I have a friend in Leuven for work that will get me some beer. I want to know where the best bottleshop is? What I should have him look for? How should he mail it? I'm looking for some sours and beers that don't come to the US.
I've never been to Leuven but I've been to many towns that are close in size. Actually most of the top shelf Belgian beers do make it to the states. Leuven might have some small stores and you might see something like Horal Mega blend or some nice beers that don't make it here, but no whales. There are lots of Belgian beers that rate in the low-mid 3's on BA but are still very enjoyable and unique beers. For instance I like Kerkom Adelardus line, but others might find them too fruity. You might find these in a store.
The best way to mail beer is with Bpost, the Belgian Postguys. When you ship 6 to 7 normal (Small) bottles the costs are 31 euro for the shipping.... This is the site: http://www.bpost.be/site/nl/residential/parcels/international/kilopostint.html Thijs
The centre of Leuven isn't really renowned for it's selection of beer shops. Recently a few tourist shops have opened up selling gift packages. Some supermarkets (Match, Delhaize) in the centre have a decent selection, but nothing you wouldn't find elsewhere. In recent years, a few micro-breweries have opened up in the surrounding area (De Vlier, Kortrijk-Dutsel, Lupus,...) and they sell their product in a few select shops (for example "Temmerman", located on Tiensestraat) in the city. But that's really it. The closest shop that has a larger range is ABS drinks/B&S drinks in Winksele and Wilsele a few kilometres out (http://www.absdrinks.be/). Tim
