| Courtesy photo |
Well-hopped
Who knew being a beer lover could get you knighted? That’s exactly what happened to Bill Catron, the beer expert at Brasserie Beck, on Friday.
Catron and chef-owner Robert Wiedmaier traveled to Belgium last week for the Belgian Brewers’ association gathering and the Chevalerie du Fourquet des Brasseurs’ (Knighthood of the Brewers’ Mashstaffs) ninth consecutive Belgian Beer Weekend at the Grand Place in Brussels.
Catron was inducted as a knight Friday by the organization, which is a direct descendant of Belgium’s ancient brewers’ guild. Only in the past 10 years have foreigners been invited to be members. Catron was one of nine new knights and the only American.
“I’ve been doing the beer thing since college, primarily Belgian beers because I really fell in love with them,” said Catron, who worked at Whole Foods and Belgium’s Delirium brewery before coming to the Belgian-themed Brasserie Beck, for which he’s assembled a list with more than 100 Belgian beers.
He received a parchment scroll (”It’s all in Flemish, so I don’t know what it says, except my name,” he said) and a coat-of-arms pendant.
