Brasserie Verschueren, Saint-Gilles, Brussels

It was 6.30pm on Friday 22 March 2019, when we reached the art deco style Brasserie Verschueren at 11-13 Parvis de Saint-Gilles.

It was a busy time but we were able to find a table inside.

The blackboard above the bar mentions 'Service au bar a partir de 17h' and so it was a case of ordering and paying at the bar. We each chose a 'Biere Maison' listed on the left side of the blackboard above the bar. My Saison Verschueren (Bras. De Ranke, 33cl, 5% ABV, 3.30 euro) was slightly darker than Simon's blonde Tripel Verschueren (Bras. De La Senne, 33cl, 8% ABV, 3.60 euro).

Our table was near the colourful football leagues board at the far end of the bar. Underneath, symmetrically placed mirrors  with lamps were separated by strips for hat and coat hooks.

From this vantage point we had a full view of the bar's interior with its narrow wooden tables and art deco features including decorated rectangular overhead lamps.

On the right hand side of the blackboard over the bar is a drawing of a cat and the text 'Merci, de ne pas nourrir le chat' followed by details of the brasserie cat's instagram account @pepsi_verschueren.

There are some interesting diamond shaped panels on the front of the wooden bar and I was able to get photos of two of these as we prepared to leave at 7.15pm.

Also spotted on the bar's blackboard was the 'A Emporter' offer of a 4 pack of house beers for 8 euro and 'notre verre' for 2 euro so I left with a mixed pack of beers and a glass for 10 euros.
These were safely carried as far as Moeder Lambic Fontainas where I was able to retrieve most of them a day later! They also survived the journey back to Newbury where the distinctive glass is now in regular use!

finally space for Pepsi on the bench seating!

Brussels - Sunday 24/6/2018

A La Mort Subite faces Scott's Bar at Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères 2. The pizzas at Scott's Bar were recommended by Barry and Karen who had visited a few days previously. They also told us that the bar had a big screen and was screening FIFA World Cup games with English commentaries.

Our group had left Antwerp before the Sunday lunchtime session of Bierpassie Weekend in order to watch the England v Panama game in Brussels which kicked off at 2pm local time. My first beer at Scott's Bar was Maes Pils (2.20 euros / 25cl) and this allowed me to reserve a table with a reasonable view of the screen.

Once joined by the others it was time for a Blanche de Bruges (4.70 euros / 50 cl) served with slices of lemon and lime. This was a goal filled game which ended England 6 Panama 1. Several pizzas were enjoyed by our group although it was too early to take advantage of the Happy Hour offer.

After the final whistle we crossed the street to the historic and traditional A La Mort Subite. CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium explains its name is derived from a dice game and was later given to a beer brand.

As on previous visits I enjoyed a glass of draught Mort Subite Peche (4.3% abv) with a flavour of sweet peach.

Andrew was still hungry and ordered a tomato omelette, served with a large slice of bread.

Richard, wearing yet another vintage of CAMRA Kingston Beer & Cider Festival t-shirt, checked his phone for distances to nearby bars. My CAMRA Good Beer Guide Belgium research had identified Brasserie du Lombard at Rue du Lombard 1, as a nearby bar that none of us had visited before. We walked there via Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, using the northern entrance to the arcade lined with exclusive shops. This arcade entrance is visible in the top photo (beyond the crowd of tourists).

We entered Brasserie du Lombard and found a high bar on the left with a range of fifteen fonts, several of which were out of service.

We ordered our beers at the bar and found a table on the right where a full height mural adorned the far wall.

Keith and Simon faced towards the entrance where they could watch the next FIFA World Cup game on TV. The chandelier light fitting on the left side of the bar was noticeable for the (Delirium) pink elephants above it. The proprietor was wearing the same design of navy polo shirt bearing a pink elephant as Andrew, something that will surely remain in our memories!

The art nouveau style beer menu was studied before the next round of drinks was ordered. This bar has a good range of bottles including a good selection in 75cl size that are hard to find.

During our trip, John's red moustache protector, seen here attached to a thin stemmed Silly Triple Swaf glass, had attracted much interest.

It was good to have a chat here with Keith Moore about his homebrewing. He is waiting to find out the style for the next contest at the 4th CraftBeerMesse in Mainz (23/24 November 2018), where his beer has previously won a prize. Keith had noticed that Bosteels Brewery Pauwel Kwak was available on draught at Cafe du Lombard so ordered this and it was served in the distinctive flask shaped glass in a wooden holder.

Simon ordered locally brewed draught Brasserie de la Senne Zinnebir. It was a relief to find that my choice of bar met with general approval. With its big windows on two sides and high celing it was a pleasant place to enjoy some Belgian beers, chat and keep up with the football. The proprietor was efficient if not exactly friendly. It was reported that toilet facilities were obviously not designed for large persons.

