Wanted to share a part of my Belgium trip that we had in August. My Mother-in-Law was born in Brussels and my family (wife, 16 year old son and 13 year old daughter) traveled to Belgium and France with my Mother-in-Law and Father-in-Law. This was a Family vacation but since I did all the planning it included a lot of beer! Which was ok with my 16 year old son as he found out when we got there that Belgium does not have a drinking age only a carry out age. So, in a bar he could and did order a beer for himself. We planned to spend some time in Bruges so we drove from Namur where we visited family and made a little detour to stop in Poperinge to visit the Hop Museum and then to stop at In de Vrede in West Vleteren which is the cafe across the street from the St. Sixtus abbey. We arrived at In de Vrede http://www.indevrede.be/home.php?lang=en in the early afternoon on a Sunday and the place was packed. A little overwhelming at first but we found a table and soon ordered beers and snacks. I ordered the Westy 12, my son had the Westy 8 and my wife and in-laws had the blonde. All very nice beers but the 12 was very very good. They have a little gift shop and they were only selling a "package" of 2 Westy 12's with 4 15cl Westy glasses. A little disappointing as I hoped to buy more 12's to take home to friends. This was not too much of a problem because most beer shops in Brussels and Bruge sell all three of the Westy beers. The only problem is they sell them for a very high markup. I would much rather give my money to the monks. Still it was a neat experience. Also, as we drove to In de Vrede we saw hop fields all over as this is the hop growing region of Belgium
Tips for anyone planning to go. I would guess weekdays are less crowded than weekend. Check their website for days open and hours. If you plan to go on the weekend arrive early. With it being a Sunday when we visited and it was a nice day it was very crowded with people who arrived both by car and bicycle. Also, if they only offer the "package" it may still be cheaper to buy 2 "packages" to get 4 west 12's and end up with 8 glasses then to go to a bottle shop and pay the double and triple prices. If I remember correctly the Package of 2 Westy's and Glasses was 24 Euros. In Brussels a single Westy 12 went for 15 to 18 Euros in the bottle shops. I bought more 12's in a Bruge Bottle shop for 11 Euros each.
Also, when we were leaving, I asked our waiter for a bottle cap from each beer. I have a friend that collects bottle caps and knew that he would love them. He reached into the a big bowl and gave me a handful! I have a lot left over and do not mind sharing if anyone wants some. They all have a slight crimp in them but that just makes them authentic. For anyone not familiar with Westy beers they do not put a label on their beers. The cap has all of the required information such as the brewery, type of beer, abv, bottling date (or actually the best served by date)
Tips for anyone planning to go. I would guess weekdays are less crowded than weekend. Check their website for days open and hours. If you plan to go on the weekend arrive early. With it being a Sunday when we visited and it was a nice day it was very crowded with people who arrived both by car and bicycle. Also, if they only offer the "package" it may still be cheaper to buy 2 "packages" to get 4 west 12's and end up with 8 glasses then to go to a bottle shop and pay the double and triple prices. If I remember correctly the Package of 2 Westy's and Glasses was 24 Euros. In Brussels a single Westy 12 went for 15 to 18 Euros in the bottle shops. I bought more 12's in a Bruge Bottle shop for 11 Euros each.
Also, when we were leaving, I asked our waiter for a bottle cap from each beer. I have a friend that collects bottle caps and knew that he would love them. He reached into the a big bowl and gave me a handful! I have a lot left over and do not mind sharing if anyone wants some. They all have a slight crimp in them but that just makes them authentic. For anyone not familiar with Westy beers they do not put a label on their beers. The cap has all of the required information such as the brewery, type of beer, abv, bottling date (or actually the best served by date)