Belgian Trip photos

Weekend in Brugge 25th to 28th April 2008
25th April 2008 This trip was partly planned by Jeremy to celebrate his 40th birthday, we had booked the apartment we usually use as it is very close to the Markt and central for all places we would be going to. As it was only a weekend trip we decided to travel by eurostar rather than taking the car through the tunnel. This meant a more normal departure time of 7.20am or it would have been if our taxi had turned up! As we were travelling by train, when the taxi had not arrived by 7.30 we called to find that our booking had not been recorded, we were promised a taxi within 5 to 6 minutes and it duly arrived, as we had allowed extra time we were still able to catch our planned train. We stopped for bacon and egg rolls at a café outside Marylebone station (very nice they were too) before travelling on to St Pancras. After checking in we found Thom & Paulette who were also travelling on the same eurostar but in the next coach to ours. The Eurostar departed on time at 10am arriving in Brussels at 13.03, we had a short wait for the train to Brugge arriving at our rented apartment just before 3pm. After a trip out for supplies from the Supermarket and quick showers we decided to meet up with our friends in the Beertje for the early session which we were originally not planning on doing. We arrived at Brugse Beertje just after opening time to find Jeremy, Theresa, Thom, Paulette, Chris, Ruth, David, Debbie, Nellie (dog) and JoeS already there. We had a short session there also seeing Renus one of the co owners of ‘t Poatersgat who had popped in for a beer before starting work. Beers consumed were Arend Triple on draught, Kapitel Pater on draught and Girardin Framboise all of which we had had before and knew to be good beers, the Girardin Framboise being a particular favourite of mine when I want something that is not too strong When everyone else was going off for dinner we went to ‘t Poatersgat to say hello to our friends in there, we were advised by Renus when we got there that Luc was no longer involved with the bar, after knowing Luc for many years we now have no idea where or when we may see him again. We had a couple of beers here being the draught Chouffe, this is another favourite beer of mine but as it is usually only sold in 75cl bottles I make the most of it when I find it on draught. We were also told that Frederic who used to work in Beertje was now working in ‘t Poatersgat and was currently having a drink in De Zolder before arriving for work, he did arrive just in time for us to say hello and goodbye before heading off over the road to De Zolder. De Zolder is now run by Guy and as it is a part time position for him the hours that the bar is open are not what they used to be, Guy is going to email me details of the opening hours so that I can include them on this site for information purposes. After one quick drink here being a La Chouffe for Clive and a Barbar winterbok for me we headed back to Beertje 2 for the main birthday celebration, it had been arranged in advance with Daisy that we would be able to use Beertje 2 as there were going to be quite a number of us. A large number of the expected attendees were already at Beertje when we arrived, many more arriving before we left these included Jeremy, Theresa, Thom, Paulette, David, Debbie, Nellie, Chris, Ruth, Johan B, Emma, ATPete, Tim, Joris, Peter, Stewart, Tim Webb, Gunter, Caped Brewsader, Andy (Bier Mania), Martin, Gian, Giorgio, Betty, Marco, Steve and anyone else I missed :) As promised a special beer had been provided by the Struisse Brewery which was a Pannepot Grand Reserve which went down very well, it had been a tiring day with the journey over so by about 10pm we were tired and decided to call it a night especially as we had to be up to catch the coach the following day.