Moeder Lambic Fontainas (on right)

I would meet up with the group again, about an hour later, at nearby Moeder Lambic, Place Fontainas 8, after checking in at Hotel Floris Ustel.

This was the weekend of the Fête nationale du Québec event at Moeder Lambic. There was Quebec style folk music in one of the gazebos outside and draught beer was being served for the audience from a bar in a wooden shed.

Our group had found a booth with a view of the TV for the next World Cup football game.
As the last to arrive my seat was a stool in the aisle. As usual, I admired the design of this bar with its exposed brickwork, framed brewery photographs and suspended lighting. Keith pointed out that the grey seating sections for the booths were actually hollow and made from wood painted to match the appearance of the polished concrete floor.

Thanks to Andrew (centre) whose round included our 50cl measures of festival beers. Note that Richard had now changed into a red Kingston beer festival shirt.

I enjoyed my No Science Da' Funk (Single hop Zeus Pale Ale). The No Science website mentions 'this is not Belgian style / but we still put our Belgian touch in it' and gives the microbrewery's contact address as Rue Dieudonné Lefèvre 37, Brussels with opening hours as Fridays 13:00-16:00. This looks like a plan for a future Brussels visit!

Our final Sunday destination, in a rerun of the 2017 visit, would be Poechenellekelder, Rue du Chêne 5, near Mannikin Pis. We arrived to find Barry and Karen, Terry and Trish sitting outside. After some negotiation we decided to find a long table inside as the temperature was dropping outside.

Our table was near the bar, making our hard-working waiter's job slightly easier. We were also grateful to staff for taking this photo with my iPhone's camera. Note the puppets suspended from the ceiling and walls that are a feature of this much appreciated establishment.

A blackboard lists the beers available on draught.

After a Brasserie de la Senne Taras Boulba, I chose a bottle of 5.8% ABV amber coloured Martin's Pale Ale from the menu which is dry hopped with Kentish hops. This was a good accompaniment to the delicious and filling baked lasagne which has become a regular food highlight of a Brussels trip.


Any visit to the (downstairs) toilets involves passing a display featuring a couple of seated puppets.

There was time for another beer and I chose another beer brewed in Brussels - Brasserie de la Senne Jambe-de-Bois, the 'Belgian Revolution triple'.

Afterwards, on my way back to the hotel I passed a tempting cheese shop -
La Fruitière, 99-103 Rue du Marché au Charbon with a marvellous window display.

See Monday's blog post for the next instalment.

Belgian Beer Trip 2017 - Day 5

A Sunday Morning Stroll

Sunday 25 June was the final day of Antwerp Beer Passion Weekend XVIII. Some roads were closed to traffic for the Men's cycle road race component of the 2017 Belgian Road Championships.



Mark, Simon, Dave (aka Bod) and I set off from Bogaardestraat and stopped for a mooch around the flea market (vlooienmarkt) stalls in Sint-Jansvliet square, facing the imposing entrance to the Pedestrians' / St Anna's tunnel which goes to the left bank under the Schelde / Scheldt river.
I was pleased to find a stall selling a variety of Belgian beer glasses and paid 3 euros for a 33cl Westmalle chalice.



From here we walked south west, next to the closed main road, past residential blocks on the city side and industrial buildings on the river side until we turned left to reach FOMU - the Foto Museum.



After this exercise we had a relaxing break for coffee / tea / wifi in the Pixel museumcafe.



On our route back to the city centre we passed Waterpoort (near Huisbrouwerij -Brasserie 't Pakhuis visited in 2016)



The city's main art gallery, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts remains closed for renovation but we browsed the stalls outside for Lambermontmartre - the monthly summer art market.

Bier Passie Weekend, Antwerp - Final Day



By the time we reached Groenplaats we were ready for our first beer of the day using a 2 euro token for a 20cl measure from the brewery stalls inside the festival enclosure.

The festival was less busy than on Saturday so it was a good opportunity to chat with some people involved with the festival. Having enjoyed Troubador Magma it was good to meet up with Stefaan Soetemans, a founder of Brouwerij The Musketeers. Stefaan mentioned that the brewery will be moving from Ursel to an old brick factory in Sint Gillis-Waas, with plans for a visitors tap room on site, opening by the summer of 2018.



It was nice to meet Ben Vinken, Beer Sommelier and organiser of the beer festival, at last year's event. This year, Ben (on the left of the photo) kindly exchanged my copy of Ullage, the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine, for a special edition of his publication 0 Bierpassie Magazine.



The 75th edition includes a tribute to 'Beer Hunter' Michael Jackson (1942-2007) on the 10th anniversary of his death.



For the festival, special beer mats with a selection of Michael Jackson's beer quotes, were provided at tables and also available for sale as a pack of 100.



