Antwerp - Comic Murals & Beer Passion - Saturday 29 June 2019

Waking view from Hotel Rubenshof bedroom

Blue skies and high temperatures in Antwerp for the second day of the 20th BierPassie Weekend.

22 Beeldhouwersstraat - listed building

The Beer Passion Festival in Groeneplaats opens at 1pm so there was time for a leisurely walk north from Antwerp Zuid to the historic centre, keeping to the shady side of the street.

As Steve was having a lie in it was nice to wander at my own pace, stopping to take photos en route. Unfortunately it was 15 minutes before 11am opening time when I passed Coffee & Vinyl at Volkstraat 45.

At the junction of Kloosterstraat and Goedhoopstraat you can find the comic mural (stripmuur) Nero by Marc Sleen (1922-2016).

There is also a mural on a junction box showing a Stripmurenroute with the location of other comic murals in Antwerp. To find the other murals on the route could be a project for a future visit to Antwerp.

Kloosterstraat is a good street for finding interior decor and antiques shops.

2 Kloosterstraat - looking south

Continuing along Oever and Hoogstraat I reached the sun drenched Grote Markt.

Den Hopsack

Regaining the shade, I walked to 24 Grote Pieter Potstraat to find Den Hopsack.

Den Hopsack is mentioned in Joe Stange & Tim Webb's Good Beer Guide Belgium as 'a mellow music club serving 50+ beers including De Ranke and Senne'.
There were flyers in the window for a free gig by Lise at 8pm and art by Peter Callens.

As the bar does not open until 8pm I took a photo through the window to record the interior. It looks like a place worth revisiting on a future trip.

Now it was time to look for more classic cafe bars featured in Regula Ysewijn's book Belgian Cafe Culture.

Den Engel (left) and Den Bengel (right)

Cafe Den Engel,  Grote Markt 3, had seats outside in the full glare of the sun.
Regula Ysewijn writes 'Cafe Den Engel (the angel) ... is housed in a guildhall called 'White Angel'. ... The large guild houses on the Grote Markt were reconstructed in the 19th century in neo-renaissance and neo-gothic style to recreate its former glory. The original guild houses were demolished in the 18th century to enlarge the Grote Markt. ... In 1903 it became Cafe Den Engel. The interior with the wooden wall panelling and mirrors is from the same period.'

I was reluctant to sit inside with a coffee so continued into Braderijstraat and noticed that (rhyming) Cafe De Stengel (the stalk) is situated nearby!

Conscience - Jan Bosschaert (panorama)

Wandering down the narrow twisting cobbled street of Oude Beurs involved passing a group on a walking tour and finding another comic mural, at the junction of Wolstraat and Moriaanstraatje.

At the next corner is Cafe de Kat, Wolstraat 22. Again I had arrived at a suitable coffee place 15 minutes too early as opening time here is 12 noon. Regula Ysewijn writes 'The story of De Kat starts around 1912 with first landlady Aurelia who gave the cafe its name. Apart from the tables all other interior dates from those early years. All the elements: the bar, the piano and mirrored wall panelling were designed to match and have the same inlaid wooden detail.'

With over an hour to wait until the opening of BierPassie at Groenplaats,  I retraced my steps as far as Caffe Mundi, Oude Beurs 24, where it was a relief to finally sit at an outside table in the shade and enjoy a flat white coffee.

Back at Groenplaats, the railings would be parted to allow entry at 1pm.

My first 20cl taster was Botanik from the Gouden Carolus Indulgence range which is only available in 75cl bottles. I was keen to try this beer after visiting Het Anker brewery in Mechelen with Simon on 23 March earlier this year. This 8.5% ABV special blonde beer was brewed using barley, wheat and Belgian hops. The ageing process for Botanik included two weeks with four natural botanicals - elderflower, angelica root, cloves and rosemary.
An advantage of this festival is the chance to taste a beer from a large bottle without needing friends to share it with.

Richard, Graham, Tim, Simon and Steve

Friends soon arrived and we were able to find a rare shady spot although it was standing room only.

We were standing near the Brouwerij Huyghe bar where several Delirium beers were served as well as some new limited edition beers - Paranoia and JI.PA.

Paranoia (5.6% ABV) was developed for the French market. I tried JI.PA (6.8% ABV / 45 IBU) but it was not a favourite. However, Keith Moore picked Delirium Black (Oak aged 2019), a 2 jetons (4 euros) 20 cl pour, as his favourite beer of the festival.

We had time for a few more beers before going to De Groote Witte Arend for lunch at 2.30pm.

However, instead of lunching there I went to Aura Brasserie, Hoogstraat 34, an old favourite, for a lunch of omelette, salad and bread accompanied by a 25cl bottle of St Feuillien Grisette Blanche Bio.

A few draught beers are also available at Aura Brasserie which only opens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and often features live music in the evenings.

By the time I rejoined the others in the courtyard at De Groote Witte Arend, they were only midway through their substantial meals.

Draught Brasserie de la Senne Taras Boulba was the 4.5% ABV blonde beer I enjoyed here (25cl glass for 3.5 euro).

