Brussels Taprooms

Zennebar is the Brasserie de la Senne taproom near Tour & Taxis. Mike, Rich, Pat & Jeff in foreground.

There are plenty of Brussels taprooms to visit including Cantillon, L'Ermitage and Brussels Beer Project but note that many are only open for limited hours. While some have closed (En Stoemelings, No Science), there are also some recent additions (de la Mule - 2021, Surrealiste - 2021). To avoid disappointment, it makes sense to check that a taproom will be open before visiting.

During a long weekend visit to Brussels (Thursday 6 - Sunday 9 March 2025), five members of a pub quiz team, usually at the Lion in Newbury on a Thursday, visited three contrasting brewery taprooms, starting with Brasserie Surrealiste, early on the Friday evening, before a meal at In't Spinnekopke.

Brasserie Surrealiste

Setting a very high bar, the Brasserie Surrealiste taproom in the Dansaert district could easily be mistaken for an exclusive restaurant. The bar and restaurant at 22 Place du Nouveau Marche au Grains, faces an attractive tree lined square. The impressive Art Deco building from 1932 was once a banana warehouse. There's a glazed entrance area with seating and tables, for adults only. 

Inside, the higher main area is mainly restaurant tables but there are also stools at the bar and some tables for bar customers which do not need reservations. There are ornate chandeliers and a variety of candles provide additional light. 

Taproom customers order and pay at the long bar, towards the back of the space. During the daily happy hour (5pm - 7pm), house beers are served in 40cl measures for the 25cl price. The timing of our visit was superb!

Our order of draught house beers included Dance Rave Dance (Session IPA) and Surrealiste Pale Ale both priced at €4.50. The menu on a clipboard mentions that Flights of three 12.5cl draught house beers for €10 can be ordered before 7pm. The Happy Hour offer does not apply to the barrel aged beers e.g. Baltic Porter 8.5% ABV aged for 18 months in Pinot Noir barrels (25cl €7).

Congratulations go to Brasserie Surrealiste for offering their quality beers at affordable prices in such a special taproom.

La Source Beer Co.

After a Saturday visit to the Atomium, we broke the return Metro journey to Brussels at Pannenhuis and walked from there to the warehouse style building once used for Byrrh vermouth.

It has been repurposed as Be-Here and now houses a variety of small businesses, a roller skating circuit and La Source Beer Co..

We had timed our arrival at La Source Beer Co for soon after the 2pm Saturday opening time but there was a delay at the bar due to payment equipment issues. This allowed time to look at some of the other outlets including a Bio-market selling produce and beers from local breweries. xx

When the bar was operational we chose beers listed on strips of blackboard behind the bar.

This 25cl serving of La Meute (6.5% ABV) Tropical Hazy IPA, hopped with Mosaic Cryo, Eldorado and Sorachi Ace (BE) was refreshing and cost €4.30. 

The light and airy taproom features a mixture of seating options, green plants and a table football game. We might have stayed longer and tried some more La Source beers but the loud heavy metal soundtrack was not ideal and we could not find any suitable lunchtime meals.

Brasserie de la Senne - Zennebar

An interesting walk to Brasserie de la Senne included a stop at Boulangerie Patisserie Bockstael for freshly prepared half baguette 'sandwiches', eaten from a bench with a view of a sculpture of Alexander Pushkin by Georgy Frangulyan. The route was then over the Jubilee bridge, marked by twin towers at each end and then following a path along the route of an old railway line through Park Tour & Taxis and past an obelisk for the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Arriving at Zennebar, the Brasserie de la Senne Taproom, we found it busier in the garden on the north west side than inside, on a relatively warm day. The bar system relies on customers ordering and paying at one end of the bar and then collecting beers at the other end by the beer fonts.

We picked a table, made from a cable drum, placed conveniently underneath a beer menu on a blackboard.

This position looks back at the bar and up to a mezzanine floor with oak barrels. xx

Petit Boulba + Jambe-de-Bois

Eoghan Walsh described Petit Boulba as 'a properly pintable beer' in a blog post for Brussels Beer City. Although lower strength (2.8% ABV) than Taras Boulba (4.5%) it was more expensive here (€3.00 v €2.50 for 25cl). Nevertheless it was an ideal opportunity to try it and decide that my next beer would be Jambe-de-Bois, a Belgian Tripel with more strength and sweetness! (€4.30 for 33cl). 