Cheese is an ideal accompaniment to beer. Disposable plates with portions of Vieux Chimay and Westmalle cheese available for sale at Ben's Beer Sommelier Bar (2 tokens / 4 euros).



Visitors to Ben's bar included Hans 'Pif' Bombeke (left), Chairman of Antwerps BierCollege and Coordinator of Modeste Bier Festival and his colleague also involved with Modeste Bier Festival which will be held in Antwerp 30 Sep - 1 Oct, 2017.



It was nice to be able to exchange a copy of Ullage for Antwerpse BierCourant the publication of Antwerps BierCollege. This includes a calendar of events on the back cover.



Some music from the bandstand livened up the beer festival on Sunday afternoon.
Having spent all our beer tokens it was time for a late lunch.

Lunch at Aura Bar Brasserie, Antwerp



We returned to Aura Cafe Brasserie, Hoogstraat 34, an establishment where our group had previously enjoyed lunch in 2017.



This time we asked for a table in the rear courtyard which was sheltered by a natural vine canopy.



A 'bolleke' of locally brewed De Koninck was the draft beer that I ordered and Simon carefully poured his bottle from Brouwerij Het Nest.



Away from the bustle of the festival and the high street, the only noise in this quiet haven came from church bells at intervals. It was peaceful enough for Mark to doze off before the food arrived!.



As remembered from last year, the cheese omelette and salad surrounded by a long slice of cucumber was perfectly prepared.

Antwerpen-Centraal railway station



We headed to Antwerp Central station for a train to Brussels. The station's dome is visible from many parts of the city. The terminus building, designed by Louis Delacenserie with eclectic influences is regarded as one of the most beautiful railway stations in the world.



Platforms are on several levels and our train departed from the depths, accessed by escalators.

Moeder Lambic Fontainas, Brussels



As on previous visits to Brussels, my first beer was enjoyed at Moeder Lambic, Place Fontainas 8.



There were more people sitting outside than inside the stylish bar.



It was the weekend of a Quebec breweries event.



Draught beers from Dieu du Ciel!, Le Trou de Diable and Dunham were available.



My choice of Cyclope Kappa IPA by Brasserie Dunham (5.7% ABV, 25cl / 5 euro) was refreshing with tropical fruit notes.

Bar Au Soleil, Brussels



Walking to nearby Poechenellekelder, to meet up with my friends who were staying in a different hotel, involved passing Bar Au Soleil where DJs were playing interesting music outside. There was only time to stop for a photo.

Poechenellekelder



Next to the infamous Manneken Pis fountain, Poechenellekelder is another Brussels bar that always gets a visit when I am in the city.



An advance party of Mark, Dave and Simon from the Antwerp train had already been joined by Karen and Barry, just returned from a day trip to Bruges. A third table was brought into play so I could sit with them in the front courtyard.



My first beer was a Zinne Bir from Brasserie de la Senne, a Brussels brewery visited by Mark and Dave earlier in their two week Belgian trip. Zinnebir was originally created by Bernard Leboucq for the second Zinneke parade in Brussels in 2002. Zinneke is a nickname given to people from Brussels reflecting the multicultural aspects of the city.



Before long, our group was joined by Keith, John, Andrew and Richard.



They had left Antwerp earlier in the day in order to visit the SWAFF craft beer festival in Brussels. Andrew mentioned that he really enjoyed some beers from Tempest Brew Co, based in the Scottish borders. Other British breweries represented at SWAFF included Beer By Numbers, Northern Monk and Weird Beard.



Now we could order our meals and I followed Simon's example in ordering the esteemed lasagne. From the draught (au fut) beer menu, my choice was Brasserie de la Senne Schieven IPA.



With ten around the grouped tables, including Karen wearing the Barbãr horned hat found by Mark, there were few lulls in conversation. However, when John broke a rare silence by exclaiming 'bollocks', Andrew mentioned his observation that John was uncomfortable in silent moments. As conversation ranged to the possible venue for Simon's forthcoming 50th birthday on Thursday, it would soon be Andrew's repetition of 'Guildford' that earned him a reprimand, to much amusement.



The interior of Poechenellekelder with its intriguing collection of puppets and figures was glimpsed on occasional brief visits inside.



With tobacco smoke wafting across the courtyard and clouds threatening rain, it might have been advantageous to have retired indoors but this opportunity would later occur to obtain a final beer once the main bill for the evening's beer and meals had been paid.



Our experienced waiter, who disciplined us into ordering rounds of beers, instead of individual beers at our convenience, eventually presented John with the main bill of about 240 euros and the invidious task of collecting contributions from everyone.



Eventually the bill was paid and orders were taken for a final round of drinks.



After the final settlement and farewells, gone 1am on Monday morning, the changing crowd of tourists at the Mannekin Pis had evaporated and we returned to our various hotels.

Cheers to everyone on this Belgian trip, one I hope to repeat several elements of in June 2018.