Lier, Flanders - 2024

Our group of friends was in Antwerp from 20-23 June primarily to support Beer Passion / Bierpassie Weekend in Groenplaats but we also had time to visit Lier and the Zimmer tower on the Friday, when it rained for most of the day.

The trip started with a short train journey from Antwerp's magnificent Central station - Antwerpen-Centraal. Lierre / Lier is well served by around five trains an hour from Antwerp, taking about 16 minutes and costing 3.60 euros for a single journey.

There were no buses running from the station on the outskirts to the centre of Lier due to road closures for the annual Lier Feest festival. Alternative routes to reach the Zimmer tower are to follow a wide tree-lined path that follows the base of the old city walls next to a river or to follow Antwerpsestraat to the Grote Markt and its imposing Stadhuis (Town hall).

Het Belofte Land

Having travelled by separate trains from Anwerp and routes from Lier station we met up inside Cafe Het Belofte Land at Begijnhofstraat 7.

Tim found Andrew, Richard and Simon in the raised level around a table in the furthest corner of the cafe. Lisbeth, looked after serving our beers and tempted us to order spaghetti dishes, which the cafe is known for, but it was too early in the day for us to have a meal.

Keen to try the first in the new Juicy range of beers from Mort Subite, Tim ordered Crime of Passion from the tap.

The others were drinking draught Hapkin 'a strong blond beer with subtle fruitiness', now brewed by Alken-Maes. Our second beer order was a mirror of the first order so we all enjoyed one of each.

Now dry, warm and refreshed we departed for a walk around the traditional cobbled streets of Lier's sizeable Begijnhof / Beguinage, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1998, with St Margaret's church as its centre. Thankfully the rain had eased by now.

The Zimmer tower, museum and cafe is located beyond the north east boundary of the Begijnhof. The astronomical Jubilee clock built by Louis Zimmer (1888-1970) with 13 different dials is on the tower's front facade. A visit to the museum and the inside of the tower is recommended (5 euros).

Sint-Gummarus

Sint-Gummarus has an enviable location, 100 metres at F. Timmermansplein 2, north east of the Zimmer tower and fronting onto the river with plenty of space for outside tables. 

There are ten draught beers and Tim took his glass of Cherry Chouffe to a table opposite the bar with many interesting signs, pictures and a league table on the wall. Perhaps the incongruous brightly coloured bar stool seats appeal to younger generations? 

Cafe In de Gloria Lier

Cafe In de Gloria Lier is located just around the next corner, near Hoogbrug, at Grote Markt 2. 

Tim rejoined the others at this high-ceilinged cafe and ordered a glass of Liefmans Peach beer (3.8% ABV). 

Decorated with bunting and inflatable devil fork in colours of the Belgian flag, presumably for Euro 2024, the permanent items on display in the cafe include an old clock and radio, a portrait of James Dean and a Bass Pale Ale mirror. 

Cafe Rene

Following a recommendation based on it's range of beers, Cafe Rene at Zimmerplein 11, was our final stop in Lier.

Inside the decor is contemporary with plenty of pale wood. 

Tim's beer choice here was Viswijf from Brouwerij Vissenberg, founded in 2013, now with an address in Vremde, between Antwerp and Lier. 

Now it was time for something to eat. It was nice to find that a Croque Monsieur is served on a plate with paper cups of mayonnaise, ketchup and small pickled onions.

Determined to save money on the ride back to Antwerp for the first evening of Bierpassie weekend in Groenplaats, Tim followed the tree-lined path to find a bus stop across the river and outside the centre.

This journey involved catching a bus part way and then changing onto a tram, both operated by De Lijn and only costing a single one hour charge of 1.70 euros on his 10-rittenkaart (10 rides ticket). 

With a delay on the tram due to a track issue, it would be some time later before Tim caught up with the others near the tent where Ben Vinken (seated right 'the original Belgian beer sommelier') is on hand to greet customers at Bierpassie Weekend.

Although senior in age to Richard and Simon, Tim was the junior of our group in terms of number of visits to Antwerp for Bierpassie Weekend. It was rewarding to hear that his proposal of a trip to Lier had been highly valued by all and that a return visit to the town was anticipated in future, hopefully on a dry day!

Antwerp - Friday 22/6/2018 part 1

The spire of Sint-Willibrordus church breaks the horizon, looking north east from my bedroom window at the rear of the Ibis Budget Antwerp hotel, on Friday morning. The weather looked fair but taking a jacket proved to be a good idea.

Later, Simon and I sat in the warm upstairs area at EXKi, De Keyserlei 20, with chill-out music playing, for continental breakfasts of coffee and pain au chocolat (2.50 euros before 11am).

Wandering northwards from here we came across the Chinatown gate on Van Wesenbekestraat, at the junction with busy Carnotstraat.

We walked past cafes and Chinese supermarkets before reaching the triangular open space of De Coninckplein with a bike sharing station in one corner.

