12 hours out from Beer Mecca = Belgium

The subject line says it....I will be arriving in Belgium tomorrow morning and hangin out for 4-5 days. I know some of you out there have made the pilgrimage (olllllo, brewtopia, glibbidy, freyguy---all the guys who gave me good travel advice when I was enroute) and others are simply awaiting their time.
My Fiance is tagging along, but she's a good sport and supports my brewing habits! Itinerary as follows...recommendations welcome:
Brussels: Cantillon Brewery. Making the trip to Bosteels Brewery (home of Tripel Karmeliet/Kwak/Deus). Finding Westvleteren Cafe....
Bruges: De Halve Maan (brewpub). Liefman's brewery.
Antwerp: Moortgart Brewery. Getting soused at 'Kulminator' bar....perhaps side trip to Westmalle.

And of course hitting a host of bars in between each destination

If there's any must-see places I didn't mention, please pipe up and square me away. In the meantime, let me get back to my beer.....

I recommend the Abbey Floreffe. Their Tripel is out of this world fantastic!

Have a great trip!

Please give a detailed report. I will be in Bruges the week of the 15th.

Nice of you to take the missus along

I went a few times with the wife.

We didnt make it to any breweries.

We went with my parents, who lived there in the 70's. It was fun to take them through thier old neighborhood.
The beer/soda vending machines were awesome.

I was in Belgium several weeks ago (in Jerusalem now) and I did 2 of the stops on your itinerary: Cantillon Brewery and De Halve Maan. Both were very good. Cantillon was eye opening. I had never had a real Gueze or Kriek beer (apart from commercial imitations). The brewery truly is traditional and it is a self-guided tour through with a glass of Gueze and Kriek at the end. De Halve Maan is Ok. The beer is quite nice. Brugse Zot blonde is very enjoyable. The tour was pretty lame, frankly. I would give it a miss. You spend about 2 minutes in the actual brewery and then go through the old brewery while the guide gives you ****ty explanations. Also, our tour group was probably 20-25 people. Really not worth the money. Enjoy Belgium and definitely get some Westvleteren, it is amazing!

The trip is just about over…..I’ll provide a little re-cap of some of the places visited and beer consumed.

Hopefully this thread will give ideas on places and recommended beers for others that travel to Belgium.

Brussels bars: Le Bier Circus & Delirium Café had by far the best selections in Brussels. The former had a nice list of vintage beers and the latter boasted 2004 different beers! Delirium brought me back for a second visit. I was at Le Bier Circus one night for 5 straight hours! The bar was closed, front doors locked, lights out, stools on tables, and they continued to serve me and a couple of Aussies I ran into. Very friendly staff.
I ducked into a handful of other pubs and café’s, but all of their selections were quite similar—1 or 2 Trappistes, Duvel, Rodenbach, some Abbeys, and an occasional Kriek.

Antwerp bar: Only visited the Kulminator…for obvious reasons. We were there on a Monday, so had the whole place to ourselves. Their list of vintage/aged beers was astonishing. The difference in age was more noticeable in the Lambics, than with some of the others.

Bruges bars: Die Halve Maan (The Half Moon) Brewpub included a brewery tour and ends at their bar so you can try the two beers they brew. Interesting in the fact that it is the only operating brewpub in Bruges. Their beer is found on tap in every bar in Bruges. The brewery tour was interesting, but didn’t blow me away like the Cantillon in Brussels.
Also in Bruges, had several drinks at the bar ‘Bruges Beertje’. Since it is December, there were quite a few Christmas beers on their menu. The staff there spoke English and made the time to pause and talk about the beer you are drinking and make recommendations, despite it being crowded. Head to the back bar past the bathrooms for more room at your own table instead of cramming into the front.

Highlight of Belgium: The Cantillon Brewery! They brew their lambics from OCT to APR and they just happened to be brewing on the day that we were visiting. The smell of sweet wort was in the air and famers were lined up with trailers to haul off the spent grains. Cantillon was brewing with turn of the century (1900) equipment. Pulleys, spinning wheels, and oak barrels adorned the place. There was a sampling of their Gueuze and Kriek afterward. Learning about their ‘spontaneous fermentation’ and seeing kreuzen bubbling out of the tops of barrels was a sight to see. If you go during their brewing months, call ahead and try to sync your visit while they are brewing—seeing the work in progress made for a better time. I parted with some souvenirs to include Gueuze cheese and marmalade.

I also loaded up on bar-glassware at the Bier Tempel. They wouldn’t ship them for me, so I had to hike them over to the post office. I won’t begin to talk about ‘shipping & handling’!