26th April 2008 We had planned on having toast and Danish pastries for breakfast but for some reason they did not arrive from the bakery. On our walk down to catch the coach we passed a shop selling filled baguettes and croissants so we stocked up on these instead and very nice they were too. The coach was due to leave at 10.15, everyone was there in good time. Considering the trip had started off as being 8 people in a minibus we ended up with 27 people on a 59 seater luxury coach which was a little on the large side for some of the roads we were to be travelling on! Our first stop was Brasserie Thiriez in Escquelbecq just over the French border where we tried 3 of the beers available on the day being the Ambre?, La Maline and Etoile du Nord all of which were very good. We then travelled on to Het Blauwershof in Godeswaerelde for lunch which was Flemish stew with frites accompanied by the house beer Blauwersbier which came in 75cl bottles so we shared one as we still had much of the day ahead of us. From here we travelled on to In de Vrede in Westvleteren where we spent two hours, I decided to stick with the Westvletern Blonde but Clive tried all three of the Blonde, 8 and 12. As we had travelled to Belgium by train we had decided not buy beers to take back with us which meant that the lack of any beer for sale at Westvleteren other than the presentation packs of 4 beers and a glass did not worry us. It was a beautifully sunny day which meant that the tables outside the café were all full so we had no choice but to sit inside. Whilst we were there the UK premiership football game between Manchester United and Chelsea was being played luckily I had taken a small personal radio with me that Jeremy borrowed to listen to the game but unfortunately Manchester United didn’t realize they were supposed to win for Jeremy’s birthday! After Westvleteren we travelled on to De Dolle Brouwers which was not overly busy and so we were able this time to sit outside and enjoy the spring sunshine, oh and the tug of war going on next door!. I had the Arabier and Clive had the Oerbier and Export Stout, we had a very pleasant time sitting in the sun and chatting not long before we were due to leave the brewer came out with bottles of the Oerbier Special Reserva 2004 to share among us, the general opinion I think was that this was the best beer of the day although not to my taste, this rounded off what was a very enjoyable day out, but it did not finish the day’s activities. On returning to Brugge we went back to our apartment to freshen up, picked up something to eat at the Frituur on the Markt and headed back to Brugse Beertje for the remainder of the evening. Many of our fellow travelers that day didn’t manage to make it back to the Beertje so it was just a small select few that enjoyed the rest of this day. As the group was much smaller we managed to sit at the bar which we always find to give a much better experience. Having taken it relatively easy during the day we were able to enjoy several beers in Beertje before leaving for the night at a little after 2am! Clive started off with a Boon Gueuze Marriage Parfait a favourite of his and followed up with and Urthel Hop-It, an XX bitter, a dangerous Bush 12, Smitsje dubbel IPA (on draught) and a Saison dupont. I wanted to keep this light again so started with the Girardin Framboise, then a cuvee de trolls, l’eau, Barbar, Tripel Karmeliet, Delirium Tremens and a watou wit all of which are regular favourites (well except perhaps l’eau). This finished off perfectly a very enjoyable day which I am sure will become a regular trip in the future with slight variations to the destinations each time.
27th April 2008 After the previous long day we had a relaxed morning in the apartment and watched the Grand Prix before heading off out, apologies Jeremy we didn’t make it to De Garre for your last drink before you returned home. As this was a Sunday we travelled by train down to Izegem to go to Kroegske which is a favourite bar but cannot be visited on many days of the week as it is not open! We arrived shortly after opening time (5pm) to be greeted by Danny and Nadine who always remember us, when we first visited this bar Danny did not have any of his own beers, In November 2006 we tried the first of his beers that is brewed for him at the Alvinne brewery, this time his range has extended to 6 of his own beers being Kroegbier Goud, Pater, Wit, Saison, Tripel and Super we had tried 4 of these before so we had to try the other two! We usually find that he also has other beers that we do not see elsewhere so we always look to see if there is something new we have not had before. We both decided to try the Tripel as our first beer this is made from a recipe designed by Nadine which includes Westmalle yeast and is a nice refreshing beer. Clive then tried the Super and I had a Primula brewed for Lupiline at Alvinne using cascade hops and coriander, we finished off with a Wevelgemse tripel each before catching the train back to Brugge for our last visit to Brugse Beertje this weekend. Back in Beertje we met Thom & Paulette who were still in Brugge and later Chris & Ruth joined us, we did not want a late night as we had to catch a train the following morning, we started off with two beers we had had earlier this weekend being the Girardin Framboise and the Arend Tripel Martin the barman then suggested that if I liked the framboise maybe I should try a Strawberry beer, I have never had one of these and was recommended to try the Oud Beitje, unfortunately I could not get to grips with this beer it was a little too sour for my taste and I only managed to drink half of it before moving on to a Cuvee des Trolls and a Tripel Karmeliet, meanwhile Clive went back to the XX Bitter for his last two beers before leaving.
28th April 2008 Having had an earlyish night we were up bright and early, so early that we walked to the station instead of catching a taxi, we had an uneventful journey home on the midday eurostar, stopping to buy prawns for the cats at Marylebone station we were home by mid afternoon.
Photos of the Brugge weekend: 25th April 2008
Chris & Clive	Theresa & Jeremy
Nellie	Thom & Paulette
Ruth, JohanB, Steve, Jeremy, Joris, Joe & Chris	Emma, Martin & Thom
Crowd in Beertje 2	more crowd
Jeremy still standing?	Paulette & Peter
ATPete & Tim	Gian & Giorgio
Marco & Betty	Stewart, Jeremy & Clive
Teresa & Theresa	Clive & Andy
Giorgio & Martin (always smiling!)	JohanB, Phil & Steve
Joris & JoeS	Steve & Joris
Emma	Thom
Teresa & Jeremy	Clive & Andy
Clive & Andy	Giorgio & Tim
Jeremy with birthday presents	Jeremy
Jeremy & another bottle	Jeremy
Jeremy	Jeremy and birthday shirt
Stewart	Peter
Birthday gift	Clive & Johan B
Clive & JohanB	Nellie
David & Debbie	Theresa
David & Debbie	Clive & Steve
Crowd in Beetje 2	.

