12 July 2018

Antwerp - Friday 22/6/2018 part 2

My walking route from Ibis Budget Hotel near Antwerp Central Station to Hostel Pulcinella was via City Park and passed the renowned Cafe Kulminator, Vleminckveld 32, visited the previous evening.
Kleine Markt - near Cafe Kulminator
Kleine Markt is overlooked by a statue of Mary and baby Jesus, including a streetlamp, on the junction with Bredestraat, just 50 metres further north-west.
I was able to check in to my spacious first floor room with a view of the courtyard garden by about 6pm. A partial refund of the room rate, due to single occupancy, was a pleasant surprise.

 

BierPassie Weekend XIX - day 1

The advantage of staying at Hostel Pulcinella is that it is only 600 metres from the entrance to the BierPassie Weekend festival in Groenplaats.
The festival opens at 5pm on the Friday. On arrival at Groenplaats, I purchased a Beer Sommelier tasting glass (5 euros) and jetons (plastic beer tokens - 2 euros / 20cl) and picked up a free programme at the entrance. Our group was sitting inside the tent housing Ben's bar.
Andrew pointed me to Keith Moore who was chatting with Johan Van Dyck and Karen Follens the founders of Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie in front of the Seefbier wagon / bar.
Before joining them I used my first jeton for a glass of Super Cadix dry hopped lager from the wagon.
Karen Follens and Johan Van Dyck with Ullage magazine
Page 6 (detail) - Ullage magazine (Autumn 2017)
I was glad to be able to give Johan an Autumn 2017 issue of Ullage magazine which included a photo of an Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie poster and details of the brewery's new taproom / cafe which our group would visit at lunchtime on Saturday.
Keith Moore with Keef Bier
Slightly earlier, Keith had presented them with bottles of Keefbier, with a label based on the Seefbier label but incorporating Keith's bespectacled face insted of the face of 'Seef man'.
Having brought a copy of the latest edition (8th) of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium with me, I was able to show Johan the entry for Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie, on page 77 of the 'Belgian Breweries A to Z section'. Johan was a bit doubtful about their brewery's 'Tiny' size category although happy that it had not been categorised as 'Miniscule'!
Thanks to Johan for a complimentary glass of Nonkel Pater, the dark and rich 9% abv 'Qua-dubbel'.
Back at Ben Vinken's bar, I used a jeton for a glass of Brouwerij Van den Bossche Buffalo bitter, poured from a 75cl bottle with a cork closure.

 

Aura Brasserie

Most of our group wanted to visit De Peerdestal, a restaurant where the menu included horse steak, but Simon and I decided to revisit Aura Brasserie, Hoogstraat 34, for an omelette.
I found a table inside near the bar with shelves for a variety of Belgian beer glasses. A few draught beers are available here including Antwerp's De Koninck APA (Antwaarpse Pale Ale).
Arriving before Simon, I ordered a St Feuillien Grisette Blonde Bio which was served with a small dish of coated nuts.
When Simon arrived, I ordered a bottle of Het Nest SchuppenBoer (Jack of Spades) - a 'floral and peachy tripel'.
Simon chose a bottle of Brasserie du Bocq Deugniet. The image on the bottle of a cheeky rascal (the meaning of Deugniet) was a surprise. Subsequent research shows that there is an Antwerp connection with the statue, from which the image is taken, being situated near the junction of two pedestrian streets -Korte Gasthuisstraat and Everdijstraat in the 'De Wilde Zee' neighbourhood, immediately south-east of Groenplaats and the Cathedral of our Lady. Barely visible from Google Maps Streetview, the bronze statue mounted on a plinth is the work of Luc Verlee for the city of Antwerp in 1976 according to a comprehensive blog about the city's statues by Alfons Van Camp. Another blog by Lia in Brussels links moustaches and music via John Lundström to this statue which has been 'kidnapped' and recovered on several occasions.
The excellent omelettes we ordered were served with a salad so my decision to order an additional Greek salad to share was somewhat unnecessary.
a view from Vlaaikensgang 'secret' passage
On our way back, after the meal, we noticed an alleyway leading east from Hoogstraat and detoured down it, turning left at a corner to emerge into Oude Koornmarkt. This charming 'secret' passage is Vlaaikensgang.

 

BierPassie Weekend XIX - late evening

Back at nearby Groenplaats we found a table on the west side of the square (on the left side of the plan from the programme).
I visited the Van Eecke (Leroy) Brewery stand (8) at the north end of the square, nearest the cathedral, for a glass of draught Hommelbier dry hopping 2018 'showcasing that earthy, floral Poperinge hop character'.
John, Andrew & Simon - Groenplaats
This Friday was not as warm in Antwerp as it was in the UK and it was nice to have a fleece to wear at our outside table in the square.
Another beer enjoyed at the festival this evening was Waterloo Récolte Saison from the Martin's stand (5).

