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.

Leuven - Saturday

After grey skies on Friday, it was nice to wake up on Saturday 24 March 2018 and see blue skies above Leuven railway and bus stations from my 6th floor room at the Ibis Budget hotel.
Our plan was to visit Hof ten Dormaal brewery in the afternoon, a bus ride away from Leuven.
Buses in Leuven, Mechelen and Antwerp are operated by De Lijn.

The first task for today was to buy a 10-ride Lijn Kaart (16 euro) from the ticket office at the bus station. After a walk into town, Simon and I enjoyed a bargain breakfast of coffee and croissant at EXKi, Rector De Somerplein 8, where the special offer is available until 11am.

We passed a market next to St Peter's church that included a stall with Belgian beer glasses for sale at reasonable prices.

With time to spare before the bus to the brewery we passed the Fishmarket square, which is now home to De Blauwe Kater, on the way to another bar with 'blue' in its name - De Blauwe Schuit.

The Blue Barge entrance passage houses part of a (red and white) barge and gives views to an inner courtyard which is home to a splendid peacock.

We entered the main bar, above street level, and found a table in the sunshine. Simon ordered a Hopus and I chose a Poperings Hommelbier which is brewed with hops from Poperinge.

The high-ceilinged bar is decorated with nautical and travel related items including an old map of the Belgian Congo. An unusual mixture of music (Ghostbusters, Don't lose my number (Phil Collins)) was playing a bit too loudly for a lunchtime.
We caught the delayed 284 bus (towards Mechelen) from the stop at nearby Dirk Boutslaan to Tildonk Brug, a journey of 25 minutes via Herent. We were able to validate the Lijn Kaart twice to cater for two passengers.

Google maps estimated the 1.8km level walk to Hof ten Dormaal brewery would take 23 minutes. We passed Kasteeltje van Tildonk dating from 1642. Only a few cars and cyclists would pass us on the narrow Kasteeldreef road.

Some barking and shouting preceded our arrival at Brouwerij Hof ten Dormaal when the farm's dog took an interest in a dog being exercised by passing cyclists. We were admitted to the farm at Caubergstraat 2 and then into the tasting room on the left of the gates.

It was just after the 2pm opening time and we were the first customers to arrive. The wood-buring stove was warming the large room with traditional furniture.

Having established that we were planning to sample several beers it was agreed that we would each use tasting glasses (for the forthcoming Leuven Innovation Beer Festival) and share bottles.

We started with the 7.5% ABV Saison. It has low bitterness (20 IBU) 'lightly sour, brewed only with grain and hops, made right here'.

Witgoud, an 8% ABV beer (25 IBU) is brewed with chicory 'Belgian Endive, and dates back generations to a time when the Flemish region of Belgium prospered from its growth'. We were told that after some time in the oven, slices of chicory are added to the brew. Witgoud is the brewery's best selling beer in Belgium.  

André Janssens sat with us for a while to talk about the brewery and the Leuven Innovation Beer Festival. I gave André a copy of Ullage, the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine to read. The spring issue had a front page story about Tutts Clump Cider.

From the 'Zure van Tildonk' (Sour from Tildonk) range we tried Stekelbees (6% ABV), made with locally picked gooseberries.

André kindly suggested a tour of the farm and brewery given by himself and Jef, his son and brewer. 

A hop garden is part of the farm and an old chain-driven machine is used to separate the hops from the bines. André mentioned an innovation they are looking into is to grow hops with artifical lighting to provide green hops outside the traditional season.

Spent grain from the brewing process is used as feed for the cows on the farm. Swiss cows were chosen as less time and effort is needed at calving time.

Viewed from an elevated platform, the main brewing vessels include a Mash Tun, Lauter Tun, Kettle and Whirlpool (on the right). Although having copper exteriors, the Mash Tun (left) and Kettle both have stainless steel interiors for ease of cleaning.

So far, so relatively familiar, but then Jef showed us an oak Foeder that would usually be filled.

Jef opened it up so that the heating element could be seen inside. A variety of wooden barrels for ageing beer were stored in the open floor above the Foeders.

We chatted with Jef after the tour on the walk back to the Tasting Room and Simon discovered that English football is one of his interests. Jef later revealed that he is interested in tanks and ships and has enjoyed a visit to Bovington Tank Museum.

Jef sat with us and kindly offered to share his bottle of Dad's Tea with me. This new beer in the range is a 6.5% ABV Saison brewed with Jasmine Tea in a bag introduced to the wort at the end of the boil. This was my favourite beer of the visit and before leaving I would buy two bottles to take home.
When asked about the relative merits of Mechelen and Leuven, Jef replied that he only has time for Leuven. He is fond of the city and recommended De Fiere Margriet in Leuven as the best bar.

The beer that Simon was keen to try was Frambuesa y Chocolate, a 7% ABV beer made with raspberries that was quite sour and fruity.

By now it was 5.30pm and this would be our last beer although there were still plenty more from the brewery that we did not have time to taste! There had been a steady turnover of customers during the afternoon including cyclists enjoying the better weather but Simon and I may be among the few beer enthusiasts able to claim they spent the whole afternoon in the Hof ten Dormaal Tasting Room and Brewery!

By the time we left at 6pm the low sun provided a nice light on the pond across the road from the farm. We set off to retrace our steps to Tildonk Bridge. The Janssens family had really looked us after on this visit but the icing on the cake was when a car stopped in front of us and driver André indicated for us to get inside. 

André handed me a bottle of Hof ten Dormaal cider he had mentioned earlier as originally aimed at the USA market. Once on our way Andre spotted the Leuven bus approaching at a junction. He drove us just past the bus stop, trapping the bus so that we could board immediately! The bus took us to Leuven station, giving us a chance for a break, at our nearby hotel, before setting out again for our last evening in Leuven.