“We’re here for the BEER.” – part 4: Antwerp, Mechelen and Brussels (again)

Sorry for the delay on this last Belgium post, we HAD to go to Brno for the MotoGP, and I didn’t get a chance to finish before we left. 🙂

Our trip to Antwerp was a nightmare. It was raining, we were tired from Hopduvel, and when we boarded the train, the car we’d gotten was reserved for 142 KIDS on their way to…..you guessed it, Antwerp. We stood between cars for the entire (40 minute?) journey. OY VEY.

We were only in Antwerp for one day. We only had 2 destinations. We only managed one.

We arrived in the train station in Antwerp mid-morning, knowing that our pension was not available to check in until 6pm. This worked perfectly with our “beer plan”. We put our bags in a locker in the train station (they still HAVE those here! Unlike the States where all the “left luggage” places have been taken away “for our safety“) and we found the bus to take us to WESTMALLE!! Ahhhhhh (sound of angels singing) – one of the holy places of beer.

We were stunned when the bus stopped DIRECTLY in front of Cafe Trappisten – the pub/restaurant for the Westmalle abbey brewery! We, of course, went in for a nosh and a beer (or three). They only serve the Westmalle brews – the Blond, Bruin and a 1/2 and 1/2 of each, khalas. We tried them all. We noshed on abbey cheese and toastys. We quickly realized that we were the youngest patrons in the place, by a good coupla decades! Oh well.

We were denied as we tried to go to the abbey/brewery itself. We were pretty sure that would be the case, but thought we’d try anyway.

Our second Antwerp destination was Kulminator Pub. Our pension was only blocks from the pub, yet we did not get to experience it. When we arrived at the door, there was a sign – they’d closed the previous day for a 10 day summer holiday. POOP. We amused ourselves at a music festival going on in the square before retiring for a well deserved nights sleep.

if you want to read more about beer and travel…

On to Mechelen –
Mechelen is a tiny college town, just north of Brussels. It is the home of Brouwerij Het Anker, maker of Goulden Carolus beer. We’d managed a room at the brewery hotel for all but the last night of our stay, when we had a reso in Brussels. Ahhh, to settle in a room for a couple of consecutive nights. The door of our room opened onto the loading dock of the brewery, and the pub/bottle shop was a mere stone’s throw away. Life is good.

We relied on some of the Good Beer Guide recommendations for our initial wander around town. For the most part, the guide was very accurate – unfortunately for us, one of the pubs (‘t Ankertje aan de Dijle) was listed as doing a great job of Flemish cooking with local beers, but when we arrived, appetites at the ready, we found that they had NO KITCHEN! Off to get some take-away fish next door to eat with our beers. We walked quite a bit, going to a number of different pubs before Jack’s main destination (den Stillen Genieter) opened for the evening.

We were the first patrons in the place. It looked like a crazy aunt’s firetrap livingroom. There were piles of newspapers on the bar, too many strings of beer advertising “flags” running across the ceiling (some from Halloween! of an unknown year), and loads of “stuff” everywhere. The proprietor was a man of indiscriminate age and few to no words for his patrons. He seemed to know every beer that he had in his cellar, and would simply nod or shake his head as we ordered.

Jack found his heaven on earth as this place had ALL THREE WESTVLETEREN beers (6, 8 and 12). Jack HAD to have one of each. We saved the caps, as the caps are the only way to tell what beer it is – the bottles have no labels. Incredibly happy, we meandered back to the hotel, and stopped in the cafe for “one last beer”. Probably an ill advised action, but WTH we are on vacation!

The Anker pub has a lovely selection of “tapas” that are cooked with and served with their beers. It ranked as a must try, and was VERY worth it.

• Smoked salmon marinated lightly in Goulden Carolus, served with Goulden Carolus
• Smoked duck breast in Carolus Ambrio, served with Carolus Ambrio
• Shrimp and leeks in Margriet sauce, served with Margriet
• A selection of soft cheeses, made in Mechelen

YUM

All good things must come to an end, including this Beer Adventure. We had one last night in Brussels (Thank you mommy!) before going back to Cairo. Our first visit to Brussels was short, so we’d missed a number of beer cafes that we were determined to visit on our last day.

Our first destination was Mort Subite. They specialize in lambic and geuze. Prior to this trip, I would have said that there was nothing they make that interested me. I’ve learned a lot! The Mort Subite white was incredible! Kind of a cross between a wit and a slightly geuze-y lambic. Refreshing and tasty!

Our other destinations were in’t Spinnekopke (at one end of the inner ring road) and Bier Circus for dinner (at the opposite end of the city). We certainly got in our exercise by walking all over to find beer. And it is a good thing, as we did not skimp on the beer! We finished our day with a bottle of Malheure 12 (a “champagne” beer) in our room. (I have to admit, I like Deus better)

Our last morning, we did a little touristing and beering. We saw the Jannekin Pis (a rather silly, girl-version of the Mannekin Pis. SHE is squatting and pissing. How lovely) and had a last couple of unusual beers at the Delirium and headed back to collect our luggage and go to the airport.

Just a note to travelers – If you ever find yourself in an international airport in need of medication, ask for the First Aid station, they may be able to help. I found myself in Amsterdam airport, in critical need of antibiotics (as in NOW not in 5 hours when I get back to my pharmacy in Cairo). I went to First Aid, talked to the nice man, got a prescription for antibiotics and was on my way. UNBELIEVABLE! I never would have thought of it. Now I will never forget it as an option.