Brewery Visits in Brussels & Environs

Brewery Visits in Brussels & Environs

Brussels

The capital is an excellent starting point for beer lovers. Not only are interesting places in the rest of the country generally no more than an hour's drive away, but there is much to enjoy right here. There's a beer museum in the heart of the city on the Grand'Place and numerous cafés with exhaustive beer menus around town. Some especially worthwhile cafés are A La Mort Subite, the art deco café Falstaff (near the Grand'Place), the stylish belle epoque Hotel Métropole, and Chez Moeder Lambic, located somewhat outside the city center.

Although there's only one traditional brewery left, Brussels has historically been the home of Lambik beer. The eight other Lambik breweries are in the Pajottenland region, to the west of Brussels.

Museums

Brewers House. In the 16th century, the original brewers' guild headquarters was on the Grand'Place in Den Gulden Boom; nowadays, the Belgian Brewers Association's home is in an 18th-century mansion on the same square. The upper floors are closed to the public, but in the cellar you'll find a small museum containing tools from the original Hoegaarden brewery as well as a high-tech video installation in four languages that provides an excellent overview of the brewing process. The entrance fee includes a glass of beer, which changes every week. Grand'Place 10, Lower Town. 02/511-4987. www.beerparadise.be. EUR 4. Daily, 10-5

Musée de la Gueuze/Museum van de Gueuze. It hardly seems right to call this a museum; since 1900, this brewery, otherwise known as the Cantillon brewery, has produced Lambik and specialty beers. Although Lambik is the quintessential Brussels beer, this is, sadly, the only Lambik brewery left in Brussels (the others are in the Zenne Valley, to the southeast of Brussels). Created through spontaneous fermentation (fermentation begun by natural yeast molecules in the air, versus artificial cultures), it is the basic ingredient in many popular Belgian beers, such as Gueuze (an effervescent blend of Lambiks), cherry-flavored Kriek, and raspberry-flavored Framboise. Only organically grown grains are used for production. On tours, available in English, you'll see the works, from the aging containers to the bottling machines, and have a tasting. Many commercially brewed Lambiks bear scant resemblance to the real thing, so drink up while you're here. Rue Gheude 56, Anderlecht. 02/521-4928. www.cantillon.be. EUR 3.50. June-mid-Oct., weekdays 8:30-5, Sat. 10-5; mid-Oct.-May, weekdays 8:30-6, Sat. 10-6

Where to Drink

A La Mort Subite is an authentic Brussels café that has preserved its turn-of-the-20th-century atmosphere. Young and old, students and businessmen, regulars and tourists gather around the wooden tables and are served by waiters who speak the authentic, endangered Brussels dialect, which mixes French and Dutch. The beer list isn't very large, but it covers some winners: Lambik, Gueuze, and Kriek from the Brussels region, and four of the six Belgian Trappist beers. Snacks include kip kap (a plate of assorted cold cuts), kop (meat from a pig's head) and bread with platte kaas (creamy white cheese). Montagne aux Herbes Potagères 7. 02/513-1318

Beersel

In the market square of the small village of Beersel, you'll find one of the eight remaining traditional Lambik brewers in the Pajottenland region. This is a popular day trip for beer lovers and a stop on most beer tours.

Visiting & Tasting

Drie Fonteinen. Be prepared to taste unfamiliar beers at this meeting place for devotees of real Lambik, Gueuze, and Kriek. Drink them while consuming a copious, Flemish-style dinner. Call in advance to visit the brewery. Afterwards, aid your digestion by taking a walk to the nearby 15th-century castle. Hoogstraat 2A. 02/306-7103. Closed Tue. and Wed.

To & From Beersel

There are several trains an hour from Brussels to Beersel; the trip takes 40 minutes, including a transfer in Halle. By road, take the southern side of the circular R0 in the direction of Charleroi and get off at exit 14, which will lead you straight to Beersel.

Leuven

Leuven (Louvain), like Oxford or Cambridge, is a place where underneath the hubbub of daily life you sense an age-old devotion to learning and scholarship. Its ancient Roman Catholic university, founded in 1425, was one of Europe's great seats of learning during the late Middle Ages. The city was pillaged and burned by the Germans in 1914; 1,800 buildings, including the university library, were destroyed. They were rebuilt with gifts from American universities only to be bombed again in 1944. In the 1960s, intercultural tensions caused the old bilingual university to split into separate French-language and Flemish-language schools. French speakers moved their university south of the linguistic border to the new town of Louvain-la-Neuve; the Flemish speakers remained in Leuven.

