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| A cart used in hop yards for stringing outside the Hop Museum |
Staying in Poperinge from 24-27 October, 2025, gave an opportunity to visit some local bars, walk around the town, visit the annual beer festival and to make side trips to Ypres and Westvleteren. See other posts for:
Folk games in Poperinge pubs;
Ypres and Westvleteren;
Poperinge Bierfestival.
Cafe de Snoek
Near the railway station terminus,
Cafe de Snoek was visited with Graham, after we returned from Ypres by train on Friday night. Nearby
Cafe Britannia had looked more inviting earlier that evening but it had closed in the meantime.
It was well lit inside and we found a table with a view of the bar which was decked with hops. The draught beer range included Jupiler, Cristal and Rodenbach Classic.
Tim chose bottled beers here -
St Bernardus Tripel (€4) and later
Tripel Plukker (€4) shortly before 'last call' at 11.45pm. Although the St Bernardus Tripel seemed dry for a Tripel, the Tripel Plukker now brewed nearby at
Terrest Brewery was impressive, especially for head retention.
Bistro de Stadsschaal
At Gasthuisstraat 7,
Bistro de Stadsschaal has an impressive frontage. There is also a back entrance which leads to the toilet block and the courtyard of the
Hop Museum.
The courtyard features a large poster with a map of the Belgian part of the Westhoek region showing breweries, hop gardens and the hop museum building.
While Graham and Les visited the hop museum, Tim and David went inside the Bistro which has an upmarket style. Draught beers include Stella Artois, St Bernardus Tripel Blond, Poperings Hommelbier and Queue de Charue Ploegsteert Blond.
Despite knowing it as a dry beer, Tim ordered Poperings Hommelbier as it seemed the most appropriate place to taste it again. The entrance to the Hop Museum could be seen through the window from our table.
The extensive bottled beer list includes 13 Belgian blonde beers and 11 in other styles. Brewed nearby at Terrest Brewery, De Plukker
Keikoppenbier, a 6.1% ABV 'hoppy blonde', is derived from a nickname (stone heads) given to people from Poperinge by their long-time rivals in Ypres.
Having completed their visit to the Hop Museum, Graham and Les joined David and Tim and later our group headed north and east along Gasthuisstraat towards GAST and the town centre, passing
Skindles Guest House built in 1720 and historic
Talbot House on the way.
GAST
GAST (Guest - 'our name stands for hospitality') is on the other side of the road at Gasthuisstraat 24. The beer cafe with 12 draught beers was opened by Ines and Kim in July 2023 after 10 months of renovations.
WORK IN PROGRESS - WATCH THIS SPACE!
