London - Brussels - Paris

Some tips for London and Brussels:

Firstly, there is a lot more, in beer terms, to do than the time you will have available, particularly if you are spending some time doing "non-beer" things as well.

London:
The last few years have seen a huge increase in the number of breweries and outlets for good beer in the City (many of which I am not familiar with yet). Some describe themselves as "craft", others remain proudly more "traditional". Although "craft keg" is becoming more widely available, I personally think it would be a shame not to try a good few beers on cask while in town. The following websites may be useful:

http://craftbeerlondon.com/pubs
http://whatpub.com/

A few of my favourites in London are:
The Harp (Covent Garden)
The Southampton Arms
Cask Pub and Kitchen
Craft Beer Co (various locations)
Market Porter
Royal Oak (Borough)
White Horse (Parsons Green)
Euston Tap
Sheaf
Jerusalem Tavern (closed at weekends)
Olde Mitre
Old Fountain
Wenlock Arms

Plus too many others to mention.

You might also be interested in the following publications:

London's Best Bars and Pubs (by Des de Moor)
Good Beer Guide 2016 (edited by Roger Protz)

There are outlets for bottles as well, but I don't tend to use them and so can't really recommend any.
All of central London is either walkable or easily accessible on public transport.

Brussels:
A few places I like:

Central (i.e. around the Grand Place):
Delirium
Porte Noire (my personal favourite)
Moeder Lambic Fontainas (must do)
Becasse
Poechenellekelder
Petit Delirium
Bon Vieux Temps
Mort Subite
Toone
Fleur en Papier Doree
Imaige Nostre-Dame

In my experience quite a few of the bars and restaurants around the Grand Place can be tourist traps.

A little bit further out:
Chez Moeder Lambic (the original of the two)

You may want to check opening hours, as some are not open all day every day. There are also many bottle shops.

I hope this helps.

 

Bazza touches on most of the good spots in London, Brew Dog bars (6 of them now plus a bottle shop with growler fills IIRC) are also well worth a visit, particularly Shepherds Bush with 40 taps.

It's worth checking out the monthly Beer about London thread in the UK forum on Ratebeer for special events etc.

I can think of two during your visit from memory.

http://www.craft100.co.uk/

and

https://twitter.com/brodiesbeers

The Bunny Basher festival 4 or 5 tweets down.

I'm sure other stuff will be going on too.

 

Many places to visit in Paris too: try La Fine Mousse, Brewberry, l'Express de Lyon for bars, le Triangle is a very good beer restaurant. If you wanna make a trade, and according to your time schedule, may I suggest you contact Simon from the beershop La Cave à bulles, he's a very cool and knowledgeable guy, I'm sure he would be happy to trade with you and can keep your extra luggage when you're in London and Brussels.
Have a good stay in Europe!

 

Good to know! I was also interested in finding someone to trade with. I hate to lug beer from the US that he may not be interested in, can I email him before hand?

 

Simon doesn't have a BA name as far as I know. I've visited his shop on multiple trips (most recently in January) and its 100% worth a visit. The basic Loons are all there. Simon isn't a trader in the sense that he seeks out specific beers, rather, I suggest bringing one of your interesting local beers for him to try and he usually reciprocates with a French offering.

Don't expect much from Paris in the way of craft beer culture, as beer is extremely expensive over there (it doesn't receive farm subsidies like wine/cider do). La Fin Mousse is your best bet for draft while in Paris, and it is under the same umbrella as Cave a Bulles. I'll be willing to bet after some time in Brussels you will be spoiled to the point where it will seem quite underwhelming (its not, but on-site Cantillon consumption is hard to recover from). Nevertheless, Paris has a few decent spots and I expect more to open in the near future.

 

Hey !