Theresa & Peter
Clive & Jeremy	Clive & Jeremy
Jeremy	Jeremy
Peter & Stewart	Andy & Tim Webb


Thom, Theresa, Paulette & Peter

26th April 2008
In Brasserie Thierez	Brasserie Thierez
Brasserie Thierez	in Brasserie Thierez
In Brasserie Thierez	Jeremy, Theresa & Johan
Jeremy	Me, Emma, Theresa, Steve & Johan
Emma, Theresa, Me & Johan	Steve, Jeremy & Emma
Tim & Chris	Andy, ? & Chris
In Het Brauwershof	Jeremy, Thom & Tom playing games
Jeremy, Thom& Tom playing games watched by Chris	Paulette & Tom In de Vrede
Johan & Joris In de Vrede	Being arty Inde Vrede
The overhead view	De Dolle Brouwers
Clive & Jeremy in De Dolle Brouwers garden	Steve about to eat
Steve	Steve eating mmmmm
Nellie	Nellie
The Oerbier Special Reserva 2004	and close up
Els of De Dolle Brouwers	Kris of De Dolle Brouwers
Joris & Tom	Me
No I really didn’t have a banana beer!	Martin hard at work and still smiling
No comment!	Best man of a stag party in Beertje
Another of the stag party	I think he’s had enough now
Primula in Kroegske	Kroegbier Super
Kroegske’s own beers, Goud, Tripel & Super with an Alvinne Maurootje	Wevelgemse Tripel
Week in Brugge 29th February to 7th March 2008
29th February 2008 This trip was planned to coincide with ZBF so on arrival in Brugge on Friday we decided on a quiet night to ensure we were fresh for the festival on Saturday. As usual we start in the Brugs Beertje for a while later moving on to ‘t Poatersgat to say hi to our friends and have one drink there before calling it a night
Beers Teresa Ename Blonde t’ Smitsje dubbel IPA Bourgogne des Flandres blonde Barbar Winterbok Cuvee des trolls *2 La Chouffe	Clive Vicars generaal t’ Smitsje Catherine Stout Vicardin Tripel Gueuze Pannepot *3 La Chouffe
1st March 2008 We arrived at St Niklaas in time to join the queue for opening time and spent 5 hours there trying several different beers each, for us ZBF is our chance to try beers that we cannot get elsewhere, there were not a great deal there this year that we had not tried before and we found that the venue become far too crowded later on. On leaving ZBF we returned to Brugge to call in at the Beertje for a few before another relatively early night.
Beers Teresa ZBF Cookie Beer - Ecaussinnes Vlaskop - Strubbe Badfride Tripel – ‘t Hofbrouwerijke Balzello - Boelens Belgoo Magus - Belgoobeer Cre tonnerre – de Silly ’t Smitsje Fiori – Regenboog Beertje Girardin Framboise Watou Wit Cuvee de trolls Tripel Karmeliet	Clive ZBF Ultramour - Ecaussinnes Petrus Aged Pale Bosprotter – ‘t Hofbrouwerijke Hofblues – ‘t Hofbrouwerijke Hofdraak – ‘t Hofbrouwerijke Halleschelle – Alvinne Beertje Alvinne Xtra Blonde *3 Tripel Karmeliet
2nd March 2008 We decided to go to Brussels to visit Moeder Lambic on the Sunday and spent a very pleasant few hours there. This included a tour of the cellar with Jean, the cellar is being prepared for group tastings in the future and is looking very good. Advance booking of the cellar will be required when it is ready for use. On leaving Moeder Lambic we returned to Brugge again to finish the evening in Beertje.
Beers Teresa Grisette aux fruits des bois (draught) Bloemenbier Achel Blonde Cuvee de trolls Tripel Karmeliet Dragon – a green coloured beer Watou wit Barbar Saison dupont Cuvee de trolls	Clive Gouyasse III Taras Boulba Stouterik 2 Equinox Lambic Cantillon (draught) Goude Carolus Classic (draught) 4
3rd March 2008 This was the first day that we did not spend any time travelling and we decided to spend the evening in the Brugs Beertje where we met up with Des & Lyn who had also been over for ZBF
Beers Teresa Cuvee de trolls Gouden Carolus Easter (75cl *1/3) Barbar t’smitsje Honinge Piet Agoras Tripel Karmeliet	Clive Gouden Carolus Classic Couden Carolus Easter (75cl *2/3) 3 Fonteine Vintage Gueuze Oude Beersel Gueuze t’ Smitsje Dubbel IPA Gouden Carolus Classic Oerbier Speciale Reserva 2006
4th March 2008 Tuesday night in the Beertje.