We finally departed just before 5pm and headed to nearby Pelgrom at 15 Pelgrimstraat which Steve and I had previously visited on Thursday.

As hoped, the cellars here were reasonably cool although we could not sit in the main cellar area facing the bar this time.

With a range of 24 draught Belgian beers to choose from we were happy to stay here until 7.45pm and sample a few of them. It stayed cool but the noise levels rose when another group joined our table. My favourite beer on this occasion was Troubadour Magma a 9% ABV Tripel IPA (45 IBU) by Brouwerij The Musketeers.

Another Antwerp tradition for our group is a visit to De Vagant at nearby Reyndersstraat 25 for Jenever shots. I accompanied the group there but drank a cup of coffee instead of flavoured Jenever.
The barman was interested to hear our opinion about Brexit and we reassured him that we look forward to remaining in the EU.

An hour later we were back at Groenplaats to spend the last of our beer tokens at BierPassie.
Saisons are my current favourite Belgian beer style and it was a treat to have a glass of chilled Saison d'Erpe-Mere served from a 75cl bottle. This Saison does not use any herbs or spices to create its fruity and spicy profile (7.5% ABV, IBU 35).

There was a lively atmosphere at the beer festival and the Dixieland Street Band did a final circuit before we caught the tram (underground) from Groenplaats to Antwerp Centraal station.

(photo: Steve Kelly)

From here it was a 500 metre walk north past Chinatown to reach Beerlovers Bar, Rotterdamstraat 105.

It was very generous of Simon to pay for our drinks here!

With 12 draught beers available from the tap wall, I chose Embrace the Haze a Double New England IPA by 't Duo costing Simon 4.80 euros (25cl) and served in a stemmed glass branded with the bar's pentangle logo. Cheers!
Beerlovers Bar is a verified venue on Untappd (beerloversbar) so it is possible to use the app to keep track of what beers are on tap etc.. My Untappd (timofnewbury) checkin for this beer also mentioned the 'tinny soundsystem' and was reposted on my Twitter account (@timofnewbury).

L to R: Simon, Steve, Graham, Richard & Keith

We had started off sitting inside at a big table near the entrance doorway but moved outside to a pavement table for our second beers (with Simon still paying the tab).

My glass at the empty seat in the photo now contained Golden Tricky by 't Verzet, a 7.5% ABV, 40 IBU pale ale with tropical flavours from Australian Ella hops.
Around midnight we departed and Steve and I were able to catch a tram back to the stop near Hotel Rubenshof while Simon and the others (less Graham) headed to Dageraadplaats. Graham was staying on in Antwerp while Steve and I would next meet up with the others in Brussels on Sunday.




 

Mechelen meander - Sat 23 March 2019

Mechelen (Malines) lies between Brussels and Antwerp and is on the river Dijle which also flows through Leuven. The city looks unimpressive from the elevated railway line but as the home of Het Anker brewery it deserves a visit. A day trip to Mechelen would take up most of our second day in Belgium.

The lively Saturday market at Boulevard de l'Europe was a distraction as we walked to Brussels Midi station. However, dates on branches, figs, colourful fabrics, trailers of well displayed bakery goods and charcuterie did not tempt us to make any purchases.
We paid 5.80 euros each for a weekend return ticket and travelled on the 11.00 Antwerp train arriving in Mechelen at 11.26.

On the train, Simon planned some bars to visit based on a list from Sue and John Thirlaway who know many of them. It was a disappointment to find Cafe de Olifant, near the station was closed and we resolved to return there later before catching the train back to Brussels.
We walked towards the Grote Markt in the city centre. After crossing the ring road there was little vehicle traffic.

We also crossed the river Dijle and followed the Bruul shopping street until we reached the Grote Markt which was busy with shoppers and market stalls.

'T Ankercafe

As 'T Ankercafe on the south side of the square looked busy we crossed to the north side.

SAVA

SAVA

We went inside SAVA and as the ground floor was full we found a free table upstairs.

This was a high ceilinged space with pale wood tables and light from tall windows overlooking the square. SAVA is a cafe with Tapas but we only ordered beers here. My blond Het Anker Maneblusser (5.8% ABV) was named after the Belgian nickname for people from Mechelen which means 'extinguishers of the moon'.

We would later learn from Marc de Knijf on the Het Anker brewery tour that this nickname is based on the 1687 tale of a false fire alarm when people from Mechelen climbed the tower of St Rumbold's cathedral carrying buckets of water only to find that the mist, assumed to be smoke, had cleared revealing only the fiery red glow of the full moon.

During the 1km walk to Het Anker brewery we passed St Rumbold's cathedral and beyond it found the climbable figure of Opsinjoor. Later research shows that Mechelen folklore and tradition involves bouncing a wooden doll, representing a drunken wifebeater, into the air from a linen sheet and his name is derived from the Spanish word Señor.

See Het Anker brewery Mechelen post for details of our tour and tasting at the brewery situated in the historic beguinage district just inside the city's ring road.

