The story of Beerbright
The story and face behind Beerbright
My name is Wim Bastiaenssens. I was born and raised on the Wildert in Essen, where I still live with my lovely wife and our two kids. I am 43 years old and have been involved with beer and everything that comes with it for about 20 years. Beerbright was born from this passion and hobby.
In my youth I did a lot of extra work in the hospitality sector and then you of course come across (far too much) beer, but my first contact with the real beer world was during the training for the Dodentocht in 2004. I walked the Kwaktocht, Sloebertocht, Duveltocht and so on. Many walks were sponsored by a brewery at that time and through that way I quickly got to know different beers and I also got the chance to taste them in or near the brewery.
A year later I became a member of OBER, the Objective Beer Tasters from the Essen Region, and since then the beer bug has never left. Since 2012 I have been on the board of directors and I am always faithfully on duty as one of the organizers and taster of the Christmas Beer Festival. Together we have tasted thousands of beers! Over the years I learned the tricks of the trade, mainly thanks to the other beer connoisseurs in that great club.
I like to cook, blind tasting happens to be one of my specialties, I follow the brewing world, like to read about beer and so on... Becoming a beer sommelier became more and more a life goal.
In 2022, I put my money where my mouth was: I enrolled in the official training to become an International Beer Sommelier via Stibon, 'Stichting Bieropleidingen Nederland', the counterpart of the training of Syntra in Belgium and a few others in Europe. In mid-January 2025, I graduated as an International Beer Sommelier at the Doemens Academy in Gräfelfing near Munich. A wonderful, educational journey that I would do again without any doubt.
There is no accounting for taste. I would like to introduce, acknowledge and recognize good, quality beers to everyone. It is better not to drink too much, so be smart and make sure that what you drink is always of top quality. I also want to create clarity in the gigantic range of beers and beer styles in the world. The name Beerbright followed naturally.
If you are reading this, you have found your way to the website. Welcome, have a look around and hopefully we can meet each other soon.
The ultimate goal is that everyone becomes a little bit Beerbright.
Choose wisely and taste quality!
