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.

Beer in Brussels - Sunday 3 July 2022

 

Simon and Tim travelled from Antwerp to Brussels Midi by train and then walked through a busy Sunday market and then along Avenue de Stalingrad to reach Cafe Bebo at its northern end, where it joins Place Rouppe.

While Tim checked into economical and nearby Hotel Barry, Simon enjoyed a glass of Duchesse De Bourgogne at a pavement table. (Simon's luggage had already been deposited at the station in readiness for his evening departure by Eurostar to London).

It is only a short walk from Place Rouppe to Place Fontainas.

Tim's first beer in Brussels would be served inside at Moeder Lambic (Fontainas) where it was not busy and the background music was mainly Europop.

While Simon (above) enjoyed a glass of Quetsche Tilquin, Tim enjoyed a glass of Troubadour Magma NEIPA. These were poured from two of the forty or so taps.

There are now two banks of taps at the back of the bar and two more banks on the bar itself. 

With so many taps for a wide choice there are few bottles listed on the daily beer menu.

It is now 'bar service' and it appears there are no longer any handpumps at Moeder Lambic for cask beer. Some seats near the entrance have been removed to make way for a raised and tiled space, perhaps intended as an open storage area? 

Moeder Lambic (Fontainas) must surely be an essential destination for any beer enthusiast's Brussels visit.

With an evening train to catch, Simon was keen to visit nearby Poechenellekelder and enjoy a lasagne meal in advance of our friends, who were catching a later train from Antwerp to meet up with us at Brasserie de la Mule.

Situated near the Mannekin Pis tourist hotspot, all the tables in the courtyard were taken so we sat inside, near the stairway leading up from the entrance, with music from a talented singer-guitarist just outside providing a good background.

From the extensive beer menu, Simon chose Brouwerij De Dolle Brouwers Oerbier and Tim chose Orval (after finding that V Cense from Brasserie de Jandrain-Jandrenouille was not available).

Our drinks were professionally poured and served with a small bowl of complimentary snacks. Simon could not finish his lasagne, served with a generous basket of bread so Tim also had something to eat before his evening meal! As usual, Poechenellekelder did not disappoint and is another essential Beer in Brussels destination.

On the way to the tram stop to take us to Schaerbeek, we walked up Rue du Chene and passed Gist and the statue of Jacques Brel at Place de la Vieille Halle au Bles. Tim would revisit Poechenellekelder and Gist in the evening. 

Tram 92 runs from Palais to Pogge and we arrived at Brasserie de la Mule, 95 Rue Reubens, soon after 5pm.

The building was once a tram depot and stable for the horses that once pulled them. The courtyard furniture is made from wooden pallets and cable drums. Tim's first beer (above) was Straight Saison (6% ABV) served in a tall wheat beer style glass with good value at 5 euros for 50cl.

It was good to meet up again with the 'usual suspects' from Antwerp although Dave had travelled on to Amsterdam instead. Out of service trams are still stored behind the old tram depot - as visible in the photo.

Inside, the Bar de la Mule is a large space with a vaulted ceiling and seating areas at both ends. Table football can be played at the end which leads to the courtyard at the side.

Brewery vessels and the canning line can be seen before entering the bar area and when leaving. 

With a train to catch, Simon was the first to leave. Before the rest of us left at 7.30pm there was time for another tall beer (an amber coloured Hefe Weisse Naturtrüb for Tim).

There was also time to speak to Guillaume who had single-handedly managed the bar all day. Tim left a copy of West Berkshire CAMRA Ullage magazine with him for customers to read.

Note that live music and other events are often held at Brasserie de la Mule and event details are updated on Facebook.

A photo opportunity for Tim (Thomas) as the group of four reached Thomas tram stop, at the junction of Rue du Progres and Avenue Philippe Thomas.

Tram 3, south towards Churchill, would take us to Beurs. Esplanade is the northern terminus on this route. Presenting an enabled contactless bank card to the reader onboard charges 2.10 euros for an hour's travel on the STIB-MIVB network. 

We passed some Tintin street art in Rue de l'Etuve, just south of Rue du Lombard, as we approached Poechenellekelder.

Tim was happy to revisit Poechenellekelder and to sit outside this time.

He chose Moinette for his first evening beer. This time there was no complimentary bowl of snacks to nibble. This Brasserie Dupont 8.5% ABV flagship beer was created in 1955.

Here's a photo of Tim's lasagne at Poechenellekelder from a 2019 visit. Once again it was a popular meal choice. Unlike the afternoon visit, there was no basket of bread accompaniment on this occasion. It was generous of Richard to pay for all our meals. He was feeling rich after patting a different pocket while at Brasserie de la Mule and discovering that the wallet which he had thought had been pickpocketed, while on the tram to Schaerbeek earlier, had not been stolen after all!

With its collection of wooden puppets, there is always something unusual to photograph on the route to the toilets at Poechenellekelder. These are reached after negotiating stairs up from the entrance and then down to the basement from bar level. 

It was deja vu again for Tim as the group walked up Rue du Chene but this time we would find a table inside Gist which was dimly lit. It was good to see a handpump in action here even though not placed in the most ergonomic position on the bar!

There have been several changes since a previous visit to Gist in 2019 when it was run by Jenlain and Jody - see previous post. The loud music from vinyl records has been toned down and the decor has changed.

The new decor includes cymbals as shades for lighting fixtures.

Gist is now an Untappd verified venue and details of available beers can be checked online. 

Tim received a 'Gist Brussels Family' badge after checking in his first beer (Blanche Cassis by Drogenbos) on the Untappd app (as timofnewbury).

Despite its name, Urine a 7% ABV DIPA collaboration between Brasserie du Borinage and Bastard Brewers tasted good and was served in a can shaped branded glass.

Although Gist was not busy later on, the helpful staff kept the bar open until the advertised closing time of midnight on Sunday.

Note that a range of Brasserie de la Mule canned beers, with colourful labels by AMMO illustration, are available at Gist.

Gist has become another essential Beer in Brussels bar to visit, especially for craft beer enthusiasts!

The regularly updated Brussels Beer City blog by Eoghan Walsh has more news about beer in Brussels and is highly recommended.

Eoghan's latest book 'A History of Brussels Beer in 50 Objects' includes #49 Brasserie de la Mule Hefe Weisse.