After the tour, weighted down with some bottles of Het Anker beer purchased in the shop, we set off towards Ankertje aan de Dijle via the cobbled streets of the beguinage with its attractive traditional buildings.

Kraanbrug over river Dijle

Arriving at the river we crossed to the south bank and headed towards the old Lamot brewery building.

The attractive old sign has been retained on the repurposed brewery building.
From here we crossed back to the Dijle's north bank using a new footbridge (Van Beethovenbrug).

Ankertje aan de Dijle

Ankertje aan de Dijle is located just west of the footbridge, fronting onto cobbled Vismarkt and the river beyond. All the draught beers are from the Het Anker brewery. We arrived at 3.30pm.

We both ordered bottles of Het Anker Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor (9% ABV, EBU 50, 3.80 euros). The name of this version of Gouden Carolus is a play on the Opsinjoor folklore. Hopsinjoor is unfiltered and hopped with five varieties making it relatively bitter.

The decor includes artwork relating to Mechelen and framed photos from the old Lamot brewery.

De Gouden Vis

A minute's walk east along Vismarkt into Nauwstraat brought us to De Gouden Vis (The Golden Fish).

The external framework for the decorative windows onto the pedestrianised Nauwstraat is painted royal blue.

Inside, attractive art nouveau style lamp fittings hang from the ceiling.

We sat outside at the back, by the river, looking towards the site of the old Lamot brewery, but went back inside for some warmth after a while. The beer menu included the only Trappist white ale in the world - Bierbrouwerij de Koningshoeven La Trappe Witte. The 5.5% ABV wheat beer (3 euros) has low bitterness (14 EBU) with floral, fruity and spicy notes.

Inside, an internal door towards the back of the main room leads towards a separate smoking room and there is a table and racks for newspapers and board games.

Leaving at 5.30pm, we recrossed the river and spotted Antverpia with its entrance at the north end of Korenmarkt.

Schepenhuis, Mechelen

Instead of entering we followed Guldenstraat north, back over the river (on Grootbrug) and then along IJzerenleen to arrive at the Schepenhuis which is now the city museum.

Grote Markt, Mechelen - panorama from south west looking east

Just beyond lay the western end of Grote Markt which looked completely different without all the market stalls.

Makadam

This time we chose a different bar on the northern side of the square - Makadam, slightly to the west of Sava.

The ground floor was busy but we found a table on the first floor.

The extensive beer menu included a page of 'Craft' beers.

My choice was VBDCK Kerel Grapefruit IPA (5% ABV, 4.5 euros).

Simon chose Keun Sterk Bruin (9% ABV, 4.6 euros).

Although the front part of Makadam has a modern style, the area at the back of the first floor includes whitewashed brickwork revealing the age of the building.
We left at 6.30pm and looked for a suitable place for a meal on the way back to the railway station. We settled on a Chinese meal at Ying Bin which was good value but took quite a long time to be served at a busy time.

We were disappointed to find that Cafe de Olifant was still closed so picked Maroon brasserie instead as the sophisticated setting for a final beer in Mechelen.

Brussels

We caught the 22.05 train to Brussels-Central, arriving 22.26. From here it was only 10 minutes walk to Moeder Lambic Fontainas via Manneken Pis. I was relieved to be able to reclaim the bag with beers and the glass I had purchased at Cafe Verschueren but subsequently left behind here on Friday night by mistake. When the bag was handed back I was politely informed that one bottle had been drunk by the staff as 'a tax' and at least this meant that there was not quite so much weight to add to my bulging backpack!

Booze 'n Blues

We arrived at nearby Booze 'n Blues, Rue des Riches Claires 20, before 11pm. All the tables were occupied in the small bar so we found places by the bar counter near the jukebox. Blues music was playing quite loudly.

Jambe-de-Bois, Booze 'n Blues

This is a good bar to drink some favourite Brasserie de la Senne draught beers and I enjoyed Zinnebir (33cl, 6% ABV, 3.5 euros) followed by Jambe-de-Bois (33cl, 8% ABV, 4 euros).

At midnight it was time for a bottle of  Brasserie de la Senne / Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project Schieve Saison (5.2% ABV, 5 euros) which might have tasted better if it had been served cooler. Some of the music was now blasting, in a rather distorted fashion, from the classic Rock Ola  jukebox.

Moeder Lambic Fontainas

By 1am we had moved back to Moeder Lambic Fontainas which was still busy.

My Brasserie de Jandrain-Jandrenouille IV Saison was superb.

By 1.50am nearly, tables had been cleared and nearly everyone had left and it was time to walk the 1km back to our hotel.

Postscript:
Although Mechelen appears unimpressive from a distance and may not have the cachet of Bruges or the big city advantages of Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent, a visit to the city can be recommended to any beer lover. The Grote Markt on a Saturday morning is full of life. The central streets are largely traffic free save for the occasional bus or cyclist. It is possible to follow a riverside walk along the Dijle and the cobbled streets and old buildings in the beguinage are delightful to wander around.