Jim's Belgium Trip
By Jim
Our trip to Belgium did not start off the way I would have wanted it. Our Delta flight to Atlanta was delayed and it caused us to miss our connection to Brussels. Delta wanted to put us up for the night in a hotel, but after some gentle persuasion, we ended up flying First Class on Air France to Paris. Got to Paris the next day about noon and transfer to the Thaly train station. (High Speed train) Due to language barriers we missed our first train and finally got to Brussels around 8:00 in the evening. Nice hotel, Leffe Blond and Chimay Blue in the room mini-bar for $1.20 US each. (I couldnāt help myself. I had one while Amy freshened up.) We were both exhausted but hey, I was in Belgium, and not about to retire. First stop was the Beer Temple to pre-select my purchases for the next day.
Next stop, the Grand Place. What a place. Buildings from the 12th-14th century. You could breathe the history. Next stop, Les Brasseurs De Brouwers. This is a new micro-brew with three beers; blond, wheat and a special ale. The first two were good. Food was good. Next stop Falstaff. Very noisy, poor service. 6 beers on tap, 40 in bottles. Pretty expensive. Didnāt stay long. Next was A La Becasse. This was a pub started in 1864 and I believe still in the same family. Down a small alley, some more history. They are known for their Gueze and Lambics. Their Lambics were great, as was the Rochefort 10 and the Westvleteren 12. I passed on the Gueze. Next stop was LopLop. Jeff Amspoker told me about this place. Not in any of my guides. Probably one of my favorite places in Brussels. 25-30 taps and around 100-120 bottles. Some really obscure stuff too. Very cheap. Average price was around $1.25. Played lots of American Rock & Roll (as did most places) and a very active place. Unfortunately, closing the next night for their summer holiday. Mort Subite was closed so we went on back to the hotel and had a beer for a nite-cap. (The others were pre-nightcaps.)
Next two days we saw most of the sights of Brussels. I believe we saw what most people see in 5 days. I wonāt go into detail about the museums and sights we saw since I am sure you want to know more about the beer. First beer stop for the day was the Hotel Metropole. A Grand hotel from the 1800ās that would be a great place to stay. Had outside tables (Paris style) where you could order any one of about 40 beers and watch the people go by. Another one of my favorites.
During the day we went by Spinnekopke (Spider Web) about 60 beers, Toone, a place that has puppet shows at all times and a great selection of all the trappist beers, the local grocer for some obscure purchases at crazy prices 50-95 cents a bottle, back to the Beer Temple for some major purchases and ended up at Mort Subite around 9:00 that night. When we went in some grouchy waiter told us they were closed for the night, so Amy and I went back to the room. For some reason we got a second wind and went back down to see the Grand Place again. When passing Mort Subite, we saw it nearly empty, but still open. I wondered in and asked another jovial waiter why we were told they were closed and he saysā ćOh, thatās Henri, heās always doing that.ä SO we stopped for a few more, wondered around a bit and quit for the night.
Next day we saw more sights, revisited some of my favorites (the Beer Circus was closed for the month of August, bummer) and called it an early nigh (11:00) Next day left Brussels and headed South to see the countryside. During the day we stopped at the Gardens of Annavoile, which are compared to Tivoli Gardens. Built by a family in 1756. Beautiful Chateau, and something like 60 fountains all working off gravity and fed by three springs at the top of the property. Really Beautiful. Stopped by some funky beer museum outside Namur. I went in and there were thousands of OLD OLD beer bottles all lined up with Flemish inscription under them. Funny thing was that no one was there. I walked around a bit and went out to find that they didnāt open for another hour. But the place was open??
Next stop was Abbey Maredsous. Really wonderful place. Had lunch there. The bread, cheese, ham and of course the beer were all made by the friars. Really great time. Next we visited a hilltop medieval ruins called Poilvache. Fantastic view up and down the River Meuse valley. We parked outside the ruins and walked up a steep trail to the small welcoming center where they sold guides and-you guessed it-- beer. Blanche de Namur Whit. And just in time!!
From here we visited the abbey Leffe and stopped at their caf for a quick one. Visited Dinant. This is where Amy said she would have liked to stay for a couple of days as opposed to Brussels. Really neat little town with an interesting Cathedral (looked Russian) and a hilltop citadel. Lots of sidewalk cafes. From here we visited Rochefort, didnāt go to the Abbey because it was closed to the public, but did stop for a couple of beers. Next was Durbuy. Known as the smallest town in Europe. Population 400, but two breweries. One, Ferme Au Chene, is a small caf that brew one beer, Marcklof. A light triple that they call a blond. Refreshing. They also brew some type of alcohol. It wasnāt Jenever but some other type of distilled liquor. Again, the language barrier. The other brewery, Durbuoise makes a blond, dubbel and a triple. Decent. From here we bypassed Liege and headed to Antwerp for the night. But before I went up for the night, stopped at Paterās Vaetje (Priestās Casket) small place but over 100 bottles and 20 something taps. Had a couple of nightcaps. Next day did a bit of sightseeing. Went to Rubins house (no, not the sandwich). Went by yāElfde Gebod (the 11th Commadment). What a trip. Large bar filled with all sorts of religious icons and statues, and the 11th Commandment-thou shalt drink beer. Kind of creepy actually. Oud Arsenal was closed. Went to the Kulminator. Had a 1976 Westvleteren 12 and a 1980 Chimay Blue. The Blue had lost a bit of luster but the Westy was one of the best beers I have ever tasted.
Had to pass Ghent, due to time we spent in Antwerp and made it to Brugge by late afternoon. This actually turned out to be our favorite city and time, but Iāve gone on long enough and have an early flight to Indy in the morning. If I am encouraged to go on for next monthās newsletter, I would be happy too. However, if any of you fell like these are the ramblings of a beer addict-well, they are. So if the rest of the beer addicts want to hear the rest; let me know!!
Back to September 2001 front page