Beers Teresa Cuvee de trolls Arabier St Feuillien Tripel St Bernardus Tripel La Chouffe St Bernardus Wit Cuvee de trolls	Clive Oud Beersel Gueuze Gouden Carolus Classic Cuvee van de Kaizer 2002 (75cl) Brugse Zot Bruin (www.brugsezot.be) Dolle Brouwers Export Stout Gouden Carolus Classic *3
5th March 2008 I was feeling unwell on the Wednesday so we had an easy day in the apartment. We had planned on visiting Kogge but I did not feel up to it so we didn’t go out until later in the evening. When we didventure out we went to ‘t Poatersgat but I didn’t feel much better so we didn’t stay long and had a very early night!
Beers Teresa Coffee Framboos Ezel wit left for Clive to finish	Clive La Chouffe *4 Ezel wit that I couldn’t drink
6th March 2008 Our last night where we have to say goodbye to all our friends. We had managed to get in touch with our old friends Luc & Monique who used to run Restaurant the Fox in Phillipstockstraat and they had invited us round to their house for Luc’s wonderful steak in Bearnaise sauce later in the evening so we had to ensure our time in the Beertje and t’ Poatersgat did not make us late for our dinner date. We had a few beers and said goodby to all our friends then moved onto Luc and Monique’s as usual the steak was perfect. We left with a plan that we will meet up with Luc and Monique once a year in future but hopefully not on our last night in Brugge again.
Beers Teresa Cuvee de trolls Witkap tripel t’ smisje Blond Gauloise	Clive Bolliker *2 Gouden Carolus Classic Rochefort 6
7th March 2008 A slightly longer journey home this time as queues were announced on the M25 so we came off the M20 early to avoid the problems only to see a reasonably moving M25 in the distance and to get caught in local traffic ourselves, guess we won’t be trying that again.
Photos of the Brugge week: 1st March 2008 at ZBF
Lutje, Jean & Jeremy	Jeremy and tombola winnings
Paulette & ?	Martin
Jeremy looking at the pictures :)	Fred W
crowd at ZBF	David A & Joris
Theresa busy working and not drinking at ZBF!	Paul
Paulette, Thom etc.	Johan
2nd March 2008
Moeder Lambic bar	Draught beers in Moeder Lambic
Moeder Lambic bar	Cellar in Moeder Lambic


Clive & Jean in the Cellar of Moeder Lambic
the workings!	Martin in Brugs Beertje
Clive and Teresa from behind the Beertje bar!	Desiree & Frederick (Ex Beertje barman)
Bram, Desiree & Frederick	Martin being the boss!
Frederick in serious mode	Dolle Brouwers Export Stout
Clive & Eli	Gouden Carolus metal sign behind Beertje bar
Is that the time?	Cuvee van de Kaizer 2002
Xavier of De Halve Maan Brewery	Des & Lyn
Des & Lyn	Visitors in Beertje
?	?
?	?
?	Marlene
?	Daisy
Martin	Martin
Martin hard at work	?
Marlene	Clive
Me!	Me
Weekend in Antwerp for Essen Kerstbier festival 14th to 16th December 2007
14th December 2007 Clive had the whole day off on the Friday but I was working in the morning so we met up at Marylebone station to travel to Brussels on the 14:34 Eurostar, our first journey out of the new Eurostar terminal at St Pancras. I think everyone we spoke to agreed that the facilities after check in at the new station were very disappointing, the food that was available was very limited and expensive, what we had was not very good quality either. Considering this was area was specifically modified for Eurostar pasengers we could not understand why this should be. Our journey over was uneventful, we arrived at Antwerp and booked into our hotel and prepared for an evening out. It had been planned beforehand that any babblers in the area would meet up at the “Oud Arsenaal” bar whenever they could get there., we duly arrived to find a few familiar faces with more arriving throughout the evening. It was a very enjoyable evening with some good beers and mad company.
