[Edit: I forgot to link to some photos.]
So we trained down from Mechelen to Brussels for one more night. We picked up our luggage that we had left at the Marriott when we swung through Brussels at the start of our trip.
We began our last day of beer tourism trying to get to 3 places we didn’t make it to on our first pass through Brussels (Mort Subite, t’ Spinnekopke and Bier Circus) as well as one place we did visit and we wanted to visit again, Delirium Cafe.
We started at Mort Subite. It is a place of faded glory. All the beer tourists, plus many non-beer tourists, have this place on their tours. It is worth going for the architecture and to see professional snotty wait staff at work. Though they were nice to us.
We had
- Mort Subite White on tap. Ok. A decent gueze
- Faro. VERY sweet. This is, basically, a gueze that has sugar added to cut the sourness. Many guezes are flavored with fruit or fruit juice. This is “straight”. A rare treat if one loves gueze.
- Chimay white. After the Faro, one is not going to taste alot, so the next beer is almost a throw away.
- Orval. Yummy again. I must say I always enjoyed Orval in the US, but enjoyed it much more in Belgium
We then went to t’ Spinnekopke. It is a local’s place, but is well regarded within the beer community. It was here that we really needed our “beer to order while reading the menu” AND our “backup beer”. They were out of our first choice, so we had to go with the backup beers:
- Achel blonde. a very nice blonde that I have had on numerous occasions in the US and Belgium.
- Quentine Ambree. We have had several beers from this brewery and have greatly enjoyed all of them. This was no exception.
We spent a lovely hour or so sitting outdoors in a little square in a quiet residential neighborhood full of young women wearing headscarves chasing their rugrats. Reminded me of Cairo.
Except for the good beer part.
And the quiet part.
And the women in Cairo don’t chase their rugrats so much as let them run around and occasionally yell at them part.
But other than that, it reminded me of Cairo.
From there we were off to Bier Circus. Another great place with a fantastic beer list. According to Kaddee’s notes, we ate there and really enjoyed the food. [shrug]. We drank:
- Dupont Biologere. a 3.5% beer. Which is RIDICULOUSLY low alcohol for a Belgian. Very light and easy drinking, though a little disappointing.
- La Binchoise Blonde. My notes are scribbled and blurry at this point. my notes either say “tasty” or ta-sobe. At this point in the evening, they are both equally likely.
- La Moneuse Blonde. lively, more like what I expected from the Biologere. Unfiltered, yeasty and slightly “sparkly”. very tasty.
And we managed one more beer at Delirium Cafe. We had:
- Saxo blonde. surprisingly hoppy with a nice dry finish. very nice
- Villers Triple. floral and full mouth feel, slightly dry.
Then it was off to our hotel room for a bottle of Malheur 12. A beer bottled and finished like a champagne. Not bad, but we both prefer Deus.
Sleep.