Billie's Bier Kafetaria

We left Groenplaats before closing time and some took the tram to
However, Simon and I walked the 100 metres to Billie's Beer Kafetaria,








* - any quoted beer descriptions are taken from CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium (8th edition) - Joe Stange & Tim Webb.

11 July 2018

Antwerp - Saturday 23/6/2018

After breakfast on Saturday, I walked about two miles from Hostel Pulcinella, Bogaardestraat 1, to the new Brouwery Cafe de Seefhoek,




A sign in the street indicates the entrance and that the Brouwery Cafe is open from Wednesday to Sunday at noon.
There are outside tables in the courtyard, some with shades.
Inside there are fermentation vessesl on the left, brewing vessels ahead with a bar in front and on the right a screen had been hung from a balcony to show FIFA World Cup games. Two photos were joined (above) to give a panoramic view.
The full range of Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie beers were available on draught. My first beer here was Super Cadix dry hopped lager, possibly named after Cadixstraat, the next parallel street to the south. This was reasonably priced at 3 euros.
As the others had not arrived at this rendezvous yet there was an opportunity for an indulgent selfie, to include the Super Cadix and highlight my Hop Stuff Brewery t-shirt and Allagash Brewing cap.
John, Simon, Richard, Andrew and Keith arrived in time for the start of the Belgium v Tunisia FIFA World Cup game at 2pm local time.
There was time to order other beers from the bar and the table top menu sheet gave a useful guide to styles, strengths and prices.
Keith Moore had participated in the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie crowdfunding and this was a good reason for me to try the Crowd Funding Bier which was served in a chalice glass. This pleasant glass of 8% ABV Tripel Blond cost 3.5 euros. However, my favourite beer at the brewery on this occasion was Seefbier.
A technician made attempts to improve the quality of the image on the screen but with sunlight from the windows above he was fighting a losing battle. Happily for Belgium, they would win this match 5-2 although Simon and I departed at half time as an advance party for the Bierpassie Weekend festival. The yellow and green boxed area on the right of the photo (above) houses the toilets for the cafe. We were impressed by this cafe / taproom and with its helpful staff and interesting location in the docks area - it is well worth a visit.
We caught a No. 7 (blue line) tram from the current northern terminus 'Eilandje' to a stop near Groenplaats. Using prepurchased Lijn cards from De Lijn valid for 10 trips, each journey costs 1.60 euro.

BierPassie Weekend - day 2

Barry, Trish & Terry
Barry & Karen, Terry & Trish had arrived earlier at BierPassie Weekend and occupied a table on the east side of the festival enclosure at Groenplaats. Although Mark Geeson was not with us on this trip we had channelled his traditional snack provision service by bringing our own edible supplies for the table including an appreciated box of Ritz crackers. The festival was busy and it was nice to be able to sit down and rest our beers on a table. Thankfully it was warmer than Friday.
The BierPassie Weekend programme marks new beers to the festival with a red asterisk. Brasserie De Silly Green Killer IPA with dry hopping was the first of these to be sampled today, proving fairly bitter as appropriate for the style.
John, Richard, Keith and Andrew(Hilton Antwerp in background)
Eventually, the rest of our group turned up making our group ten strong.
Richard, Karen,Simon,Barry,Trish,Keith and Andrew
During the afternoon I enjoyed several good beers from the festival including Corsendonk Grand Hops and two beers from the Arthur's Legacy series developed at the De Hoorn microbrewery - No 13 Aerts 2016, hopped with Target and Golding and No 14 The boy from IPA.Nema hopped with Cascade, Simcoe and Target.
However, my favourites of the day at the festival were the Malheur 6 with spicy and citrus Saaz hop aroma and
Hapkin a powerful blonde beer with a floral touch of Saaz hop.
It is always entertaining to see different groups of drinkers pass by including stag and hen party groups. A disappointment to notice that the bride to be was offering wine and not beer to her group!
Our table was on the right side of the festival for listening to BigBand Ekeren playing lively music from the bandstand near the festival entrance.
As evening approached, Barry & Karen, Terry & Trish departed, to catch a train back to Brussels where they were staying. Their places at the table were soon filled.
CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium suggests Billekletser, 22 Hoogstraat as an alternative to its former neighbour Antwaerps Bierhuyske which shut in July 2017. While I took 4 packs of beers from Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie and Brasserie du Bocq Saison 1858 back to the hostel, the rest of our group headed to Den Billekletser where I would meet them shortly.
In the basic corner bar of Den Billekletser, I enjoyed a flute style glass of Houblon Chouffe, the Brasserie d'Achouffe 9% abv IPA, hopped with three varieties.
The decor here included a framed collection of beer bottle tops.
From here it was only a two minute walk to De Groote Witte Arend,