikipedia.org