The graphic below from Brasserie de la Senne website includes the beers mentioned above.

Ghent on foot

Gravensteen by the river Leie / Lys

Ghent is a sizeable city crossed by the River Leie / Lys and canals. Main line trains from Brussels stop at Gent-Sint-Pieters but this is a long hike from the historic centre. Tickets to Gent-Dampoort are the same price and changing trains will save extra walking or tram fares.

There will often be a train, stopping at Dampoort, ready for boarding in one of the many platforms at Sint-Pieters. This was the case on an unseasonably warm and sunny early Spring Sunday (9 March 2025). After passing hundreds of bicycles in Dampoort station's parking area, head west from Dampoort station. One possible route follows the north bank of the canal along Hagelandkaai to reach Sint-Jorisbrug over the river. 

Following Steendam west will lead to Gentse Gruut Brouwerij. The brewery uses gruit, a mixture of herbs, as an alternative to hops. The brewery taproom opens at 2pm and the doors were closed but a 2017 visit, after a hike from St-Pieters, had been worthwhile and it is unlikely to have changed a great deal since then - refer 2017 post.

St James' church is just across the roundabout at the western end of Steendam. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday there are stalls for the Prondelmarkt in the shadow of the church at Bij Sint-Jacobs. This is also a good area for cafes and antique shops.

De Dulle Griet

It's also a good area for bars and De Dulle Griet can be found overlooking nearby Vrijdagmarkt, a square where a market is held every Friday.

There's an extensive range of draught beers but no service at the bar. De Dulle Griet was reasonably busy inside but a low table near the entrance was available and table service soon followed.

With a uniform and the responsibility of delivering tall 1.2 litre 'Max' glasses of Blond or Dunkel (€14.40) to customers, the bar staff expect respect from customers.

Prices for normal measures are on the high side with my 33cl glass of Gentse Strop (Brouwerij Roman) costing €6.60. A QR code on the table can be used to see the extensive menu. 

There's lots of bric-a-brac to look at and the 'shoe hoist' with a bell underneath (right photo above) was raised after an order of a 'Max van 't huis'. Definitely a bar to visit once but it may well be missed out on a future visit.

On a mission to see Gravensteen castle further west, the walking route led near two bars earmarked for a visit, Barrazza (right photo above) and Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant (left photo above). They both overlook the river Leie / Lys and were very busy on a sunny day so were merely noted for a future visit.

Artevelde

The streets from Vleeshuisbrug south towards Saint Nicholas' church / Sint-Niklaaskerk were also very busy and it was a relief to see a massive sign on the side of Artevelde Brouwerij and go inside for shade and a comfortable seat.

A table near the foot of an impressive staircase gave views of the bar and the inner courtyard.

From the limited beer range in the bound menu on the table, Artevelde Leute (6.2% ABV) was chosen (33cl / €5) and served with a complimentary bowl of nuts.

Before leaving there was an opportunity to use the traditional staircase to reach the superior toilet facilities. The first floor has a further spacious interior space and an external balcony overlooking the courtyard below. I look forward to a future visit and a chance to drink the other Artevelde beers brewed here: Pils (5.2% ABV, €4.2 / 33cl); Grand Cru (7.2% ABV, €5.5 / 33cl) and Wijs (8.2% ABV, €6.2 33cl). Hopefully the choice of music will have improved by then from a selection that included ABC by the Jackson Five.

Trollekelder

It's a simple walk in a north easterly direction, up Belfortstraat, back towards St James' church to find Trollekelder at Sint-Jacobs 17.

It was nice to be able to go to the bar, look at the draught beers, choose, order and pay before returning to a table with the beer.

As a local option, the only real choice was Ouwen Duiker (33cl / €5.80).

There was a large painting on the wall near my table but I didn't recognise any of the people featured!

