Trip to Belgium. Advice for newbie?

We ditched the car. Took the train out to Poperinge; rented bikes. Easy ride from the center of town out to Westvleteren on quiet roads through the hop fields. Lunch at In de Vrede then we rode out to Watou to check out St Bernardus and Brouwerij Van Eecke, back to Poperinge for a coffee before catching the train back to Brussels for dinner.

 

@atpca Just for my own curiosity... assuming you can make a reservation, are you able to pick up beer at Westvleteren on a bike or do you have to have a car? I feel like I've read conflicting experiences on that...

 

Well Im note sure how you will be able to pick up two wooden crates and carry them on your bike....Id be interested in seeing how this can be done I heard from multiple people that a car is not necessary but that they can use your passport information as a means of verifying information. Ive heard that all you have to do is tell them that you have no method of transportation and youre using either a bike or public transport. Should work out and again Ive heard this confirmed through multiple people on these forums. Alternatively you can go to the cafe and they normally sell 6 packs (2 max per person) but that its not a guarantee that it will be Westleveteren 12 as sometimes they have only 8 or blond or even a combination of them. Its a crapshoot

 

Like @rodzm14 mentioned, you don't *need* a car, but it'd sure help. We didn't get reservations, just went to see the place, look at the visitors center and eat & drink "on prem" at In de Vrede. Probably would have gotten a 6 pack from the gift shop, but no beer to go that day.

 

If you are staying one night the B&B St Bernardus is amazing. St Bernardus there really isn't much to see at the brewery.

 

I still had fun on the tour and the grounds at the brewery are really nice to just walk around. They give you bikes to ride wherever too. Watou is a cool very very small town. The B&B is amazing, I can't recommend this enough. Plus they will set up a belbus (a group taxi service) for you whenever you want for where ever you want to go. The food in Watou is really great too, only a couple of places open per night though. The little convientant store called Spar, and the prices for single beers are insanely cheap.

Also I enjoyed the hops museum in Poperinge and it is a great town.

 

This was going to be our plan, but we're coming at the end of September and it looks like In de Vrede is closed the last two weeks of the month. We're staying at St. Bernardus for two nights, (9/24-9/25). Any other bike-able locations besides De Struise? I'm planning on stopping there when they're open on 9/26 en route to Bruges.

 

There is not much to see at de Struise either, one amazing place to see is de Dolle Brouwers they have open hours on Sunday.

 

yeah, they were on the list, but we'll already be in Bruges by then and I'm not sure I'll be able to convince the wife to backtrack for the day. She's really excited about Bruges.

 

Oh Bummer. For Beer, Watou with St Bernardus and Van Eecke is in close reach, tours both places are pretty limited so check in advance. There's also lots of WW1 history and a number of well marked and documented non-beer bike rides.

http://www.fietsroute.org/Cycling.php?fietsroutes=POProute

 

Van Eecke is pretty cool have toured it twice and your wife should be excited about Brugge. Romantics call it Venice of the north. When in Watou or Poperinge try to have a meal at the Hommelhof.

 

Your wife will love Brugge, it is a beautiful small city.

If you have time, make the walk to Vlissinghe Tavern (outside city center). It is the oldest tavern in Brugge, they just celebrated their 500 yr anniversary this summer!! It is not a great "craft beer" tavern, but the old-old interior makes up for that, plus they have a great beer garden in the back.

Also, don't miss Michelangelo's sculpture, "Madonna of Bruges" located at Church of our Lady. This is his one & only sculpture outside of Italy & was stolen by the Nazis in WWII and recovered.

Enjoy your trip! Cheers.

 

i'd disagree

i think the best plans would could have for their saturday is to start at De Dolle at 2 PM, get the tour, drink for a bit, and then take a cab to de Struise. De Struise has 24 taps and after the last Flemish Food Bash, the tap list was all whales. get Urbain on a good day and you'll have the experience of a lifetime.

and yes, i would skip Westvleteren alltogether. so bloody overrated.

 

Thinking about a Thursday day trip from Brussels to Poperinge. Is there anything I should be aware of as far as anything being closed on that particular day out of all the "big names" (In de Vrede, De Stuise, St. Bernardus?)?

 

In de Vrede is closed on Thursdays and Fridays except in August only on Thursdays. Also their 2 week vacation in September.

http://indevrede.be/kalender.php?lang=en

 

Are you talking about the bar near the school? Urbain took us for lunch there and well hung out at the school with him, although a nice visit, wasn't that impressed. This was in 2011.

