Euro Beer #24 - Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. One more in Brussels:



Ok, I lied. I forgot about Cantillon. This was where we had our last beer in Brussels. We stopped by on the way to the train station for a tour and some tastings. Love this place.



Empty coolship.





Funkin.





Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij
Rue Gheude 56
Brussels

Now off to Paris.

Euro Beer #22 & 23: Cafe Rosasse and Host's Home

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. Let's just wrap up Brussels now:



But we did not want to be disappointed by some dumb tourist trap. Brussels has many of those. So the entire time we were there we searched and searched for a suitable spot. Our last night we in town we threw up our hands and decided we would stop into the next decent joint we saw. Cafe Rosasse was were we ended up. Not bad. Those are my frites.



We both had beers from Charles Quint (Blonde and Rouge). Nice enough.

Cafe Rosasse
Rue haute 1
Brussels



Later we had a Westmalle Dubbel (so good, a constant favorite) and Grimberden Dubbel (ok) at our host’s home. He had left for Argentina (I think) and was kind enough to let us stay on another night without him there. His hospitality was one our most favorite things about Brussels.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

Euro Beer #21: A la Mort Subite (Again)

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. Still tripping around in Brussels:



Golly, still in Brussels? I thought we were done here. Nope, guess not. Back to A la Mort Subite. I love this place.



Sofia had the gueze and I ordered the biggest faro available. Sofia's looks bigger in this photo, but the faro (back) was actually much larger.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

A la Mort Subite
rue Montagne-aux-Herbes Potagères 7
Brussels



Sightseeing.

Euro Beer #20: Westvleteren 12

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. Still tripping around in Brussels:



Beer has come a long way (even since 2007). Westvleteren 12 was back then, and even now mostly, considered the best beer in the world. I bought one in Brussels. I should have bought more. But again, we were still being cheap; it was still early in our trip.



We drank it at our host's apartment. It was good. The photo, not so good.

Here is some other stuff we did the following day:



Coffee and croissants at Gusti D'Italia. It was quite pleasant until a delivery truck came up and idled by us for 5 minutes. That was not so pleasant.



Then we went walking in the forest. I was the tour guide.



On our walk we scarfed some of our Pierre Marcolini chocolates (do not click this link unless you want an insane web experience). So fancy.



Then Oups for soups. This place is awesome. Definitely go here if you are ever in Brussels.



My soup. I got a big bowl. Sofia got two small bowls. I win.

Euro Beer #18 - Delirium Café

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. Muckin' around in Brussels:



Euro Beer #18 - Delirium Café

Delirium Café can be hard to find. But if you are really down, you will find it. When we were, smoking was still allowed inside, therefore it was super smoky downstairs. We chose to sit outside, in the alley. This place was packed, mostly young people and crazy locals. I think smoking is banned now. You can now sit safely downstairs with the masses. This is a must stop for Brussels. Not my favorite bar, but definitely worth checking out.



We split a Tremens and a Nocturnum to begin with.

I also had a Triple Moine. All the beers were terrific and in proper glassware (a nice bonus).

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

Delirium Café
Impasse de la Fidélité, 4A
Brussels

Euro Beer #17 - Arcadi Café

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. Still in Brussels:



Euro Beer #17 - Arcadi Café

Our host suggested this restaurant. Good, yet inexpensive food in the center of the city. Tourist area, but there seemed to be a lot of locals. That is my chicken and fries, decent, if not a little dry. Here the beer came in handy.



This was Sofia's quiche. So sensible Sofia.



And now the moment you've been waiting for . . . the beers. Sofia had an Affligem Blonde and I had an Orval. I win. Nothing too special here, as they are both available in the US. But they were great beers to quaff with the food.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

Arcadi Café
Rue d'Arenbergstraat, 1
Brussels



Grand Place at night.

Euro Beer #16 - Le Bier Circus

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. Still in Brussels:



Euro Beer #16 - Le Bier Circus

Clean and modern. What a place. Good beers too.



I had to hit up this place after reading about it on BeerAdvocate. It was kind of a hike uphill in the rain, but it was worth it. The crowd was sparse, atmosphere chill. Perfect place to enjoy a beer, unlike that Delirium madhouse. I had a Kapittel Watou and Sofia had a La Chouffe. Both enjoyable, though I took time to warm up to my Watou.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

Le Bier Circus
rue de l'Enseignement, 57
Brussels



This guy.

Euro Beer #15 - A la Mort Subite

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. In Brussels:



Euro Beer #15 - A la Mort Subite

A la Mort Subite. If you are going to go to one cafe in Brussels, this is definitly it.



I mean, just look at this place. When we were there in 2007, smoking was still permitted inside. Now, I think, it's been banned. Even nicer.