The online menu included some unusual bottled beers: Gentse Tripel (8% ABV, 33cl / €5.50); Weer een Tripel Minder (Dok, 8.4% ABV, 33cl /  €5.80); Theoreme de l'Empereur (l'Ermitage, 6.4% ABV, 33cl / €6.80); Westvleteren 8,12 & Blond (8%, 10.2% & 5.8% ABV, 33cl / €15) & Saison Hof ten Dormaal (5.8% ABV, 33cl / €6.30). The music playing on the featured radio station included I Wish by Skee-Lo.

On a visit to the graffiti marked and stickered toilet facilities upstairs, returning by a different route, it was possible to appreciate the extent of Trollekelder which offers a lot more seating upstairs as well as at cellar level. This was my favourite bar of the afternoon in Ghent and definitely one to return to!

Sint-Jorisbrug with canoe rolling action!

From here it is simple to return to Dampoort station via Steendam and Sint-Jorisbrug then either Dampoortstraat for shops or Hagelandkaai for views.

N.B. There are direct SNCB trains from Dampoort to Antwerp and Ostend (via Bruges) so you may not need to change at Sint-Pieters.

Antwerp - February 2025

 

Antwerp Central station looks spectacular from inside and outside! Our arrival on Sunday 2 February 2025 only required a short walk west on De Keyserlei, passing Bier Central and several diamond jewellery specialists, and then south near the Opera to reach YAYS aparthotel, just past a convenient Lidl supermarket.xx

The new YAYS aparthotel has no reception with guests using a PIN number to enter the hotel and pre-advised room and is recommended. 

This post will focus on bars visited for the first time and will mainly be useful for anyone staying near the central station or visiting any of the excellent art and photo galleries in the Zuid district. 

Antwerpen-Centraal

Unfortunately De Kroon van Hopland (previously visited) and De Hovenier (marked for a visit) were both closed so three less recognised cafe bars were visited in the evenings.

Cafe de Klok was the largest cafe bar of these and our custom seemed to be tolerated here without much of a welcome. There were only a few customers in the last hour before closing. The sizeable room has tall windows with curtains, a wooden central bar and bench seating with red leather cushioning. The overhead fluorescent lighting might be the bar's worst feature. The Belgian pop music from the jukebox tonight wasn't really appreciated either!

There's a picture of the bar's exterior with Stella Artois branding, in the pages of the bound menu.

There's a decent selection of beers including local options like De Koninck Bolleke on draught and Seefbier in bottles. Prices were reasonable with all six Trappist beers priced under €5.

The bottle of Hopus (€4.70) was correctly served, with a branded shot glass for the sediment from the bottle, although it's left to the drinker to perform 'the theatre of the pour'.

An earlier visit to In de Stad Aalst, before a good meal at Restaurant Sinbad, was a completely different experience.

The small space with a short bar was busy with regulars but we found a table near the front window. A chandelier and many small framed photos of customers on a side wall are reflected in the window. The floor tiles were a traditional floral design. Other decoration included traditional Tripel Karmeliet and Stella Artois signs. The barman simply pointed at a small list of beers, on a wall just past the bar, when asked for a menu.

It was hard to go wrong with a keenly priced Westmalle Tripel here! You have to like music played loudly to relax here and the varied selection included some rock classics including Peggy Sue and Love Potion Number 9.

Like De Hovenier, In de Stad Aalst is one of the cafes included in the 'More great cafes' section at the end of Regula Ysewijn's book 'Belgian Cafe Culture'.

There are two bars next to each other on Kipdorbrug at the junction with Italielei / Frankreiklei. On two occasions one would be open while the other was closed. On Sunday night, Tante Lies was in darkness but De Kleine Opera was open.

This was another lively bar, with local drinkers. The dimly lit interior featured games machines and  neon lighting.

When my chosen beer was not available it was no hardship to accept Westmalle Tripel (€4.50) as an alternative! A new customer was made to feel welcome here but an antiseptic smell did not encourage lingering for long.

Het Zuid

                                            KMSKA                                             MHKAFE (Keith Haring)                 M HKA (Panamarenko)                                                                          

A Visit Antwerpen post mentions 'Het Zuid has been setting the tone in cultural and creative terms in Antwerp for decades. Just a five-minute walk apart, you'll find three top museums ... The Royal Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKA) ... Fotomuseum Antwerpen (FOMU) ... and the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA). 

