BELGIUM BEER TOURING
Follow the Beer Trail - Trappist Monks and Mirco-Brews
Sitting
in the cooling glow of sundown at an outdoor table of the BarBar in
the Friday Market Square of
Ghent, in the shadow of the old socialist union headquarters, I enjoy
a glass of Tangerlo, contemplating Belgium, a county divided by three
languages but joined under the common flag of one beverage – beer.
There are nearly a thousand varieties of beer from breweries throughout
the land, tiny one room restaurant micro-breweries, brewers turned into
museums, ancient monastic abbey enclaves where monks have been making
the hop rich elixir since the Middle Ages.
Along with
the golden pilsners and ales, some of the styles of beer you’ll
discover in Belgium: Brown Beers with a caramel malty sweet sourness
from
months of maturation, Red Beers produced from red
barley aged in oak, producing a fruity richness, Lambic Beers, a more
bitter intense variety, Kriek, a still bitter beer but flavored with
cherries or raspberries, and Faro, a more softer variation of Lambic
with some sweetness added to cut the edge, Trappist Beers, rich darker
ales which may only be brewed by Trappist Cistercian monks at six surviving
abbey breweries in Belgium - Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle,
Westvleteren, and Abbey Beers, strong ales in the style of the Trappist
beers, but not made in monasteries, now produced by commercial brewers,
like Duvel, Leffe, Grimbergen, Karmeliet.
Belgium is
a country so ripe with brewers, beer museums and purveyors it has its
own driving route, the Beer Route, though really many
routes, which can be followed with the assistance of a Belgian Beer Routes
Map available through tourism offices and at the various brewery tours
and beer sites. After a day
of exploring medieval castles (see Gravensteen or Godfrey
of Boullon)
stop by a local café to enjoy some Frites or a Croque Monseur
with a beer in its own unique glass.
Brewery Tours and Beer Museums
Many of the breweries in Belgium provide tours or tasting opportunities. Some are quite small and need prior arrangement, while for some, beer tourism is a major component of their business, in nearly all regions of the country Here are a few: Near Brussels
Brewers' House - Headquarters of the Belgian Brewers Association
located in an historic building of the Baroque age.
Cantillon Brewery and Gueze Museum – Near
the midi station explores the nearly lost traditional style of Belgian
beer brewing and taste a
traditional Gueuze-Lambic or Kriek (see Cantillon Brewey Tour)
La Brasserie Lefevre - Producers of the Abbey de Floreffe beers - 25
miles south of Brussels in the village of Quenast.
Brasserie Friart – Brewer of St.-Feuillien beer with tours by appointment
only - 30 miles south of Brussels, in Roeulx
The Brewers of the Market - A pub on the Grand Place "Les
Brasseurs de la Grand Place" featuring
a wide selection of on-the-spot brewed beers.
Flanders
Tavern Dulle Griet - Famed pub of Ghent named for the
Big Canon on the Friday Market Sqaure offering 250 beer varieties including
Trappist
Beers
- without the abbey (see Friday
Market Square ).
Halve Maan Brewery – Brewer of the Fool’s
Beer of Brugge, brewery tour with tasting and restaurant (see Halve
Mann Brugse Jot).
Near Liege
Artisan and Didactic Brewery of Du Flo - A small artisan
brewery located in the old town hall of Blehen producing "Cuvée
Saint-Antoine“.
Brasserie des Fagnes - Belgian brewery and museum
in Mariembourg near Couvin. An 18th Century historic brewery with a
modern working brewery
and a tasting area.
Brewery Grain D'Orge - This microbrewery has
a cozy bar in the little village of Hombourg, where the brewer will personally
introduce you to his passion.
Brewery of the Abbey of Val-Dieu a former Cistercian
abbey where the brewing operations have been revived by non-cleric brew-masters.
Ardennes
Bellevaux Brewery – In Malmedy, original beers are brewed with
the famous Ardennes spring water, producing a Black, Brune, Blonde or
Blanche beer which can be enjoyed in the sampling room or on the outdoor
terrace with view of the mash barrels.