Beers Teresa Pere Noel Achel Blonde Ename Cuvee 974 Tripel Karmeliet Ename blonde	Clive Pere Noel De Cam Gueze Drie Fonbteine Vintage Vinde cereale Rodenbach x2
15th December 2007 Due to the threatened train strikes on the Saturday Gunter had kindly arranged taxis for 24 people from Antwerp to Essen for 12:30 to get us to the festival for opening time. Before this Clive and I had a few hours wandering around Antwerp some of which we spent at the railway station to check out the state of the service and we were very pleased that alternative arrangemenst had been made as we estimate that only about 3-5 trains an hour were leaving Antwerp out of a scheduled 15 an hour and in the time we were there we did not see one train going to Essen. We arrived at the arranged pick up point for the taxis and by the time everyone was boarded we left at about 12:40, there seemed to be some sort of disagreement amongst the drivers of the 3 vehicles concerning the route to be taken as we appeared to leave the motorway at a junction before the expected one for our driver but we arrived at the festival hall ok at about 13:30 arranging with the drivers that we would be collected at 20:00. We then took our places at the front of the queue that did not exist at that time! This was our first visit to this festival and we were very impressed with the work that had gone into setting up and decoratuing the venue, well done to Gunter and his colleagues. We had an enjoyable few hours sampling some great Christmas beers and then left to await our taxi at 20:00, it was rather cold outside so we were not happy to find they were not there, after a couple of phone calls in which they said they were on their way two out of the three eventually turned up at about 20:45, we could have had another beer or two! Our driver informed us that the third taxi was 10 minutes behind the first two so we were not overly worried about the people that had not made it onto the first two taxis, we were however surprised to learn that the third taxi did not turn up until 23:05, I guess there must have been some sort of misunderstanding! We arrived in Antwerp at about 21:30 Clive and I had to catch the 11:59 Eurostar on the Sunday so we decided to stop for some frite and then head back to our hotel, next year we have accomodatioin booked in Essen for the Saturday and Sunday nights, we have yet to decide if we will be travelling out on the Friday or Saturday.
Beers Unfortunately I think we have some beers missing from our list but all of the ones we tried were very good.
Teresa Biere de noel – Abb. Du Val Dieu Christmas (refermented) - Leroy Christmas beer (Crombe) - Strubbe Grobbendonks Kerstbier – Achilles (last bottle ever) Saison Christmas – Glazen Toren Slaapmutske Christmas – Proefbrouwerij Antwerps Kerst – Pakhuis Rochefort 8 Cuvee 2007 – Abb. De Saint-Remy	Clive Tournay de Noel - Cazeau Abbaye d’Aulne Super Noel – Val de Sambre Sint-Bernardus Christmas alle – St-Bernardus Toernichoise Fumee – Millevertus Hiete kriek – De Cam (hot) Special Oerbier Reserva 2006 – Dolle Brouwers Duvel Tripel Hop – Duvel-Moortgat
16th December 2007 We had a good journey back apart from our fellow travellers who from the aroma had obviously been out drinking most of the night before. There were no delays and we managed to get home by about 14:20
Photos of the Essen weekend:
Joris, Steve, Theresa, Don & Cheri	Signs on the wall
More signs	The back of the bar
Fellow babblers sorry I can’t remember your names	The bar
Paulette & Thom	Dan, Martha & Paulette
Jezza & Thom	Theresa & Martin
Theresa & Steve	Stefaan the owner
Clive, Steve & Steve	Drie fonteine bottle
Briony, ? & Mat W	Clive, Jezza & Steve
Clive, Jezza & Steve	Dan, Clive, Jezza & Steve
Jezza, Clive & Steve	hmmm can’t take them anywhere: Jezza & Clive
Jezza & Clive examining the evidence!	Theresa, that hat & Dan
An amazing feat of engineering the new lower level platforms at Antwerp station	We don’t have room for a station so we’ll put part of it on pillars above the pavement!
The incredible building that was the old main station entrance before the rebuild	Santa & Haddock!
Santa Jezza, Steve, Santa Clive & Black Haddock Jeremy	Oh, I’m shocked Santa drinking surely not!
Santa Clive, Real Santa & Santa Jezza	Marcus & Santa Clive
The wonderfully decorated hall	Santa was too frightening!
Thom, Clive, sorry I forgot your names ?, ?, ? & Paulette	Clive & ?
Hmm Santa giving the Haddock a drink!	?
The hall and imbibers	What can I say!
Dez, Lynn, two santas & Jeremy	And Mrs Santa was there too
Santa threesome!	oh dear!
Don, Mrs Don & MikeK deep in conversation	That Santa gets everywhere!
Steve & ?	Santa drink in hand
Black Haddock (Jeremy)	Mrs Black Haddock pretending to be Santa
Theresa and Santas hair…..	…..and beard
?, Lorenzo & Jezza	It’s slipped a bit!
