Meeting up with our tour guide by a very strange statue in Brussels.
Strange indeed! 3 legs & half a head.
The original mall. Built in the 1500's it has shops & a street (with drainage!) on the main level and homes on the second.
Tourist trap alley restaurants in Brussels
Delirium Cafe in Brussels.
Well, of course there must be beers too...this is Belgium.
Tiny alleys will often have some cellar bars opening off them.
Getting to know each other over a beverage break on our walking tour.
Initial rounds of beer at Restobieres.
Deb's main dinner at Restobieres.
Whipping up desert. Whip it good. This was done with a cherry Kriek beer for the fruit flavor.
Everyone is having fun, even the staff.
Tooting his own horn..er beer bottle.
Restobieres - famous beer restaurant of Brussels.
Outside an alley bar in Brussels
Tourist trap of Brussels; the famed Mannequin Piss.
Cold outside & full inside so we continued looking for another good beer bar.
Tour guide of Cantillon in Brussels. A historic brewery that produces sour beers under most unusual conditions.
Unique kettle with an iris fan blade top to close it up.
Cantillon cool ship still in use Oct to April. Note open to outside air.
Ritch getting a photo of dusty equipment & cobwebbed open windows.
Simple blow off system for fermentor.
Awesome mirror sign in brewery tasting area.
Aged bottles in the brewery.
Quirky courtyard - random old boat sitting there. This was the start to our tour of the Brewery Vapour. The only steam powered brewery in the world.
Tour: Mash kettle installed in late 1700's
Original steam engine that runs the brewery equipment.
Grain feeder.
Note the groove channels leading to the side for drainage.
Corresponding spigots to drain grooves into well with outlet drain.
Finally! some stainless steel equipment
First round of Vapour's beer.
Folie Beer label
Old farmhouse brewery means drafty.
As close as we could get to the Dupont Brewery
Greatest saison beer in the world; fresh from the brewery across the street.
Toasting to the start of a great beer trip with a great beer!
Roxanne & Rob brought a ton of beer & brewing knowledge to the group.
Really old & dried out mistletoe can still work!
This mistletoe has extreme powers as Mike is approached by a local patron.
Avec Les Bons Voew
An outgoing gentleman makes our visit memorable, at least for us.
He wanted a photo with all the ladies.
Brewery Kerkom - produces the Bink beers.
We brew it here, We drink it here, and we sell what is left.
We drank it there too.
Largest slice of bread I've ever seen.
Yard decoration or parking spot for an ultralight plane?
Coming into Bouillon.
Musee Des Bieres Belges, odd place that is part beer museum, shop for hard to find beers, and a small tap.
Musee Des Bieres Belges has a small bar to sample purchases of rare beers.
A toast to dusty, messy, weird museums of beer.
Hey, I'm back here. Don't leave yet!
We headed up there to the castle.
Idyllic river encircles the fortress of Bouillon.
We take the easy way up, but just imagine the archers ready to pick you off.
River side city of Bouillon.
Catching our breath & taking in the views.
Amazing spring provides unending supply of water to the castle. Carved out storage room had channels cut to the moats so attackers could be "flushed" away.
View from the very top where the King's family lived.
Rain :((
Ruins in the rain...poetic but chilly.
Ritch & Amy off exploring the ruins.
Rob strikes a contemplative stance.
Orval brewery tap – L'Ange Guardien
L'Ange Guardien signature dish. Basically, it is macaroni, ham, & cheese. Of course, the cheese is produced by the Orval monastery & is amazingly good.
At the Rulles Brewery, we discovered a rising star of the Belgian brewing scene.
Brew area of Rulles.
Simple decor in the sampling room.
Our host sharing one of many bottles.
Happy sampling.
Safety First
Breakfast at La Calestienne, site of an amazing beer paired dinner the night before.
Rue Saint Roch, 111 B-5670 Nismes Belgium is the location of La Calestienne. We highly recommend it.
Trying all four with the paired cheeses.
Ritch having fun.
Lunch stop, if you can read all the beer signs and you found this in America, it would be a locally famous beer bar.
Famous but bland brewery outlet for Westvletern.
Ritch sneaked into the brewery against all rules & tradition.
Once again, we step up to the need to research the Trappist beer.
Sitting outside the Eramus Hotel in Brugge by the canals.
Brugge City Hall
Sharing beer with the wife has been a good idea for a long time. Wood carving in the Brugge City Hall.
Walking tour of Brugge includes canals, statues, plazas, sculpture, ruins, etc.
Brugge Beer: City Mascot
Great old brewery sign.
Michelangelo's only statue outside of Italy.
Canal boat ride launch point.
Canal ride, Eramus Hotel coming up.
Amy waving from Eramus courtyard overlooking the canal.
Cruising, although the boat does not go until every seat is full and you are packed into boat. Touristy but essential one time.
Lazy dog. As seen in the move "In Brugges"
Even on a canal ride you get to see a brewery museum.
City of canals & bridges.
Even in Belgium you can find odd flavored beers.
Window shopping Candy loaves: just have a slice cut off.
Deb finds a big enough beer bottle.
Brewery museum in Brugge
View from the top of the brewery.
Fun together exploring Brugge.
Classic copper cool ship room for cooling wort.
Tranquil moment without any tourists.
Sunshine & blue skies!
Actually not a shoe store.
Dockside store on the canal.
Dan in front of unique malting roaster building of the Rodenbach Brewery.
Old logo featuring the ever popular, St George slaying the dragon.
One way out! Inside the old fermentors of Rodenbach.
Dan by 2 of over 300 oak beer aging vats.
Constant care to keep these vats useful.
One of many halls filled with beer vats for aging.
Rodenbach's new visitor center.
Wind power & hot air fun in Brugge.
Cafe Vlissinghe: open daily since 1515 AD
Cafe V's small bar.
Amazing stove/heating system in the Cafe V
Find this place! A short (ten minute) walk away from the main tourist areas, it is a perfect getaway for a romantic dinner by the fire. And the food was superb. It is called somewhat confusingly, the Nieuw Museum.
Fire, unique beers, all you can eat ribs in a cozy pub. With the rib dinner we enjoyed beers from Chimay, and a brown from de Ranke brewery. Afterwards, I ordered up another de Ranke winner, their Guldenberg, an audaciously hoppy brew.
Found the group again researching fabulous variety of great beer.
Mike of BeerTrips.com being a bit silly.
Old brewery sign again on the outside of the De Halve Maan Brewery
Temptation given in to! Slices of candy loaf.
Finally we are touring Antwerp. Train station is in the distance.
Can you have too many statures?
Antwerp mall shopping. Glass of champagne?
Pub decorations!
More pub decorations I'd love to have.
And more...
Classic pub with the great signs inside.
Culture appreciation.
Great room, let's make it a restaurant.
Kulminator Bar in Antwerp.
Beer menu; note size of a yellow pages book.
Which one?
Checking out the cooler (a small portion of it) at Kulminator.
Enjoying aged beers at Kulminator.
Gathering for our last brewery tour of De Koninck Brewery in Antwerp.
Choices? Nah, we'll try them all!
Our highly informative and funny tour guide of the brewery.
Post tour, we sample the fine beers of De Koninck. Note the hand symbol.
Wedding party has arrived, but I wasn't able to get a photo of the giant diamond ring.
2009 Beer Trip to Belgium Group
2009 Belgium Beer Trip Group
Belgian Waffle, of course!
Prominent landmark ahead. Good for getting home after the pubs.
Last photo!
Cantillon.
Sampling & lunch at Vapour Brewery
