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.




 

Belgian Beer Trip 2017 - Day 4

Saturday 24 June was the second day of Antwerp Beer Passion Weekend XVIII.
After breakfast, Simon, Dave / Bod and I set off from Bogaardestraat for Museum aan de Stroom in Schipperskwartier neighbourhood, north of the city centre, while Mark went shopping.

We passed Boerentoren (now known as KBC Tower), one of Europe's first skyscrapers, completed in 1932.

African antiques caught my eye passing the shop of David Norden at Sint-Katelijnevest 27.

We followed the tram tracks to Minderbroedersrui and passed an interesting looking shop specialising in mid-century modern furniture at No. 70.

A little further along, colourful street art brightened the junction with Keizerstraat.

Eventually we caught sight of the museum with its tile hung exterior, curving windowed areas and roof terrace.

Richard had introduced some of us to Museum aan de Stroom / MAS in 2016 and we repeated the trick of riding the escalators to the top in order to enjoy the free, panoramic, views on the way up and from the terrace. Large photos of Antwerp settings, by various photographers, are displayed on inside walls for viewing from the escalators.

The 2016 lifelike sculpture by Guillaume Bijl - 'Groetend Admiral Koppel' - was an amusing addition to the view towards the river Schelde / Scheldt.

Antwerp was once the home of several chocolate makers. On the way down we visited a free exhibit about chocolate which included advertising material and tins.

We had a wander around the streets further north but did not manage to locate the site of the new Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie brewery and taproom that Keith had mentioned to us. We later noticed the poster for this at the beer festival. Hopefully, we can visit the new brewery and drink Seefbier there in 2018.

Het Elfde Gebod

We returned to the city centre by a slightly different route that accidentally included the pedestrian only red light district. Facing the cathedral, Simon led Dave and I to the ivy-clad Elfde Gebod, Torfbrug 10. Translated as the 11th commandment, here it simply means 'Enjoy'.

Inside, all the ground floor tables were occupied by diners so we found a sheltered table outside.
Religious statues adorn this establishment giving it a unique style.

On a visit to the upstairs toilets it was noticeable that the first floor also provides additional seating space albeit with a little less decoration. We only had time for one beer here before a rendezvous with our friends nearby.

De Groote Witte Arend

A tasteful vertical banner outside indicates De Groote Witte Arend (the great white eagle) at Reyndersstraat 18. 

In the cobbled courtyard there are long tables and we joined John, Keith, Richard and Andrew at one of these.

A round of the fruity house draught speciality - Arend Kriek (6.0 ABV, 40cl / 4.20 euros) was soon served and the food menus were studied. In a while Barry and Karen also joined our table after arriving from Brussels for a daytrip. There was time for another round before the food was served.

Inside there are large rooms with tables on the ground and first floors. The walls are decorated with traditional enamel brewery signs. 

Andrew, my neighbour at the table, insisted that I take a photograph of the label from his bottle of  Hoogheid, brewed by Vleesmeester brewery, and I was unable to resist.

Andrew's Hoogheid had been chosen from the 'Bieren in de Kieker' highlighted section of the beer menu. Our waiter explained that these were the current specially selected beers although Richard countered that perhaps they were the beers nearing their best before dates!

Bierepassie Weekend - day 2

Mark had secured a table near the Corsendonk and Du Bocq breweries bar (14). The Corsendonk Grand Hops (2017) was one of my favourite beers at the festival with a 20cl glass, poured from a bottle, costing the standard festival charge of a 2 euro token. The 2017 limited edition beer (31 IBU) contains Mistral D'Alsace, a special hop variety from France and high quality saaz hops. 

Back from his shopping trip, Mark had kindly piled the table with cheese, bread, pate and packets of crisps to be shared by our group. Barry and Karen were there and my arrival was the last for some time as the rest of our group continued to further bars after their meal before arriving at the festival much later. The remaining food then quickly disappeared!

Now it was time for Barry and Karen to leave the festival and return to Brussels by train.

Keith, John, Simon & Richard

The remaining eight of us could now all sit down at the table at the same time.

Mark, Dave / Bod with Ullage magazine, Andrew

Another favourite beer for me at the festival today was King Mule IPA (5.7% ABV) from the Brouwerij Cornelissen bar (17). This had a tantalising flavour that reminded me of plums and myrtle.

Also within easy reach from our table, a favourite special beer to be sampled was available at the De Brabandere brewery bar (11). Petrus Aged Red (8.5% ABV) is a blend of 15% Petrus Aged Pale, pure foeder beer that has been aged for 2 years in oak foeders, and 85% dubbel bruin with krieken (cherries).
Intending to catch the last tram towards their hotel, John, Keith, Andrew and Richard left shortly before the festival closed for the evening. They planned to drink a few more beers at late night bars around Dageraadplaats, nicknamed 'Argument Square' on account of arguments about Brexit that first surfaced on last year's trip, begun on the day after the EU referendum. Meanwhile, staying locally, the gang of four, Mark, Dave, Simon and Tim headed to nearby 't Antwaerps Bierhuiske.

't Antwaerps Bierhuyske

Simon had learned from Sue Thirlaway that 't Antwaerps Bierhuyske, Hoogstraat 14, was under threat of closure.

The bar was lively and crowded but Simon, Dave and Mark found seats at the bar overlooking the sink. Simon embarrassed himself by accidentally knocking a festival beer glass out of his pocket so that it smashed on the floor. This was quickly tidied up and no beer was lost. Happily, Mark was able to supply him with a replacement glass ready for use at the next festival session..

A blackboard at the far end of the bar listed the draught beers available. As well as typical Antwerp offerings of Alken-Maes Cristal pils and bollekes of De Koninck, the list included some American beers - Stone Brewing 'Arrogant Bastard' and Boulevard Brewing Co 'Tank 7' Farmhouse Ale. Since 2016, Stone Brewing of Escondido, Southern California, also brews in Berlin for European distribution. The inclusion of Boulevard is related to the purchase of the Kansas City based brewery by Duvel Moortgat in 2013. 
Sadly the well respected 't Antwaerps Bierhuyske closed on 30 June, 2017, so the photos above may be among the last ever to be taken there.