Our first visit I had a large Faro, loved it. Sofia had a blanche. Ok, the beers are not the best you will find in Brussels, but add the atmosphere and history — boom — great beer experience. Still, loved that Faro. They have food too, but we only went there for beers.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

A la Mort Subite
rue Montagne-aux-Herbes Potagères 7
Brussels

Euro Beer #14 - Brussels Skatepark

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. In Brussels:



Euro Beer #14 - Brussels Skatepark

Food and beer (and wine) was big part of our euro trip, but I also tried to squeeze in at least a few minutes of skateboarding in each city. Brussels has a skatepark pretty much in the dead center of town. It is small and not very interesting, but still fun. Before hitting the park we picked up some Jupilers and sandwich stuff. Jupiler ain't the best beer, but it is a good skate beer. Any maco beer in a tall can is a skate beer—basically, mostly water. And it washed down that crappy sandwich perfectly.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.



Beer-n-sandwich-fueled mediocre skateboarding.



It was gloomy most of the time in Brussels, but it didn't bother us.

Euro Beer #13 - Le Cap

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. In Brussels:



Euro Beer #13 - Le Cap

After dinner and a few hours of wandering around, we hit up Le Cap for a night cap (ah, ah). Le Cap was a nice, clean, modern bar/restaurant. Not exactly my style, but a decent place to grab a beer before nodding off. Sofia had a Brugs Wit and I had a Grimbergen Blanche. Sofia's was better.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

Le Cap
Place de la Vieille Halle aux Blès, 28
Brussels




The next morning our host was kind enough to buy us croissants and brew us some coffee. It was not enough coffee and had to get more at Bar Espagnol Meres, a very odd, cool Spanish café. Pictures of bullfights and sidra drinking covered the old nicotine soaked walls. It was good to be on the mainland drinking real coffee again.

Brasserie de Rochefort Coming Back to TX

Hopefully. If they don't, don't blame me, blame You Stay Hoppy Austin.

Euro Beer #12 - Maison des Crêpes

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. In Brussels:



Euro Beer #12 - Maison des Crêpes

Directly after leaving that crusty bar we headed towards Grand Place to look around. But we were hungry. We were always hungry. We set out to find a spot to eat. Most places around Grand Place seemed extremely touristic, so we kept walking. We stumbled upon Maison des Crêpes and it seemed adequate. It was more than adequate. Our crepes were fantastic, as was the beer. I had another Duvel and Sofia drank a Palm.



My crepe. It tasted much better than it looks. Judge my photo, not the crepe.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

Maison des Crêpes
Zuidstraat 13
Brussels



Wet Brussels street, the view from our table.

Euro Beer #11 - Le Royalty

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. First beers on the Belgian mainland:

Euro Beer #11 - Le Royalty

While traveling, arriving in new cities is always confusing and disorienting. It's also the time when you are most likely to get into fights with your travel partner(s). Your lost, your hungry, your schlepping your bags, yada yada yada. Luckily it was still early on in the trip and we were still fresh and happy. But it was still disorienting. Our host lived close by and we eventually found our way over to his flat. I had to call him first and make sure he was home. His name was Yves and we had never met him before this:

"Hello, is this . . . Yah-ves?"
" . . . uh, yes, . . . this is Eve."
"Hi, this is Aaron, just wanted to check if you are home we are on our way over."
"Yes, come on up."

Then of course I yelled at Sofia for allowing me to sound like a complete idiot. "Hello, Yves saint Laurent! Sofia you are supposed to know this stuff! I can't believe I just called him Yah-ves! Yah-ves? Ugh, I'm a moron!"

Yves was perfectly kind and never mentioned my faux pas. He was actually quite knowledgeable about beer and schooled me on lambics, a subject I only had limited knowledge about before leaving on this trip. After talking for awhile, we set out for a beer before dinner. We walked aimlessely. It was Sunday evening and most everything was closed. We finally stumbled upon Le Royalty, a small, then empty bar off the Place du Grand Sablon. We slugged down two beers–a Bellevue Kriek and a Westmalle Triple.




Sofia's Kriek EXTRA! Not so extra, juicy though. Avoid.



Well, you know this is good. Westmalle Triple.

Admittedly, this was a pretty lame spot, but it worked. Onward.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

Le Royalty
38 rue Sainte-Anne
Brussels



Some old shit. If I ever go back to Brussels, I'm going into this shop and spending money.

Euro Beer #10 - Eurostar

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. En route to Brussels from London:



Euro Beer #10 - Eurostar

Damn, Duvel is good. Always loved it. It was a great first beer to have in Belgium. Actually we were not yet in Belgium, we were on the Eurostar, somewhere between London and Brussels. I guess we split this lunch, not sure. It's possible, it was still early in the trip and we were still being very cheap. Either way, the beer was perfect and that ham and cheese panini was actually quite tasty for train food. If you ever find yourself on the Eurostar, go for this paring. If you hate it, you can punch me in the stomach.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

Eurostar
Somewhere between England and Belgium



This is somewhere in Grand-Place.

Want some Westvleteren?

Who doesn't, right? I had one bottle of Westy 12 when I was in Belgium in 2007. Not sure why I only bought one. I should have bought ten and ten of the other varieties. There are various methods of obtaining this beer over the interweb. Now a new (cheaper?) way has emerged. Beernews.org fills us in.