Belgium Travel Thread

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Based on some comments on another site, it looks like Fou' Foune has been released at the brewery.

Does anyone have any experience or insight as to how long bottles usually stay for sale?
 
primebeer said:
Based on some comments on another site, it looks like Fou' Foune has been released at the brewery.

Does anyone have any experience or insight as to how long bottles usually stay for sale?
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You sure? I know it's available for drink-in already, but hasn't been released for take-away sales yet, AFAIK.
But what do I know, I don't use any other beer sites besides this one.
 
HenrikO said:
You sure? I know it's available for drink-in already, but hasn't been released for take-away sales yet, AFAIK.
But what do I know, I don't use any other beer sites besides this one.
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Do they ever put it up for t/a at the brewery? I just thought they had core stuff?
 
LukeAleTime said:
Ah ok - there was nothing available to go other than regular stuff when I visited.
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Yeah, it varies a lot, and with how popular they are stuff seems to sell out quickly. But I until recently it was pretty unusual for them to only have the normal stuff.
 
stupac2 said:
Yeah, it varies a lot, and with how popular they are stuff seems to sell out quickly. But I until recently it was pretty unusual for them to only have the normal stuff.
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Thinking back, I've had other people tell me they only saw usual stuff - I think I just drew conclusions from there. The drink-in bottles were amazing though (50n, Lou Pepe 2010s, St Lam, Vig and Zwanze 2012) and two weeks of travelling in France left to do, so I wasn't mad.
 
Reliable sources say Fou Foune (max 6/person), Mamouche (max 3/person) and LP Framboise (max 6/person) are indeed now available for take-away sale at Cantillon.

****, they're going to be out of all of those when I visit Brussels in Oct.

I'll just have to drink Rose de Gambrinus and regular Gueuze all day. Could be worse.
 
HenrikO said:
Reliable sources say Fou Foune (max 6/person), Mamouche (max 3/person) and LP Framboise (max 6/person) are indeed now available for take-away sale at Cantillon.

****, they're going to be out of all of those when I visit Brussels in Oct.

I'll just have to drink Rose de Gambrinus and regular Gueuze all day. Could be worse.
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****, I'm nervous about them lasting til next Monday! What do you think my odds are of snagging any of these bottles?

I feel like I've been asking this question across the forums a lot in the past few weeks, but I'm finding it very hard to gauge Cantillon bottles lasting for sale at the brewery.
 
HenrikO said:
Reliable sources say Fou Foune (max 6/person), Mamouche (max 3/person) and LP Framboise (max 6/person) are indeed now available for take-away sale at Cantillon.

****, they're going to be out of all of those when I visit Brussels in Oct.

I'll just have to drink Rose de Gambrinus and regular Gueuze all day. Could be worse.
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So many sad feels
 
HenrikO - You don't know anyone in Brussels to help you out? I've already gotten my allocations from a co-worker LP, FF and Mamouche sitting in his basement.

and Primebeer, given past years, it'l most likely last at least 3 weeks, mamouche slightly longer. Belgium isn't full of hoarders like America. There's a reason Gueuze and Kriek are produced year-round. That's what most people drink

If you're worried, post an ISO on RateBeer (tons of Belgian traders there) and offer up local Imperial Stouts and fresh double IPAs. The belgian traders are very generous and there aren't many beers of that style available in Belgium.
 
Adam Jackson said:
HenrikO - You don't know anyone in Brussels to help you out? I've already gotten my allocations from a co-worker LP, FF and Mamouche sitting in his basement.

and Primebeer, given past years, it'l most likely last at least 3 weeks, mamouche slightly longer. Belgium isn't full of hoarders like America. There's a reason Gueuze and Kriek are produced year-round. That's what most people drink

If you're worried, post an ISO on RateBeer (tons of Belgian traders there) and offer up local Imperial Stouts and fresh double IPAs. The belgian traders are very generous and there aren't many beers of that style available in Belgium.
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Yeah, I have a guy in Brussels, but his situation is such that he can't just go to Cantillon on my say-so; I might get lucky though.