 

i just spent a month living in west Flanders, slugger.
things have changed.
Molenhof, that bar/restaurant, is the de facto Struise brewpub. when i was there, Tilquin and Double Black were 2 of the beer on tap. not too shabby. Cuvee Delphine was put on the day i left. Cask strength.
the schoolhouse in 2011 is not the same as it is today. Saturdays are tap days from 2-6. on a bad week, we had the following on tap:
Pannepot
Pannepeut
Double Black
Single Black
a few beer from Alvinnes
a few hard to get beer, like Lion's Claws
CDOS (40% abv beer)
24 run through Intelligentsia coffee.

and i have left out a bunch more.

no one left unhappy.

i've been to In De Vrede twice. equally mediocre both times. i lived a 1 hr walk from there. i went there on my 2nd day and didn't return again. so take that as you wish.

De Dolle? I went 3 times. i loved everything about it. different from De Struise. Fewer beer, but an incredibly great property and Kris is a character. so, without any bias, i'd do 1/2 saturday at De Struise. 1/2 saturday at De Dolle and leave very drunk and VERY happy

 

If In de Vrede is going to be closed, I would skip the trip to Westvleteren unless you have a reservation and can meet the purchase requirements. Spend a day and night in Bruges, Ghent or Antwerp.

 

How does the Assumption of Mary (August 15th) holiday affect things in Brussels? Is there going to be anything open while I'm there or should I take a day trip somewhere else?

 

so you're there Tues-Fri.
I wouldn't visit any breweries in West Flanders nor would i spend time in Poperinge unless you're interested in WWI history. beer-wise, there's no reason i'd be in West Flanders on a weekday. but, if you insist...
then go up to Oostvleteren. as i posted above, 't Molenhof is the de facto Struise bar. you'll get some very nice Struise beer on tap and they have lots of harder-to-get barrel-aged beer in bottles. just ask them and they'll pour for you.

otherwise, don't visit St Berny/Watou for beer. same for Westvleteren, unless you're in the 'hood, it's open and you really insist on visiting.
i'd spend my time in Bruges instead. much more enjoyable city and a few good bars there.

religious holidays: if you're in a touristy area, places are open. some areas are more christian than others. Ghent, for example, may be touch and go, but i think you'll be fine.

 

Thanks for all the advice! I'm actually going to be using Brussels as a "home base" for like 9 days, (Friday the 14th thru Saturday the 22nd). I'm planning on taking day trips to Amsterdam and Bruges and "winging it" for the rest of the trip with essentially no plan at all. I thought about hitting up Westy for just a bit before heading on to Bruges.

 

This thread has been very helpful for me, too. Going to be there in 2 weeks. Very excited to hit up In De Vrede and De Dolle. Might swing by De Struise as well.

In terms of the lambic producers and blenders, do they all make for decent trips? Cantillon is obviously a must-visit, but what about 3F, Girardin, Lindeman's, Boon, Oud Beersel, etc. ? Any stand out as good day trips?

 

Tours aren't as common as you're probably used to in the US. If you plan on visiting check in advance or you may just see the exterior of a shuttered brewery. I visited 3F, Timmermans, Tilquin and Lindemans for the TdG; Timmermans was the best tour (large, old brewery). 3F is *tiny* but, well, it's Armand! Lindemans was, well, it was impressive in terms of scale.

 

then i'd suggest spending a saturday in west flanders. totally worth it beer-wise. will be the best day of your trip (tied with Cantillon). if you insist on In De Vrede, then you can aim for it for 11, drive to Oostvleteren to eat lunch at Molenhof and then hit Struise for 2. then you'd be at de dolle for 4:30.

 

Yeah, in looking through a BUNCH of websites, it seems like many/most do tours for large groups only. I figure Cantillon is an easy one and I would like to hit up one more (larger) lambic producer for the sake of seeing scale.
Disregarding tours - do many have tasting rooms or pubs attached? It's a bit hard to tell with some. I'm used to Germany where every Brewery tends to have a large tasting room and restaurant.

 

Cantillon is easy (and great). Timmermans had a cool bar/pub attached, not sure if it's generally open to the public but it felt like it would be. 3F has a little bottle shop and the nearby restaurant. Don't be too scared by the large group thing. Many places I talked to (too late) said you could frequently join an existing tour. Worth the phone call/e-mail.

 

Good to know! So far my "must hit" list of breweries/blenders/cafes consists of Cantillon, In De Vrede, De Dolle, and 3F along with a trip to see the Orval grounds and their shop. Westmalle's Cafe also seems nice.
Bier Circus, Delirium, and Moeder Lambic are easy enough while in Brussels. Kulminator is a definite if we make it up to Antwerp.
I haven't ruled out a side trip to Koeln either.