Belgian trips 2006

BELGIAN BEER

Diaries and photos of our trips to Belgium. Latest at the top

November 2006 visit to Brugge
Beer diary - Brugge 17th to 24th November 2006 17th November 2006 We left home just before 5.30 am on the 17th to catch the 7.38 eurotunnel train, the journey went without a hitch. On leaving the train we made our usual detour to Noel Cuvelier’s shop near Poperinge to stock up on beers for the Belgian beer talks that Clive does for local groups in the UK We arrived in Brugge at midday and were able to access the apartment we rent straight away, so we unpacked the car and went to the supermarket for a few essential supplies. As it had been an early start we then had a rest before the evening out. Once rested and showered we made our way to our usual starting place for a week in Brugge being the Brugs Beertje in Kemelstraat. We received the usually friendly greeting from Frederick and Bram who were on duty that night and Daisy who appeared a little later, we then settled in for the first part of the evening. Daisy had two Christmas beers on draught so we duly started off trying one of those in the form of the Gulden Draak Vintage, for those of you who know the regular Gulden Draak beer you will know that it is 10.5%, however the Christmas brew is only 7.5% and therefore much more suitable for an extended evenings drinking! The beer was full of flavour and very drinkable so while Clive tried some alternative beers I stuck with the vintage for a few. Since Daisy now stocks all of the Alvinne brewery beers which are favourites of Clive he moved on to try the Balthazar (9% Bruin) and Melchior (11% bruin) both going down very well. We then decided on a change and I had Barbar (8% pale ale with honey syrup) one of my regular favourites and Clive had a Cantillon Gueuze (5% lambic). During the evening we had conversations with several people including Francis from New Zealand and several of the regulars that we have come to know over our many years of visiting Brugge. As it was our first evening we then moved onto De Zolder to say hello to our other friends in the City. We asked Luc for two Christmas beers which he kindly supplied in the form of St Feuillien Cuvee de Noel (9%) and Bush de Noel (12%). Unfortunately due to Clive having been ill before our trip and the early start our evening was shorter than planned as by 9.30 we left the bar to try and catch up on some much needed sleep.
Johan (aka Black Beastie) in the Beertje, a good friend of ours who can often be found at the bar in the Beertje doing the Telegraph crossword!	Francis from New Zealand
A visitor from the UK	Us on our first night in the Beertje
Us again!	Johan
Daisy the owner of the Beertje in her rightful place behind the bar	Daisy and Bram keep the Beertje running like clockwork
Guilan a local friend in the Beertje
18th November 2006 Having had a nights sleep (well sort of) we ventured out the following evening to see more of our local friends. This time we started in DeZolder at 6.35 pm as we knew that other friends we usually see there do not stay late and happily we were lucky to find them there. We decided to keep things relatively light as it was likely to be a longish evening so I had a wittekerke Rose (4.3% wheat and Raspberry beer) and an Ezel Wit (5.8% wheat) and Clive had a Bolliker (aka De Koninck 5% amber) and a Vichtenaar (5.1% oak aged). At 7.30pm we moved on to Brugs Beertje as Johan one of the locals who is a good friend of ours was going to be travelling to Perth on the Monday to see his girlfriend so it was probably going to be the last evening we would see him. Clive started on Daisy’s other draught Christmas beer which was Tongerlo (6.5% blonde) which according to the Good Beer Guide to Belgium had not been seen since 2002 and I started very boringly on Barbar. Clive then moved onto Alvinne Blond Extra for his next few during which time the curiosity of two identical beers coming out as two distinctly different colours occurred! It later transpired via the Babblebelt message board that this was as a result of a different malt being delivered for the production of the beer which was not noticed until after the brewing process had begun, this was not a problem however as the taste was the same. We met a couple from London this evening Alessandra and St. John who we had a long chat with, long enough for the dreaded camera to appear! Whilst Clive was enjoying the Extra Blond I had a Corsendonck Christmas (8.5%), Watou Wit (5%), Cuvee de Trolls (7% light amber) and a Barbar winterbok (8% bruin). Clive then moved on to Gaspar (8%) another of the Alvinne beers and I went back to the Gulden Draak Vintage we had tried the night before. After all this we decided to call it a day.
Alessandra & St.John in the Beertje visitors we met on our second night	Bram
Alessandra	Us day 2
?	Frederick, another of the Beertje's regular bar staff
visitors	Alessandra & St.John in the Beertje
	Frederick, hard at work
Bram