What you say about how long the beers will last matches my experience. Also, remember that Cantillon sometimes does a "second release" of some of their beers (they did one for Fou last year) as not all bottled batches are deemed ready right away. It can happen anything from one to four months after the original release...
 
Good luck!!!

At the very least, 2014 Fou Foune will be available for on-site consumption still when you are there so at least it's not a full loss.
 
Adam Jackson said:
HenrikO - You don't know anyone in Brussels to help you out? I've already gotten my allocations from a co-worker LP, FF and Mamouche sitting in his basement.

and Primebeer, given past years, it'l most likely last at least 3 weeks, mamouche slightly longer. Belgium isn't full of hoarders like America. There's a reason Gueuze and Kriek are produced year-round. That's what most people drink

If you're worried, post an ISO on RateBeer (tons of Belgian traders there) and offer up local Imperial Stouts and fresh double IPAs. The belgian traders are very generous and there aren't many beers of that style available in Belgium.
Click to expand...

I appreciate your thoughts on the matter. No matter what, I'm absolutely stoked to be able to visit the brewery once or twice while I'm in Brussels and drink whatever they have available for on site. I'll be there next Monday so I'm feeling pretty confident about being able to pick up at least some of these bottles.
 
primebeer said:
I appreciate your thoughts on the matter. No matter what, I'm absolutely stoked to be able to visit the brewery once or twice while I'm in Brussels and drink whatever they have available for on site. I'll be there next Monday so I'm feeling pretty confident about being able to pick up at least some of these bottles.
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That's the spirit. It's awesome visiting Cantillon regardless of what they have for sale.
 
I'm in koln for work and headed to Brussels today (September 13th) for a quick day trip. If anyone happens to be at Cantillon and sees a kid in a Minnesota twins hat (ie. me) say hi and let's split a bottle or two. I'm up for drinking a bottle (or several) alone but figure it would be better amongst company.

Cheers!
Mike
 
I'll be rolling through Brussels for an afternoon stop at Cantillon in about a month. My wonderful wife is going to DD for me, so I'm trying to plan and make this as smooth as possible for her.

Any suggestions for parking? It appears that we could park at Gare du Midi and walk?

Thanks!
 
flexabull said:
I'll be rolling through Brussels for an afternoon stop at Cantillon in about a month. My wonderful wife is going to DD for me, so I'm trying to plan and make this as smooth as possible for her.

Any suggestions for parking? It appears that we could park at Gare du Midi and walk?

Thanks!
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I stayed at a hotel near that train station and it was a pretty easy walk. I don't know anything about parking at the station, but parking near Cantillon itself is sort of a crapshoot, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If you do park near Cantillon, be advised that it's all pay parking and they sure do check.
 
fingers crossed that there are bottles of '14 Fou' still there one week from today.
 
having a great time here. wish I were here for about another week. already can't wait to come back!

stockholm should be fun too...
 
flexabull said:
Any input on visiting Fantome? I've been going back and forth about whether to make the detour through Soy.
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I was going to do this but ran out of time. Dany is on here somewhat frequently - I wrote him before I left and he said to just give him a day or two heads up and he'd be happy to host visitors.
 
buzzword said:
I was going to do this but ran out of time. Dany is on here somewhat frequently - I wrote him before I left and he said to just give him a day or two heads up and he'd be happy to host visitors.
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Thanks, I'm playing it by ear at the moment, I'd be going about an hour out of my way to visit, but I have the time I probably will.
 
too lazy to read all 8 pages but in brussels theres 3 shops in 5 mins walking distance of each other

bier planet (had armand seasons)
bier temple (had fantome glasses and amazing selection) they wrap your purchases too to keep them safe
deliceses caprises (sp?) (low prices, crazy nice owner, nice solid selection, shared cantillon lambic from a barrel with me)

i had the cheese plate at bier circus and it was awesome. had pickled onions and baby gerks. 2001 lou pepe gueuze for 40 euro, a ****ing steal. great vintage prices.

on a non beer related note, the chocolate shops and pastry shops are the best i have ever had. pierre marcolini (sp?) is the best i have ever had. literally, so amazing. another one was called planet chocolat or something in the grand palace area that was amazing too. paris rides the nuts of brussels. REAL TALK.
 
