What's good in eastern Belgium?

Check this place out in St. Vith, its not too far from Schleiden

http://www.biermuseum.be/

I visited there on my first trip 12 years ago. They had a great beer list and a set up where you could cook food at your table on a hot flat iron pan that came out of an oven.

 

you're near Maastricht. I'd definitely pay it a visit for 1 night/2 days. very nice, chique town with one really good bar.

The food in Maastricht is great. i ate at Cafe Sjiek, which was incredible. Belgian/Dutch food done really well.
Cafe Frappe is a must. the owner keeps the barrel-aged Struise stuff hidden off menu. start with a bottle from their menu and then ask if he carries any Struise beer.

 

Val-Dieu abbey and brewery tour, I think the only place you can do both apart from an occasional open house at Orval. Always meant to do that, more for the experience than the beer. Liège has the Vaudrée family of bars (I can't advise on which is/are best). Tongeren is a nice town whose Sunday morning antique market is Mecca for those so inclined. Bink in Kerkom is a quintessential farmhouse brewery, but now that I'm actually looking on a map, it's a bit far for a side trip on its own. (Within reach of Maastricht, though. So's Achel, come to think.)

 

I would second this recommendation. I stumbled across this place earlier this year, and it was quite interesting. They have about 15 beers on tap, and another 40 or so in bottles. Nothing particularly hard to find, but still some quality on the list. In addition, they offer 2 house beers ("Ski Rodt Dunkel" or "Hell"). I had the Dunkel and it was fantastic.

Another possibility in that area is the Brasserie de Bellevaux near Malmedy.

http://www.brasseriedebellevaux.be/

It's a very small, quaint restaurant+brewery that makes some very nice beers: the Brune is especially good, though the Black is perhaps more unique. A bit tough to find, but it's beautiful countryside, so getting a bit lost isn't really a tragedy.

I would also second the recommendation made in the Germany forum as to Monschau. I can't say anything about the beer, but the town itself is rather spectacular and well worth visiting.

 

You can also check out Grain d'orge (http://www.grain-dorge.com/) and Lupulus is not that far away (http://www.lupulus.be/) but as JHDStein said your can come to brasserie de bellevaux, we're opened saturday and sunday from 11am to 6 pm (guided tours at 4pm)

 

Any one know of any good (bottle) shops in St. Vith or Malmédy or in all of Luxemburg? I'm thinking of taking a little day trip to take some nice beer home.

 

I hope you get suggestions closer to where you'll be (and please report back here) but if you make it as far as La-Roche-en-Ardenne: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23957/

 

That looks excellent. And open all days, so I could even go on a Sunday. A concept unknown here.

 

I would also recommend this place if you are in the area of La-Roche. I was there in March, and they actually had a couple of Westy 12 (they were cheaper than I saw in Brussels, but I still wouldn't call them cheap).

As for places a little closer to the border, I would recommend the following:

Just west of southern Luxembourg is a great bottleshop in Arlon called Miorge Mihoublon. I cannot recommend this highly enough. The selection is not massive, but it is very well-chosen and rather eclectic at times. Wonderful owner who really knows his stuff: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16548

If you get a bit north of Malmedy, you can try out Corman Collins in Battice (Rue de Xhéneumont 1a - 4651 Battice). They have a decent selection. Not as exclusive or thoughtful as Miorge Mihoublon, and you aren't likely find anything too rare, but they do have some very good stuff: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3009

Closer to Sankt Vith itself, you can take a look at Huppertz Rainer (Rektor-Cremer-Strasse 58, 4780 Crombach). I was there 2-3 years ago, and it is a very impersonal distributor-like beer store that mainly focuses on cases of beer. However, if you go inside (the entrance can be a bit tough to find), they have a small little room with singles of different local and interesting beers. It's not a huge selection, but it does have some stuff that you will likely not find anywhere else. Website: http://www.huppertz-rainer.be/content/C_Dok.aspx?NID=24&SPR=1 (beware of the loud music that plays automatically...)

If you are looking to stock up on some of the more "normal" Belgian beers, there is the St Vither Getränkehandel (Luxemburger Strasse 70 A, 4780 St.Vith) that had the usual suspects (including St. Bernardus, Duvel, Leffe) the last time I was there (2-3 years ago). It can be a bit tough to find: it is around the back of a building near the supermarket (if I remember correctly).

I wish you good hunting on your trip! And do please check back and let us know what you found. I tend to make the same run to this area of Belgium (or closer to the French border) once a year from Germany, just to stock up my cellar with a bit of variety.

 

Hi, I forgot about one shop: Amon Tchiniss (455 different beers) http://www.amontchiniss.be/index.php. It is between Waimes and Malmedy

 

well, you can drink our beers in most bars in Malmedy (Scotch inn, Taverne St Pierre and Vî Mamdy have all our beers) otherwise you can buy them at the brewery or in supermarkets exept aldi, lidl and colruyt.

1 week of september is a busy week for us, the production and distribution will take most of our time so our tasting room will only be opened during the weekend, sorry

 

As mentioned the Vaudree bars in Liege are great. Abbey Val Dieu is close by and worth a stop. La Chouffe and is south of there but a good place to visit also.

 

Only just saw this! Thanks for all the good advice! Don't know if I'll be able to go this year, maybe it'll only be in spring, but I'll definitely go and check some of those places out.