Breweries/monasteries/beer drinking places in Belgium

[Kneel B4 Zod]

so I'm going to have a few free days in Belgium at the end of May. I would love to go visit some breweries...but I have no idea which ones are the best to visit. I will likely be staying in Brussels, and will have a rental car. I'll have 1 or 2 free days, and really will be happy to just visit 1 or 2 places.

some possible places include

Cantillon
Abbey de Notre Dame de St. Remy
Orval
Brasserie Dupont
Rodenbach
Liefman

has anybody been to any of these places? any recommendations?

[KotOD]

www.beeradvocate.com

I'd start there.

[pookvis]

there is one in brussels that still uses the natural yeast proccess. They give tours I've done it, its a good time.

Grimbergen makes good beer I know and is a town, dunno about tours.

you have to go to the Delirium Bar to sample their 2500 beers available and to taste their own delirium beer.

If you want more suggestions I mainly know brussels but PM me.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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there is one in brussels that still uses the natural yeast proccess. They give tours I've done it, its a good time.

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awesome, do you know the name of it?

(fyi the natural yeast process is kind of freaky)


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you have to go to the Delirium Bar to sample their 2500 beers available and to taste their own delirium beer.

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obv! this is in Brussels?

[SL__72]

You might try asking in the beer thread over in the Lounge. If I remember correctly one of the people who occasionally posts in that thread has been to a few breweries in Belgium... and a couple of the other posters there might have some more ideas.

[tyler_cracker]

I don't drink, but i visisted Brussels with a Belgian beer nut a few years ago. His favorite place was called "Cirque du Biere". It had a 5 year-old Chimay that he says was absolutely outstanding.

[RunDownHouse]

A quick google doesn't really turn up anything useful about this "natural yeast process" stuff. Are you guys talking about spontaneous fermentation, or what?

[Hoya]

Delirium is a good bar, with a bit more of a party atmosphere than most beer bars. Another (quieter) choice is Bier Circus ( I suppose Cirque du Biere as mentioned above, I forgot the real name), which I believe moved to a new location since I was last there.

Unfortunately I didn't make it to any of the breweries around Brussels. However, I did make it to one in Brugge (which you should really try to get to, as it is a very short train ride away and much nicer than Brussels) called de Halve Maan. They don't make amazing beer, but it was a good tour.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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A quick google doesn't really turn up anything useful about this "natural yeast process" stuff. Are you guys talking about spontaneous fermentation, or what?

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah. I mean, it sounds a little dirty, right? thankfully the air is clean where they are!

"Whereas most brewers use the freshest hops during the boil, lambic brewers use aged hops to contribute preservative properties without the bitterness of the herb (this protection is important to the final product, since it is such a long process from start to finish). Singularly, in the world of brewing, no yeast is added to this beer. After the boil, lambic wort is transferred into a coolship (a large, shallow, copper vessel) that exposes the hot wort to the cool fresh air and wild yeast! The fermenting rooms are dark and filled with cobwebs and brewers dare not clean their brewing cellars for fear of losing the natural yeasts."