I'll be in Belgium Nov 18-21, and the rough plan is to spend my last day in Brussels (the 20th), hitting Cantillon and Moeder Lambic. Could use some ideas on where to stay that would put me within decent proximity to both - aka I'd like to drop off whatever bottles I buy from Cantillon before hitting dinner/bars.

Otherwise, going to Amsterdam the 21st-24th and this is mostly to go sightseeing and clubbing.

I posted up to try and land IP trades too, and happy to meet anyone to have a beer!

buzzword said:
downstairs as you go to the right past the tequila bar.
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And hell, honestly gonna do that myself as well as I LOVE Schaerbeekse Kriek :)
 
air said:
I'll be in Belgium Nov 18-21, and the rough plan is to spend my last day in Brussels (the 20th), hitting Cantillon and Moeder Lambic. Could use some ideas on where to stay that would put me within decent proximity to both - aka I'd like to drop off whatever bottles I buy from Cantillon before hitting dinner/bars.

Otherwise, going to Amsterdam the 21st-24th and this is mostly to go sightseeing and clubbing.

I posted up to try and land IP trades too, and happy to meet anyone to have a beer!



And hell, honestly gonna do that myself as well as I LOVE Schaerbeekse Kriek :)
Click to expand...

I stayed in a dorm room at a place called Meininger in Brussels that was sort of between the city center and Cantillon - walkable for either, and fairly cheap. Very touristy vibes with a young American clientele drinking heavily at the hotel bar, but easy to meet people if you want or to ignore everyone and drink lambic all day on your own.
 
air said:
I'll be in Belgium Nov 18-21, and the rough plan is to spend my last day in Brussels (the 20th), hitting Cantillon and Moeder Lambic. Could use some ideas on where to stay that would put me within decent proximity to both - aka I'd like to drop off whatever bottles I buy from Cantillon before hitting dinner/bars.

Otherwise, going to Amsterdam the 21st-24th and this is mostly to go sightseeing and clubbing.

I posted up to try and land IP trades too, and happy to meet anyone to have a beer!



And hell, honestly gonna do that myself as well as I LOVE Schaerbeekse Kriek :)
Click to expand...

I stayed at Hotel Amigo and it was great. Kind of expensive but I was able to get a good deal on it and it was a fantastic place to stay. My other time I stayed at Hotel Cafe Pacific which was good as well. A little strange checking in but they were really nice, the rooms were pretty good and the breakfast was great.
 
Cool, I'll look into both. Not really keen on staying at a hostel or dorm type setup since I'm planning on buying bottles at Cantillon and want to be sure I've got a safe place for them while asleep!
 
air said:
Cool, I'll look into both. Not really keen on staying at a hostel or dorm type setup since I'm planning on buying bottles at Cantillon and want to be sure I've got a safe place for them while asleep!
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Last time we stayed in Brussels my wife and I stayed at the Hotel Midi, which is near the Midi train station, which is very close to Cantillon. Easy walking distance, though carrying a million bottles back may not be the best.

Part of the reason we picked that one, though, was that they had parking. If you don't have a car somewhere else is probably better.
 
Planning on a Belgium trip sometime between late September to mid-October. Would be happy to meet up with any TB'ers. Haven't finalized anything yet or bought tickets, but probably going to hit up Antwerp, Brussels, (Fantome brewery to meet Dany) and Ghent at a minimum. If anyone needs something muled back around that time, PM me and we may be able to work something out. I'm likely going to bring 2 wine check bags with me, fill them up, and just pay the baggage fees.

EDIT: Looks like late September is Autumn season in Belgium and the weather is cool, yes?
 
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If visiting Ghent, you gotta check out one of the Chocolaterie Van Hoorebeke shops. The gf and I visited at least a dozen chocolate shops in various Belgian & Dutch cities recently, and none of them could hold a candle to this place. Go for the individual pieces (caramel ftw), not the packaged bars. Right in the city center, open 7 days/wk. Srsly.
 

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