I wrote a small guide on beer places in Paris not long ago : https://www.reddit.com/r/beer/comments/3l5tg5/guide_for_beer_places_in_paris/

I need to update it, but it's still a good start

If you are interested in a trade, I have a few nice beers, you can PM me

 

I'm the founder of the biggest french beer geek community, if you want a trade or advice about the craft beer scene here (or Europe), don't hesitate.

 

Is Cantillon and 3F pretty available in Paris? Obviously I am interested in trying local brews as well.

 

It would be a huge shame not to focus on cask ale when in London as you can get your hop fix in Paris or pretty much anywhere in the world that allows alcohol. The cask scene is largely unique to the UK and encompasses modern takes as well as the more traditional.

Bazza lists pretty much all the pubs I'd recommend although I have a particular soft spot for the Harp in Leicester Square.

 

Simon is great. I always stop there to get my fill of Cuvée des Jonquilles and whatever Thiriez is putting out. Last time I was there, we were talking about saison vs biere de garde and he went off for 20 minutes on how completely different the two styles are.

 

We just started a tasting club Simon, our friend Gildas and I

 

I just got back Monday night from the reverse trip plus Reykjavik, so I can give you my Minnesotan perspective.

I was staying by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which is a wasteland when it comes to good beer. I was too exhausted from doing touristy stuff all day to go to the craft beer bars and bottles shops, so I ended up just drinking French adjunct lagers. Anything good is north of the Seine.

Brussels is amazing. Every bar has an amazing tap/bottle list. Moeder Lambic (the newer one) was my favorite bar. They had a few Cantillon on cask and an impressive cellar list. They serve a little saucer of barley with your beer to use as a palate cleanser. Delirium is a shitshow. I had no idea before going there, so it was particularly surprising. I tried the quiet bar upstairs, but within minutes a guy stumbled up there and was literally screaming over and over again. While the bottle list is overwhelming, the
quality of those bottles isn't very good. Au Bon Vieux Temps is a nice little bar if you are looking for Westy 12. It's only 15€/bottle. De Biertempel was my favorite bottle shop. Westy 8/12 are only 14€/bottle (most souvenir/bottle shops have blonde/8/12 for 18€/bottle). They also have a decent selection of Cantillon and 3F.

Cantillon was definitely the highlight of Brussels. I was there for the entirety of their hours. It will be the tail end of their brewing season, so hopefully you are there on a brew day because it definitely enhances the experience. If you haven't done it before, do the tour because it is nothing like any American brewery. The tasting room is a great place to hang out and meet people. I was there on a Tuesday, so it was at least 75% Americans. I heard Cantillon described as the American part of Brussels. I didn't have time to go to 3F. Do not leave Brussels without seeing Manneken Pis. It is Christ-dwarfing.

London was another touristy city for me. I mostly drank real ales because not too many places in the Twin Cities have them and it's the thing to do in London. I was constantly hitting pubs as I was wandering around. It's nearly impossible to get drunk on them because most are lower alcohol than 3.2 beer. Go to a pub during the day to get good food and go in the evening to see the chaos of a London pub. Looking at Untappd check-ins, BrewDog seemed like the most popular place to go for craft beer. I had a few beers from Beavertown that I enjoyed. They were the closest thing I found in Europe to a good American IPA. They use juicy American hops, which is a nice change of pace from the earthy hops found in most bitters and IPAs they serve at the pubs.

 

Thanks. A great thread.

I will be doing almost this exact trip come Easter. London to Paris with a day trip (full 24 hrs) to Brussels. A family vacation, except for the 24 hrs in Belgium. We have great friends who live in the 19th arrondissement in Paris.

Besides Cantillon, I am particularly looking forward to some real ale in London.

Additional input is welcome. I will need a place to stay in Brussels if folks have recommendations.

 

3F's LambikOdroom is only 10-15 minutes by train from the Brussels Midi station (which is only 5 minutes on foot from Cantillon).

 

Great idea, unfortunately my visit will occur on Monday evening/Tuesday. The Lambik Odroom is only open Wed-Sat.