Breweries

Stella Artois. Leuven is considered the beer capital of Belgium, and Stella Artois the premier institution of Belgian brewing. The brewery, owned by Interbrew-Imbrev Belgium, is a mammoth building with a sleek, modern exterior. Contemporary facilities may characterize the brewery today, but beer has been made here since 1366, originally under the name Den Horen (the horn, which can still be seen on the label). Master brewer Sebastien Artois took over the operation in 1717, and the barley beer Stella Artois was launched in 1926. Now you can size up the enormous modern vats as a tour takes you through the entire brewing process. It's best to make tour reservations three weeks in advance. Vaartkom 33. 016/24-71-11; 016/24-70-61 reservations. EUR 5. By reservation only, weekdays 10, 1:30, and 3

Domus. Tucked into a back street off the Grote Markt, this café adjoins the tiny Domus brewery, famous for its honey beer. The place is casual, the clientele on the young side, and the decor authentically rustic: craggy old beams, a brick fireplace, a labyrinth of separate rooms, dusty bric-a-brac, and paisley table throws. The menu includes traditional dishes such as black-and-white pudding with apples. Tiensestraat 8. 016/20-14-49. AE, MC, V

Also Worth Seeing

Stadhuis. Every Flemish town prides itself on its ornate, medieval stadhuis (town hall). This one is the work of Leuven's own architectural master of Flamboyant Gothic, Mathieu de Layens, who finished it in 1469 after 21 years' work. It's a miracle that it has been so well kept; because it was occupied by German staff, it escaped the fires of the invading Germans in 1914, and a bomb dropped at its entrance in 1944 luckily didn't cause much damage. You'll need to stand back from it to appreciate fully the vertical lines in the mass of turrets, pinnacles, pendants, and niches, each with its own statue. The interior contains some fine 16th-century sculpted ceilings. Tours are given in Flemish and English. Be sure to nip across the street to the Sint-Pieterskerk, where you can see two masterpieces by 15th-century Flemish painter Dirk Bouts. Grote Markt 9. 016/21-15-40. EUR 2. Oct.-Mar., tours daily at 3; Apr.-Sept., tours weekdays at 11 and 3, weekends at 3

Music Festivals

There's more to Leuven than learning and beer. During the first weekend of July, the small town of Werchter, 8 km (5 mi) north of Leuven, hosts Rock Werchter (www.rockwerchter.be), a four-day outdoor festival that draws many major international acts. Depeche Mode, Robert Plant, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers are among the groups expected in 2006.

On Friday evenings in July, there are concerts all over town, and in mid-August, the city turns its center over to Marktrock (www.marktrock.be), a weekend-long music festival. Access to shows is free or inexpensive, and dozens of bands fill the historic center's squares.

To & From Leuven

Leuven is a 20-minute drive from Brussels on the E40 highway to Liège. There are several trains an hour from Brussels; the trip takes 30 minutes.

Hoegaarden

At the end of the 19th century there were 35 breweries near Hasselt; sadly, only one remains. However, De Kluis does brew Belgium's most famous wheat beer. De Witte van Hoegaarden is a blond, slightly effervescent, thirst-quenching beer, which tastes best on a hot summer day. Also worth a visit are the 25 different gardens near the rococo church in the center of town. Houtmarkt 1. 016/79-78-43. www.detuinenvanhoegaarden.be. EUR 5. Daily, 10-sunset

Brewery

De Kluis. In 1957, the last original wheat-beer brewery in Hoegaarden closed. Eight years later, milkman Pieter Celis, supported by several townspeople, decided to revive the old tradition. The company moved to its present location in 1978, to soaring commercial success. The factory was taken over by the world's largest beer company, Inbev, which at the end of 2005 announced plans to shut the brewery down and move production elsewhere. At press time, it was not clear whether the interactive tour in the brewery and the adjacent café Het Kouterhof would close as well. Stoopkensstraat 46. 016/76-98-23

Where to Drink

Het Kouterhof. If you're wondering why the floor of this brasserie is made of cobblestones, it's because its former inhabitants were cattle. The farm was converted into a large café in 1986, and now welcomes locals and cyclists from nearby towns. If it's too dark inside (cows don't need a view), take a seat outside. The regular Hoegaarden and the special Grand Cru are good choices, and if you're hungry, a waterzooi will do the job. 24 Stoopkensstraat. 016/75-74-33

To & From Hoegaarden

From both Leuven and Brussels, take the E40 towards Liège and get off at exit 25. Hoegaarden is another 5 km (3 mi) to the south.