Dan, Martha, Dave & MattW	Pouring my Rochefort 8
Martin & Steve – it’s been a tiring day!	The bars
Locals?	Tim Webb
Week in Brugge 16th to 23rd November 2007
16th November 2007 After an easy run over our first day in Brugge saw us in the t’ Beertje as our first stop as usual, where we stayed for a short time before moving on to see Luc’s new bar t’ Poatersgat, this bar is across the road from his old one De Zolder and is about 2 and a half times the size the interior is a little posher with the toilets being mainly marble, we don’t recommend having a fall in there! But we would suggest a visit it is a cellar bar with a great atmosphere. We called it a day early due to the early start.
Beers Teresa Boon Framboise Triple Karmeliet Pere Noel (De Ranke) Avec les Bon Vouex shared 75cl Santa Bie Watou Wit	Clive Gouden Carolus Christmas Aardminnick (Struisse brewery) x2 Corsendonck Christmas Avec les Bon Vouex shared 75cl Kerst Pater (draught)
17th November 2007 We had decided to make a trip down to Brussels by train to go in Moeder Lambic as we really enjoyed our first visit to this bar in September when we were over for Bruxellensis, that weekend we enjoyed the first visit so much that we spent 3 evenings there. This time we arrived and it was relatively quiet, we sat at a table and the minute Jean and Yvan? walked in they both recognised us and greeted us like life long friends despite us only have been in there that one weekend before. It is a very friendly place the owners are exceptionally enthusiastic about their beer, we believe they have only owned the place since February 2007and they are working to create a tasting area in the cellar for small groups which is expected to be ready by February 2008. We felt so at home here that we stayed a little longer than we had planned. On arriving back in Brugge we went to t’ Beertje for the remainder of the night.
Beers Teresa Adelardus Brune Saint Monon Miel Grisette Aux Fruits des Bois (draught) Celtic Angel Barbar winterbok Grisette Aux\Fruits des Bois (draught) Boon Framboise Watou wit Lindemans framboise	Clive Val Dieu III Lambic Cantillon Faro Cantillon Authentique Ambre Gouden Carolus Brune x2 Aardmonick XX bitter Alvinne Extra Blonde x2
18th November 2007 As this was a Sunday we took what has become a regular trip down to Kroegske in Izegem and were pleased to see Danny back behind the bar. Danny informed us that they now have 4 of their own beers being the Kroegske blond, Pater, Wit and Saison and by early next year they will have another two to go with these, we can’t wait! The Spice Boys from Solihull were over in Brugge this weekend, so we also saw them in Kroegske travelling back with them on the train to Brugge for a late night in t’ Beertje.
Beers Teresa Gougasse Tradition Bobeline Brune Kroegske Saison shared 75cl Alvinne Blond Extra tried 75cl Kroegske Wit Hik beer bruin Kerst pater (draught) x4 Watou wit	Clive Noel des Geants Kroegske Pater Kroegske Saison shared 75cl Alvinne Blond Extra 75cl Podge Imperial Stout Aardmonick Moinette bruin
19th November 2007 Following the heavy Saturday and Sunday this was a quiet night spent entirely in t’ Beertje
Beers Teresa Lindeman Framboise Celis wit Girardin Framboise Cuvee des trolls	Clive De Koninck (draught) x4
20th November 2007 We started in t’ Poatersgat this time later moving onto t’ Beertje where we met Chris from Mexico who was spending the last of his money and having a very good time in doing so, Brian and Maddie from the US, Mark & Sue from the UK and Chris a friend of Johan’s and had a very entertaining evening.
Beers Teresa Slaapmutske Blonde Corsendonck Christmas La Chouffe (draught) Cuvee de trolls Saisis Barbar Cuvee de trolls x2	Clive Westmalle Dubbel Alvinne Bruine Rochfort 6 XX bitter Boon gueze Mariage parfait Kerst pater Kaizer Karol Rood x2
21st November 2007 We decided to try a new bar for us and venture to Kogge a very small friendly bar where we were made very welcome until I had a coughing fit and was told I couldn’t die there as it would be too expensive  having recovered we stayed for another beer in this very intimate bar to which we will return, whilst here we met Chris and Catherine an English couple who live very near to Ebsfleet where the new Eurostar station is, I am green! We then moved on to t’ Poatersgat before taking a break to watch the England game and returning to drown our sorrows!
Beers Teresa Malheur 6 La Chouffe (draught) x7 Brugse Zot Duvel	Clive Westmalle triple La Chouffe (draught) x7 Drie Fonteine Gueze Struisse wit
22nd November 2007 Our last night came around far too quickly and as we had an early start the following day we just had time to have a few in t’ Beertje followed by a few more in t’ Poatersgat to say goodbye to all our friends. We met another two English people in t’ Beertje, Peter and Debbie, who surprise surprise, live less than10 miles from our home! And Thiago from Brazil, another South American who was really enjoying himself.