Orval Abbey Trappist Brewery – Trappist monks
still brew the famous beer of the Semois Valley at the Orval Abbey. The
brewery does not offer
a tour but the magnificent abbey ruins can be explored and the beer purchased
can be enjoyed as take out in a nearby park, or in nearby Bouillon (see Orval Abbey).
Brasserie Markloff - - Enjoy a beer micro-brewed
in Durbuy on the premises of the Ferme au Chêne with a terrace
view of the topiary garden of the Ardennes 17th Century “pretty
little city” (see Durbuy
on the Ourthe).
Near Namur
Abbey Notre Dame de Scourmont - Cistercian Trappist monks of Chimay have
producing their beers and cheeses since 1862, Neither the abbey nor the
bottling plant are open to the public but the gardens, cemetery and abbey
church are open daily.
Brasserie Du Bocq - Guided tours
are offered of the brewery founded in 1858 in the valley
of the Bocq by the
Belot family, followed by tasting of the product selection: La Gauloise,
Blanche de Namur, St Benoit, Triple Moine.
Leffe Beer Museum - The museum of beer connected with
the Notre-Dame Abbey in Dinant, telling the story of the brewery and
history of the Abbey, featuring an assortment of the popular Leffe beers.
Gambrinus
Drivers Museum - Unique museum in a former 19th Century malting
farm features 20 vehicles and themed displays dedicated to brewery trucks,
taking its name inspiration Jan Primus, the Duke of Brabant, who was
known as The King of Beer…King of the Road for his beer shipping
entrepreneurship.
Maredsous Abbey - One of the most beautiful abbeys in Belgium in neo-gothic
style, founded in in Denee in 1872 by the Benedictines. Guided tours
in English are offered of the abbey and pottery workshops.
Brasserie La Caracole - Artisanal craft brewery
in the village of Falmignoul near Dinant. The labels of the beer all
feature the spiral snail shell for which the brewery
gets its name, an emblem of the Namur region.
Beer Festivals
If
you don’t
have the time to wander the back road byways of the Belgian countryside,
pick a weekend to get your beer on at one of Belgium’s
many sundry beer festivals in villages small or cities big, held throughout
the year. Here are just a few:
Brussels Belgian Beer Weekend - Held in September at
the Grand Place square of Brussels, hundreds of brewers large, medium
and
small offer their best selections with nearly
as many beer styles as breweries in Belgium. Entrance is free and bands
and activities entertain while sampling the beers.
Lustin Belgian Beer Festival In May, the town of Lustin
in French speaking Belgium hosts its sampling hudreds of beer varieties
with an exchange fair and a market with beer
glasses, bottles, labels, classic advertising, and other collector's
items.
Sohier Weekend of Special Beers The Le Weekend of Bieres
Speciales in Sohier Village near the Ardennes forest begins with a beer
exchange
and continues with festivities through
the weekend, normally held the last week-end of February.
Zythos 24 Hour Beer Festival - The Beer Festival of Zythos in March a
fifteen minute train ride from Antwerp, presented by the beer purveyors
of that
region
is presented
in a 24 hour format at the town festival hall with coinciding party festivities
back in Antwerp.
Beer Festival of Bouillon - In April Bouillon, home
of the Orval Abbey, shopkeepers display all beer products, including
local
producers of specialty beers with tasting sessions.
Stembert Festival of International Special Beers - Held
in July in Stembert, with more than 200 Belgian and foreign beers to
discover
Beer Tours
Or if you’re worried about drinking and driving, you can bicycle your way through the landscape of Belgian beers with a cycling tour Cycling Belgium Breweries from Experience Plus and work off a few calories at the same time. © Bargain Travel Europe
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Belgian
Beer Routes
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SEE ALSO:
BRUSSELS JAZZ MARATHON WEEKEND
ATOMIUM & MINI EUROPE - BRUSSELS BRUPARCK
