Brussels/Bruges/Amsterdam Suggestions

I have written some more advice on places in Amsterdam so if you search in the forum you can find more information about it.

A good reminder is that april 27th in the Netherlands is Kingsday.
So if you happen to be in Amsterdam that day then be prepared for some craziness. Definitely a lot of beer but much more quantity than quality.
If you want to join in the Kingsday fun then definitely bring something orange to wear.

 

If you will have time while in Bruges go to the De Halve Maan website and schedule a brewery tour. The tour is very interesting to see their old facility, and the tasting room afterward is a great experience. I think it cost me something to schedule the tour (maybe it was a VIP version), but it was well worth it.

 

"Grey" market Westvleteren bottles run between 11 and 18 Euros apiece in Brussels. Bruge supposedly has shops that have it for less, but still in that ballpark. Not sure how much time you have, but the drive from Bruge is only about an hour. 6-packs in the In De Vrede shop can be had for 20, and it's a worthwhile trip to begin with.

Similarly, if you have time and/or a car near Brussels it's well worth a trip to Drie Fonteinen in Beersel. Their bottles aren't that common in town and it's wonderful contrast to Cantillon's older/urban facility.

 

In Brussels, it depends a bit on what you're after. Apart from lambic, a lot of the greatest Belgian beers are affordable and widely distributed, and there are some places that are good for blowing your savings on rare bottles (eg Moeder Lambic, Nuetnigenough) but not so good for great, classic, normal-priced stuff, whereas other places (eg Pochenellekelder, Bier Circus, La Brocante, Brasserie Egalite) that are the other way around. Still other places (eg Brussels Beer Project, Contrebande) do newer stuff that's a mix of Belgian and international styles.

IMO Place Flagey is a nice place to visit that's off the beaten track. La Murmure and Le Pantin are pretty good beer places and Amere a Boire is fairly great, and it's mostly full of immaculately dishevelled left-bank art student types rather than loud beer geeks, which makes a nice change. Good frites, too.

FWIW the Drie Fonteinen Lambic-O-Drome is easily accessible by train from Midi. In De Verzerkering Tegen De Grote Dorst is a bit more of a pain - it's a bus ride and a short walk and has famously limited opening hours.

 

Uber is definitely A Thing in Brussels, but there's no need for it really - Drie is five minutes walk from Lot station with regular trains to and from Gare du Midi, most things in Brussels are walkable, and the bus, tram and subway network is really good for anything that isn't walkable or if you can't be bothered.

 

Look at my beerfly reviews for those cities (it is easy to sort) While not exhaustive, it is at least a start.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/user/places/?ba=Redrover

Have a great trip & report back!

 

If you want to avoid the tourist hell that is the centre of Amsterdam, these are a few suggestions.

Butcher's Tears is a small brewery with a taproom a couple of miles out of the city centre. https://butchers-tears.com/

Noorderlicht has a limited beer menu, but has a great spot on the water. The ferry ride there is pretty cool, too (and free). http://noorderlichtcafe.nl

In the Rivierenbuurt you've got Goos (http://www.cafegoos.nl/) and Tap Zuid (http://www.tapzuid.amsterdam/) vitually next door ro each other. Both offer a good range of Amsterdam beers.

Troost has three brewpubs, one in De Pijp (http://brouwerijtroost.nl/depijp-amsterdam/), one in the Westergasfabriek (http://brouwerijtroost.nl/westergas-amsterdam/) and one in the East (http://brouwerijtroost.nl/oost-amsterdam/)

Poesiat & Kater is a brewery and taproom, also in the East. They have two lines of beer, one old Dutch styles, the other modern stuff. (https://poesiatenkater.nl/)

Biertuin is another place in the East with a selection of Amsterdam beers. (https://debiertuin.nl/)

Right out at the end of the 14 tram, hidden in ppark there's 't Nieuwe Diep, a pub and distillery that also sells Czzech beer. It's in a lovely spot. http://www.nwediep.nl/

Joost is another pla e in the East specialising in Amsterdam beer. http://joost-amsterdam.nl

If you must drink in the centre, Kelkje is just off the tourist hellhole. It's owned by the same people as Nieuwe Diep and has their jenevers and Franconian beer. http://www.kelkje.nl/

Close to Centraal Station, but surprisingly unspoilt is De Ooievaar. A few decent beers, some good jenever and just a brilliant, tiny pub. http://www.proeflokaaldeooievaar.nl/

Just around the corner is another jenever bar, Olofspoort. It's stunningly beaitiful: like sitting in a Vermeer painting. http://www.olofspoort.com

 

The coolest old brown pub/cafe in Amsterdam is the de Wynand Fockink distillery in Dam Square, in the alley next to the Hotel Krasnapolsky.

WF, which been around since 1679 or so, also serves beer and jenever but their best stuff is a huge list of liquors - my favs are framboise, coffee, apple pie, ginger bitters, etc, etc., giant list. Extremely tasty. And liquors/jenever bottles can be bought to-go.

 

Random suggestion - in Amsterdam, give Heineken Oud Bruin a shot. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but it's unlike any beer I've ever had before or since.

 

One travel tip that I caught onto before my trip to Belgium and Germany last spring was that many places don't take credit cards. I haven't seen this mentioned in this forum for a while, but I was appreciative to have discovered this information before my trip. The lack of credit card usage was mostly true in Germany during my trip, and I'll guess that a third to a half of the breweries and restaurants were cash-only. For those who travel frequently to the area, is this still true?

 

Yes to credit cards being accepted at Cantillon. All of the hotels where I stayed accepted plastic too. It's just the breweries/bars/restaurants that may not take them.

 

I was last in Brussels 2 years ago, but I found credit cards to be more widely accepted there than in Germany. There are still lots of places in Germany don't take them. They're starting to more and more, but there are still plenty of tourist-frequented places in and around Munich that don't. Especially breweries and taprooms. Dusseldorf was similar. Their system of marking your coaster doesn't really jive with credit card tabs.

I went to Brussels with that in mind, but found people paying with plastic almost everywhere. Maybe not Delirium Cafe (that would be a nightmare), but most everywhere else. Cash is still way quicker and easier, though. ATM's are everywhere, too.

 

You'll struggle to find it, unfortunately. You can sometimes find it in supermarkets.

 

That's really too bad. I ordered some at an Indonesian restaurant 12'ish years ago and was baffled by it. I think it was simply labeled "donker" on the menu and I assumed it would be like the Heineken Dark we get over here in the US.

Are there other Dutch Oud Bruins readily available?

 

We had one in a cafe in Delft at some point last year. Can't remember which one (edit: I think it was Brand), but we were quite surprised because we weren't even aware of Dutch Oud Bruin and were expecting the Flanders style.

 

There are a handful still made by old Lager breweries. Heineken Donker isn't available in Holland. They used to have a Münchener here, but I think they dropped that in the 1960's.

Oud Bruin isn't that old as a style. It only appeared in the 1930's. As an attempt by Northern Lager breweries to kill off top-fermenting breweries in the South that made sweet, dark beers.

I've published an Amstel Oud Bruin recipe:

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.nl/2017/07/lets-brew-1956-amstel-oud-bruin.html

I also wrote an article for BA Magazine about the style. Which is probably one of the least-known. And will probably soon die out.

 

In Amsterdam you have lots of beer cafes.
BeerTemple, In de Wilderman, Craft & Draft.

Brussels:
Moeder Lambic, Brewdog, Monk.