Beers Teresa Lindemans Framboise Barbar Tripel Karmeliet Arend Bonde (De Ryck) La Chouffe (draught) Barbar La Chouffe (draught) Watou wit	Clive Alvinne Extra Blonde Leroy Xmas (draught) x3 La Chouffe (draught) x4
23rd November 2007 Having had a relatively early night we were up early for our journey home. We had an easy journey arriving home by midday local time.
Photos of the Brugge week:
Pump in t’ Beertje – Gouden Carolous Christmas	Pere Noel & Corsendonck Christmas in t’ Beertje
Luc’s new bar t’Poatersgat	Luc’s new bar t’Poatersgat
Luc’s new bar t’Poatersgat	Luc’s new bar t’Poatersgat
Just round the corner from Chez Moeder Lambic we found this building which we believe is a prison	The Spice Boys in Kroegske, Izegem
Danny & Nadine the owners of Kroegske and very welcoming hosts	Sign above the bar in Kroegske, Izegem
Alternative language sign above the bar in Kroegske	and in English too - Sign above the bar in Kroegske
Spice boys with Clive	After leaving Kroegske we retired to t’ Beertje – What a surprise! The Spice Boys with Bram, Clive & Frederic
¾ of the Spice Boys with Clive & Teresa	75cl Chimay blue
Frederic having a break	Bram still working :)
Clive	Clive & Frederic
Teresa & Piers	Spice boys with Teresa
Glasses in t’ Beertje	Kerst Pater & XX Bitter pumps
Frederic, Clive & Bram	Brian & Maddie from the US in t’ Beertje
Johan & Chris	Clive & Teresa
Sue, Johan & Mark	Marlene a regular friend in t’Beertje
Xavier brewer at the Halve Maan brewery in Brugge	Bram working again!
Frederic does work too	Johan
Sue & Mark from the UK	Kogge again
A new bar we tried for the first time this week Kogge in Brugge very small and friendly, limited beer range but they do have some good beers	We were sat by the wall this photo across to the bar the other side of the room gives some idea of how small the bar is
Glass display in t’Poatersgat	Debbie in t’Beertje who actually lives just a few miles from us in the UK
Clive & Teresa	Peter & Debbie
Thiago a visitor from Brazil	Me with my new Achouffe hat and La Chouffe beer
Rinus in t’Poatersgat
Weekend in Brussels for Bruxellensis festival 7th to 10th September 2007
Late in the day we decided to book a weekend in Brussels in order to attend the Bruxellensis festival, we got a good deal with www.greatgetaways.co.uk which gave us 3 nights for 2 in the Sofitel hotel including Eurostar for £185 each plus £25 to upgrade to first class on the return journey. We traveled out on the 14:13 arriving in Brussels just after 17:30 local time, we walked to the hotel which was about half an hour from the station, we booked in had showers and headed out to Moeder Lambic for the pre festival Babble Fest. On arriving at the bar we found it very busy, all seats both inside and out were taken but luckily just as we arrived one table inside was vacated so we quickly took our places for what was to be a great evening of good beer chat and great cheese. We had not previously met many babblers so we did not know if any were already there, on speaking to Nassim one of the co owners we were informed that there were two babblers sitting at the end table outside, Clive went out to introduce himself while I guarded the table, the two babblers in question were FredW and Paul who we had met before. A little later in the evening another English speaking couple arrived and once the table next to us was empty they moved there on speaking to them we found that it was Andy and Evie a couple who have posted on the Babblebelt and who were going to be running a German Beer stand at Bruxellensis. The remainder of the Babblers arrived a little later in the form of Thom, Paulette, Jeremy, Theresa, Marcus & Briony even later still Dan Shelton arrived complete with cameraman in tow. The beer menu was very interesting and relatively extensive after having tried several beers Jean the other co owner then produced some old bottles of Stille Nacht from the cellar for us to try hence the rather dusty bottles (see photos) the bottles had all aged differently and the taste varied from bottle to bottle all tasted good but some were better than others. We were all having such a good time we didn’t realize how late it had got and eventually left the bar at about 2am! to head back to the hotel via the friterie Bruxellensis opened at Midday on the Saturday so despite the late night we were there at 11.30 expecting to see a queue and were surprised to see that no one was waiting, in addition the festival was not ready to open as tables and chairs were still being put out. Midday arrived and there were still only a handful of people who by this time had moved to take seats at the tables that were just inside the entrance as due to it being free to enter the festival the entrance was open, although I’m not sure how they could have closed it as it was a very large warehouse type entrance which we were to find was to be used during the day by the