Vintage Beers consumed:
Chimay Grand Reserve “1999”
Rochefort 10 “2003”
Chimay Blue “2003”
Mort Subite Kriek “1996”
Cantillon Gueuze “1999”
Cantillon Bruscella Grand Cru “1999”
3 Fonteinen Oude Gueuze “1999”
Stile Nacht “2007”

Christmas beers:
Bush de Noel
Stile Nacht
Kerst Pater Special Christmas (my favorite)
Gordon’s X-mas (Great beer, but Belgian? Maybe Scottish?)

Trappistes consumed:
All Chimay (Red, White, Blue, Grand Reserve), Orval (8), Rochefort (8,10), Westmalle Tripel, and Westvleteren (8,10,12)
My favorite Trappiste is the Rochefort 10. Second place goes to Westvleteren 12—sorry to disappoint some who are gung-ho about Westvleteren—still a fantastic lineup.

Lambics consumed:
Gueuze, Kriek, Framboise, Rose di Gambrinus, & Faro among the brands Liefman’s, Mort Subite, Cantillon, & 3 Fonteinen.

Other beers consumed of note:
Le Chouffe, Ch’ti Bier de Garde, Rodenbach Grand Cru, Deus (Champagne style beer), Kwak, Divine, Maredsous 10….and there’s only about 10 other types of beer I tried that aren’t note-worthy enough to mention.

Awards:
Favorite “Trappisten” beer: Rochefort 10
Favorite “Lambic” beer: Cantillon Gueuze, especially the aged ones.
Favorite “every day” beer: Tripel Karmeliet ( I vow to make a home-brewed clone!)
Favorite “Christmas” beer”: Kerst Pater Special Christmas
Favorite “Serving-style”: Kwak. The glass and wooden holder were the most unique.
Favorite “Bar”: The Kulminator in Antwerp. Not loud, just chill….and good beer.
Favorite “Interesting Beer”: Deus. Came out served in an ice water bucket and champagne glasses. “The Brut of Bier”.
Favorite “Find” beer: Westvleteren 8,10,12. Never on a menu or sales floor, but Beer Tempel stocked them to go and Le Bier Circus served them. Delirium Café, despite having 2004 beers did not have any of the three Westvleterens—none of the smaller bars and cafes that I encountered had them either.

I’ll post pics in subsequent threads…

Here’s a few things to remember when making the pilgrimage….

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. If you go, try not to be there on a Sunday or Monday. Everything is closed or has limited hours!

2. If you want to buy things at Bier Tempel and then mail them from Brussels, there’s a small post office only 200 meters from the store tucked in a corner of Central Station. They accept packages, but bring your own tape, marker, and boxes if able. They have boxes there, but you pay for them—same goes for bubble wrap. Bier Tempel is good about bubble wrapping your purchases. Some other glassware sellers only wrapped them in newspaper.

3. Call before going to outskirt breweries to confirm they’re open. We almost did a quick day trip between Brussels & Antwerp to the Bosteels Brewery (Kwak, Tripel Karmeliet, Deus), but turns out they are closed for tours in the month of December.

4. Try to catch a tour of Cantillon brewery on their brewing days—makes for a more enjoyable tour.

5. Since Belgium is also famous for chocolates…carry a couple small pieces in your pockets with you. That is, if you’re traveling with your missus. It can end quarrels quickly when you say that you want to have another beer, please. Just pop a chocolate in her mouth and smile….then order your next round.

Not all Belgian beer is for guys…

I mentioned earlier in this thread that my fiancée was coming with me on this trip to Belgium. She’s not a big beer drinker, but she is from Milwaukee….

I always ordered for us both, and here’s a list of beers that any wife or girlfriend will enjoy:

Kriek (Gueuze made with Cherries)
Framboise (Gueuze made with Raspberries)
Faro (Gueuze with extra sugar in it, making it nice & sweet)
Pink Killer (tap beer that was made with Grapefruit)
Rodenbach (Can be found everywhere. Kinda sour like a gueuze….but not a lambic)
Deus (served and looked like Champagne. She’ll think you’re getting her Champagne to cheer her up and take a break from beer….only this Brut is made from barley and not grapes.
Chimay Red (she’ll feel cool drinking a Trappiste with you, but it’s not too heavy for her)
Blanch de Bruges (wit bier from Bruges)
Leffe Blonde (nice light Abbey beer….but pleasantly complex)

The above is 9 rounds of drinks for her over the course of a trip….hope it helps….