Where: Brussels, Belgium
When: January 18 - 20, 2013
With: Dave
Mmm...beer.
And there are few countries more synonymous with beer than Belgium. Whenever I hear "Belgian beer", I picture monks in long robes stirring giant vats, creating a lethal combination of high alcohol content and good taste. Maybe that isn't what actually happens, but I know that Belgian beer has knocked me on my ass a few times, so I was excited to try it directly from the source.
Over the course of our weekend in Brussels, beer was the underlying theme to everything we did. It's hard not to order it when every restaurant, cafe and pub has their own unique selection of brews to try.
Our first true beer experience in Brussels was at the Delirium Cafe. Named after the famous beer Delirium Tremens (the one that makes you see pink elephants), the bar sits in a small alleyway where drinking tourists have spilled outside with drinks in hand. It's not necessarily an authentic Belgian bar as tourists have taken it over, but it has literally hundreds of types of beers. The menu was completely overwhelming, and everywhere you looked, people were trying a different kind.
Taking a tour through the brewery, we got to learn about the process for making the beer that makes Brussels famous, lambic beer. Brussels lies in a valley in which a special kind of air-borne yeast floats around. Lambic beer is produced by exposing the beer to the air, and in turn, the yeast, in order to ferment it, giving it a unique flavor. On top of seeing all the old 19th century beer-making machinery that has been used since it was founded in 1900, we got to see the breweries current batch of beer, open to the air and brewing away in a giant copper vat.
That Saturday night, after a day of walking and site-seeing, we found ourselves a small bar that had board games and played Scrabble into the night. This was an excellent way to enjoy our night out in Brussels.
Dave's favorite bar of the day was called A La Becasse, famous for its lambic blanche. It was hidden away down an alleyway off the street which made it extra quiet. The beer was served in little jugs of homemade stone pottery and the atmosphere was excellent.
I finally got a chance to try Kwak beer, famous for the glass it's served in and the kwak noise it makes when you get to the bottom of the glass. I spent the whole time confused as to whether I was drinking it right.
This bar, Au Bon Vieux Temps, or "the good old days", is over 300 years old, and complete with stained glass windows. Also hidden away down an alleyway, there was a roaring fire and local patrons brought their dogs in here.
When: January 18 - 20, 2013
With: Dave
Mmm...beer.
And there are few countries more synonymous with beer than Belgium. Whenever I hear "Belgian beer", I picture monks in long robes stirring giant vats, creating a lethal combination of high alcohol content and good taste. Maybe that isn't what actually happens, but I know that Belgian beer has knocked me on my ass a few times, so I was excited to try it directly from the source.
Over the course of our weekend in Brussels, beer was the underlying theme to everything we did. It's hard not to order it when every restaurant, cafe and pub has their own unique selection of brews to try.
Our first true beer experience in Brussels was at the Delirium Cafe. Named after the famous beer Delirium Tremens (the one that makes you see pink elephants), the bar sits in a small alleyway where drinking tourists have spilled outside with drinks in hand. It's not necessarily an authentic Belgian bar as tourists have taken it over, but it has literally hundreds of types of beers. The menu was completely overwhelming, and everywhere you looked, people were trying a different kind.
I let Dave make the decisions on beer and we thoroughly enjoyed our pints.
The next bar we went to was much more authentic. Now this was more like the Belgian beer bar we were looking for. Dark and quaint, with a couple locals enjoying their Friday night by drinking into the wee hours, we got a few more beers and enjoyed the scene.
The next day, in the broad daylight, we got to see just how engrossed the Brussels lifestyle is with beer. Every street and corner had signs advertising beer types and specials.
We spent 30 minutes walking out of center Brussels to one of the last authentic breweries in the city, the Cantillon Brewery. Walking through the mildly seedy neighborhood it sits in, you'd never know a brewery hides behind two giant, unassuming doors. Inside, a warm fire stove sat in the middle of the room, warming us up from our walk.
Taking a tour through the brewery, we got to learn about the process for making the beer that makes Brussels famous, lambic beer. Brussels lies in a valley in which a special kind of air-borne yeast floats around. Lambic beer is produced by exposing the beer to the air, and in turn, the yeast, in order to ferment it, giving it a unique flavor. On top of seeing all the old 19th century beer-making machinery that has been used since it was founded in 1900, we got to see the breweries current batch of beer, open to the air and brewing away in a giant copper vat.
At the end of the tour, we got to see the stores and stores of beer. Amazing that they left us alone in this room.
Next came the bottling room. And Dave and my personal happy place.
At the end of the tour, you get to sample a couple of the beers made in the brewery. Not our favorite flavor of the trip, but still really cool that its made on the premises.
The next day, we had planned to go to Bruges, but heavy snows made us hesitant to take the trip. So we decided to stay close and go on a pub crawl through the city. The first pub we stopped at was so cozy while you drank and looked out onto the Grand Place with the snow falling.
I finally got a chance to try Kwak beer, famous for the glass it's served in and the kwak noise it makes when you get to the bottom of the glass. I spent the whole time confused as to whether I was drinking it right.
This bar, Au Bon Vieux Temps, or "the good old days", is over 300 years old, and complete with stained glass windows. Also hidden away down an alleyway, there was a roaring fire and local patrons brought their dogs in here.
Our final bar of the evening was called A La Mort Subite, or "sudden death". The brewery that supplies it has beer of the same name and the interior has remained much the same since it opened a century ago.
It was a great way to enjoy the city of Brussels, and I'm happy I can remember most of it.
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