Having previously visited KMSKA in 2024, this year we visited MHK A where a temporary Panamarenko - Journey to the Stars exhibit included a spaceship model. 

Absorbing culture is thirsty work and while in the Het Zuid neighbourhood we visited L'Entrepot du Congo which overlooks the new Zuidpark, a green area that was previously docks and then a car park. 

A locally brewed De Koninck Bolleke (€3.50) always makes a good first beer of the day in Antwerp! The large high-ceilinged room has black and white floor tiles and traditional cafe furniture with marble topped tables. At a nearby table, a customer had brought his cat on a lead inside while he quickly drank a cup of coffee. 

The range of bottled beers includes Nello's Blond and Nello's Tripel brewed by Brouwerij De Arend in Hoboken, Antwerp, four Super 8 beers, Gordon Scotch Xmas and Guinness.

View north from steps of the Vlinderpaleis, Bolivarplaats, Antwerp Zuid

When every table in Cafe Hopper, on the southern end of Leopold de Waelplaats, was taken on a Monday afternoon, we walked south to the Palace of Justice 'Vlinderpaleis' at Bolivarplaats.  After climbing the steps we had a good view back towards Antwerp along Amerikalei. 

By the time we returned, Cafe Hopper was still full so we went across the road to Wijnbistro Patine, next to Chatleroi which had not yet opened.

Patine has a nice rustic atmosphere with natural wood shelves. A bottle of Seefbier brewed by Antwerpse Brouw Co (€4.20) made a good local choice. The bar's menu has daily special offers including draught Stella Artois for €1.85 on Mondays and house wine for €2.95 on Wednesdays.

In February, Chatleroi, the black cat themed bar, opens at 4pm on weekdays and we had no problem finding a table soon afterwards! From March 2025, weekday opening is 3pm.

There's a mix of high and low marble topped tables, with basic stools to sit on. The illuminated Vedett sign behind the bar reads 'Rock and Roll never dies'. Appropriately, there's plenty of interesting rock and blues music being played including Dire Straits - Wild West End and Tom Waits - Downtown Train. Draught beers include the estimable Tripel d'Anvers brewed by De Koninck in Antwerp served in a stemmed glass that features buildings in the city.

Chouffe in the cafe at Middelheim Museum

We returned to Het Zuid the next afternoon after a visit to the open air sculpture park at Middelheim Museum where the cafe is also recommended. On this occasion there was a table free at Cafe Hopper, previously visited in 2024, after a visit to KMSKA, and recommended for its coffee, beer and music selection.

Other revisited bars

De Ware Jacob                                   De Vagant

A few favourite Antwerp bars were revisited on this trip including De Ware Jacob (for draught Avec Les Bons Voeux) and De Vagant (for draught Cherry Chouffe) which were as enjoyable as ever. It is always reassuring to find places like this where the owner has a familiar face and runs an establishment to be proud of in an effortless way.

Only visited previously in 2019, it was nice to revisit Beerlovers Bar (for draught Brouwerij St Bernardus Tripel and a bottle of Huisbrouwerij Wapper Saison Wapper) and find that it was better than remembered. Both service and prices were good. Perhaps the secret is to visit on a quiet Monday! 

This visit coincided with a meal at nearby Little Tibet Cafe (Tibetan art cafe, Rotterdamstraat 88) which is simply furnished and serves dishes from a limited menu. The substantial noodle based dishes are recommended and good value. A few beers are available.

Friends have enjoyed beer and food at Bier Central and a first visit was made as it was close to the aparthotel. It proved to be a pleasant place to sit down and take a leisurely look at the 'Beer Encylopaedia' menu, where beer prices are higher than average. On this occasion there was no need to order anything but perhaps another time?

Tim has made many visits to Antwerp and these have been documented by posts in Beer Europe over the years. The web version of Beer Europe includes a search field. 

Some recent Antwerp posts include:

Antwerp First visits June 2024 - beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/07/AntwerpFV2024.html 

Antwerp Revisits June 2024 - beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/07/antwerp-2024-revisits.html 

Antwerp Spring 2024 - beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/03/antwerp-spring-2024.html