businesses that ran from the premises, this included vans, motorbikes and a motorbike with sidecar which proceeded to drive through the venue at regular intervals, requiring the chairs at the end of the tables to be moved to allow access. There was a great selection beers from around the world and over the two days we managed to try a vast majority of them, I will not go into detail here as the beers were listed on the pre festival babblebelt posting. We were not familiar with German beers before the festival but having tried them we found them to be very good, with a variety of tastes, we also tried beers from Finland, USA, Spain and of course Belgium. We met many more babblers at the festival see the photos for details. We had not been intending to stay late at the festival but it was about 18:30 by the time we left to walk back to our hotel for a nap and a shower before once again heading out to Moeder Lambic via the Friterie which is so popular we had to queue for half an hour. At Moeder Lambic we again had a very pleasant remainder of the evening trying even more good Belgian beers but this time leaving at about 23.30 for an early night! Sunday morning we got up and had a wander round the City taking a few photos of the view and some very impressive architecture. Our walk took us towards the festival area and we therefore arrived early again but we knew that we would be able to sit down so after stocking up on some nibbles at a local supermarket we took our places to wait for the festival to open. Luckily we had a supply of beer tokens remaining from the day before so the fact that the person with the tokens was not there at opening time didn’t worry us we just went ahead and continued working our way through the beers we had not tried the previous day. We returned to the hotel a little earlier this time to give us time to rest and shower before heading out once again to Moeder Lambic for our final evening. Just before we left the bar on Sunday Evening Jean explained what their plans were for the place and said how pleased he was with how things were going so far and as a parting gift gave us a 75cl bottle of Caracole Forestinne Ambrosia which we have just had with dinner. Never having attended this particular festival before we had not known what to expect, it was different! There was a good selection of beers, the venue was a little odd but worked well, the food was either bread and cheese or a selection of homemade filled baguettes, quiches etc. the only hot food being chilli, personally we would have liked to have seen more in the way of hot food, maybe hotdogs, frites, or other easy to cook items. The outstanding beer stand of the weekend has to go to Andy who had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to produce the stand which had the look of being a real bar. All in all it was a great weekend; the festival was good we found another great bar in Moeder Lambic Jean and Nassim are very keen, they know their beers and run a great bar which we will be returning to hopefully in November when we are next over for a week in Brugge. The only downside was the fact that Clive picked up a viral infection which kicked in early Monday evening and remained for most of the week, at least it waited until we were home.
Moeder Lambic	Evie & Briony
Marcus & Briony	Theresa, Nassim & Briony
Marcus & Theresa	Clive & Thom
Mmm no comment!	Christmas decorations delivered from the US
Oh dear and it was only 11pm	Paulette
Moeder Lambic	Tom’s balancing act and Marcus trying to put him off!
Teresa	Theresa & Jeremy
Marcus & Theresa	Jean & Marcus
Group Photo	One of those Stille Nacht bottles from the cellar
Group Photo 2	Andy & FredW
Marcus, Theresa & Jeremy	Jeremy studying the bottle
Marcus, Theresa & Teresa
Saturday Jeremy & Joyce White	Paul
Joyce’s son-in-law and granddaughter	Beer festivals are tiring work!
Paulette, Matt Dinges, Jim & Thom	Glass & beer token
Matt Dinges & Jeremy	Jim & Michele
Jeremy, Paul & FredW	Jeremy & Theo from PINT (NL)
Paul & FredW	Jeremy & Sausage!
Maximum zoom on view from hotel window	Was it a sausage or a cigar?
Sunday Cityscape	Cityscape 2
Cityscape 3	Cityscape 4
Cityscape 5	War memorial
War memorial	War memorial
Impressive architecture
Andy’s Dusseldorf beer stand (Germany)	Blaugies brewery
Slaghmuylder brewery	Dupont brewery
Cantillon brewery	Kerkom brewery
Rulles brewery	Grainstore & Belvoir breweries (UK)
De la Senne brewery	De Ranke brewery
Agullon brewery (Spain)	Huvila brewery (Finland)
Thiriez brewery (France)	Franconian beers
High & Mighty brewery (USA)	Theresa & Paulette
Teresa	FredW & Jeremy
Teresa & Clive	Gunter
It’s still there Jeremy!	Beers from Sebastian
Don’t think too hard Thom!	Joris ready to go & Paulette
FredW, Paul & Jeremy posing!	Oh yes they do!
Get your glasses here	Festival poster
Thom	Jeremy
Paulette	Theresa
Clive	An old bottle of Leroy Stout
Moeder Lambic again