Beer lover Simon

It was a lucky coincidence to find that we had stumbled upon the entrance to Beer Lovers Bar, Rotterdamstraat 105, facing this corner. Unluckily, it was closed but we resolved (unsuccessfully) to return here later in the weekend.

We peered through the windows to view a contemporary style spacious interior. There were posters on the corner entrance door for a Brouwerij Kees tap takeover / meet the brewer (22 June 2018), a 2nd Anniversary Party (23 June 2018) and for Billie's Craft Beer Fest (30 Nov - 1 Dec 2018).

Colourful artwork decorated the Muizenstraat windows of Beer Lovers Bar.

We continued our walk, following the tram tracks into Richardstraat which is lined with houses of different styles and shapes.

We walked back to Antwerp Centraal station where the main entrance is on Koningen Astridplein. Left of the station and also visible in the panoramic photo is the entrance to Antwerp Zoo, with a camel statue above.

Our plan was to take a De Lijn tram (3 / yellow line), from a station underneath this square, to the western terminus at Zwijndrecht Park and Ride Melsele.

Dorp tram stop - viewed from tram 3.

The tram travels underneath Groenplaats and the river Scheldt emerging at ground level to complete the journey westwards via Dorp. This long journey was good value for 1.60 euro using a Lijn Card.
From the terminus we set off on foot for the walk of a mile north to Cafe de Smoutpot. Our route was along a level minor road wide enough for a single car but with no pavement for pedestrians. We passed a farm shop in the way and saw a variety of crops growing in the fields.

We arrived at 12.30pm to meet up with the rest of our group who had walked from the same tram stop but by an alternative road.

Time for the first beer of the day - chosen from the blackboard with details of draught beers which is slightly different from the printed beer menu.

I chose Kwaremont and it is explained to me that this is the cyclist's beer and a cyclist figure is portrayed in the stem of the bulbous glass.

Keith, Simon and Andrew - Cafe de Smoutpot

Our table is opposite the bar and my seat has a good view of the cafe with its wood burning stove and chimney pipe on the left and traditional armchairs at the front near the entrance. Unusually, a 1950s style fridge door has a dominating position on a shelf over the stove! Sound insulation panels are suspended from the ceiling. The pale green paintwork is tastefully reflected in the beer menu.

Another nice feature is the use of cupboard doors and drawer fronts for the face of the marble topped bar. Note also the stylish 1970s'ish retro TV set on a shelf behind the bar.

We decided to order lunch to go with our next round - several ordered Croques Madame and there was an order for a mixed plate of cheese and meat.

I ordered a Croque Monsieur to go with a draught Tank 7. An explanation for the wide availability of this Farmhouse Ale is that Duvel Moortgat acquired the Kansas City based Boulevard Brewing Co in 2013.

I took the opportunity to photograph Anneke with a copy of Ullage, the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine.

L to R: Simon, Andrew, Richard, John & Tim

She kindly reciprocated by taking a photo of our group for the De Smoutpot instagram account.
Anneke and Nelis reopened De Smoutpot in 2017. An article in Het Nieuwsblad on 8 July 2017 by Mattias Goossens 'Poldercafé De Smoutpot maakt muzikale doorstart voor hele gezin' explains that 'New owners Anneke Buytaert and Nelis Hiel of Café De Smoutpot, on the border of Melsele with Zwijndrecht, go for a fun meeting place for the whole family, where there is also room for music.'

Based on the soundtrack of our visit that included She's a Bread Baker by C.W. Stoneking, Fruits of my Labour by Lucinda Williams and On the Road Again by Canned Heat, the recorded music on offer is of a high standard.

Nelis was interested to see a mention for De Smoutpot in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium (8th Edition).

Nelis generously presented us with some bottles of Duvel including a label that is a collector's item. He explained that every thousand bottles an alternate label is used. Only close inspection reveals that a figure on the left of the shield is an angel and on the right is a red devil - visible in the bottle on the right of the photo.

Nelis also showed us some recent handsome books that feature Belgian cafes. Must Drink by Luc Hoornaert features drinking places in Flanders.

De Smoutpot is one of the places featured but note that it has been redecorated since the photos for the book were taken.

Another attractive book is Authentieke Belgische cafes by Regula Ysewijn. This is also published in English as Belgian Cafe Culture.

It was time for another beer and I ordered a 5% ABV Saison style Blonde Stoot from Bieren Cabardouche of Antwerp, served in a tumbler style glass.

Before we left there was time to have a look at the extensive garden behind the cafe.

There is also a covered outside area positioned on the right side of the top garden photo.
Our group enjoyed this visit and having enjoyed such friendly service and hospitality it is very likely that we will return to Cafe de Smoutpot on our next visit to Antwerp.

We all took the same rural route back to the tram stop, which was along a different road than the one that Simon and I had used earlier.

Thanks to Mark Geeson for mentioning to us before our trip that Cafe de Smoutpot had reopened. He had spotted this news on page 177 (Other Antwerp Cafes) of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium (8th Edition) by Joe Stange & Tim Webb.