19th November 2006 This being a Sunday it was time for what has become our regular trip down to Kroegske at Izegem. We caught the 16.33 train from Brugge which arrived at Izegem at 17.01, you walk straight off the arrival platform, cross the road and walk over the canal, when you come to the roundabout you go straight over and find Kroegske a short way down on the left hand side. Be warned if travelling to here in the summer you may find the place appears closed but you will see a small sign on the door to direct you to the garden out the back. Also in winter there is what appears to be a permanent coal filled brazier which can make it very warm at times. We arrived in the bar at 5.15pm to be greeted by Danny the owner who although we had only previously been there on two occasions remembered us. I started on a Boon Framboise (6.2%) a very refreshing and surprisingly unsweet raspberry beer, as a light start Clive had a Vichtenaar. Danny has had his own beer brewed by the Alvinne brewery which is just down the road but they are looking for somewhere to brew it themselves. Of course one of those had to be tried so Clive’s second beer was a Kroegbier Goud (6.6% blond) and I had a Druide Blond (6.5%), Clive then moved on to a Duivel Donker (8% bruin) and as a final beer here Podge’s Imperial Stout brewed by…….. Yes you guessed it the Alvinne brewery. At this point Danny brought out his home brew beer, not the beer that is to be sold in the bar but his own brew, this was split amongst the people talking at the bar which included us, a local who we had seen before and an English couple who moved to Belgium about 6 months previously, the beer was a very pleasant dark beer of 9.8%. For my final beer I had an Urthel Bock (6.5%) we had a very pleasant evening here as we always do but the time came for us to leave to catch our train home at 20.14, but this was not the end of our evening! We arrived back in Brugge, specifically the Beer tje at 21.15 for a nightcap or two! Being a Watou Wit and Girardin Framboise for me and a Tongerlo Christmas, Alvinne Extra Blond and Cantillon Gueuze for Clive.
Clive on the train back from Kroegske	Me on the train
Train journey to Brugge	Paivi & half of Peter!
20th November 2006 We decided that we would spend the whole evening in the Beertje so settled in for the evening at the slightly later time of 7pm. We met two Australians Ben and Jacqui with whom we had a long chat. We kept the beers relatively light as follows: Clive: Girardin Oud Gueuze, Bornem Dubbel (draught), De Cam Oude Gueze, Alvinne Extra Blond, Rulles Brune (75cl), Fantome (75cl) complete with wonky glass - see photos and finishing on a Bolliker. Teresa: Girardin Framboise, Cuvee des Trolls, Barbar, Barbar Winterbok, Triple Karmeliet and Watou wit.
Ben in Beertje	Ben in Beertje
Jacqui in Beertje	Jacqui in Beertje
That wonky Fantome glass!	and from another angle!
guy from NZ	Cas in Beertje
21st November 2006 Since the Beertje was closed we thought we would give Cambrinus another chance to see if they had improved since our visits there in March and June, unfortunately the answer was no. We both ordered medium steaks which came overcooked, very dry and stringy, Clive had a béarnaise sauce that was very thick and tasted very vinegary we can buy a better tasting béarnaise sauce in the supermarket in Brugge than was supplied in Cambrinus. The beer menu remains far too bulky and heavy although the sections on the different beer styles are produced in different colours, it still doesn’t help if you are looking for a beer from a particular brewery. The attitude and atmosphere in the place is not very friendly we have now been there on eight occasions and have never felt welcome, we will not be going back. We only stayed long enough to eat our meal and have one beer each an Alvinne blond for Clive and a palm speciale for me. We then moved on to De Zolder for the remainder of the evening which actually ended before midnight! Drinks were as follows: Clive: Drie Fonteine Gueuze, Petrus Oud Bruin and Saison du pont Teresa: Coffee!, Helle Kapelle, XX Bitter, Brugs Zot Blond and Petrus blond.
22nd November 2006 Another night of the Beertje being closed was spent in De Zolder, it was a very quiet night and ended with Luc getting some old Christmas beers from the cellar. Clive: Brugs Zot Dubbel, XX Bitter, Petrus Aged Pale, and some 10 year old Leroy Christmas beers Teresa: Helle Kapelle, Leute Bok, Cuvee Des Trolls, Pere Noel (2005), Barbar and Ezel Wit
Luc hard at work in De Zolder	Hiding behind the menu won't work Luc!
Matthias in De Zolder	Clive in De Zolder
Luc in De Zolder
23rd November 2006 This was our last night so as usual we split our time between the Beertje and De Zolder but sadly the cold I had picked up earlier in the week decided to really develop this evening and by 9.30 I was flagging and we decided to call it a night. We spent rather longer in the Beertje than initially planned but we enjoyed it immensely, we said our goodbyes to Daisy and Frederick and left our good wishes for Bram and the other locals who we did not see that night. In the Beertje we had: Clive: Alvinne Blond Extra, Corsendonck Christmas, Cantillon Gueze and Gulden Draak Vintage Teresa: Brugs Zot Blond, Pere Noel, Smitsje Honing and Watou wit. After moving on to De Zolder where I had one of Luc’s Flemish stews with pasta we only managed one beer each before I started wilting too much to stay Clive had a Petrus Oud Bruin and I had a Helle Kappelle.
24th November 2006 - Departure day Having loaded the car up ready to leave we opened the garage door to find our way blocked by a huge crane, it became clear that they were expecting to leave the vehicle there all day and possibly longer to carry out some work. I spoke to the driver indicating that they had parked in front of a garage door and we needed to leave, expecting to require the assistance of Nico the owner of the apartment I went to find him and hand over our keys. By the time I had returned the crane had been reversed a little way along the pavement to allow us to leave. A steady drive down to Calais saw us arrive in plenty of time to catch our shuttle at 10.28 finally arriving home at midday. We entered the house expecting to find mayhem from the two seven month old kittens but were surprised to see they had been relatively good and not much was out of place. Our neighbour had been feeding them and spending some time with them (I think this may have been longer than we were expecting as on the first night we were away the neighbours spent the evening watching children in need here with the cats asleep on their laps).