Antwerp - revisits - June 2024

Simon, Andrew and Richard at Antwerpse Brouw Co (ABC)

On my eighth visit to Antwerp (Thursday 20 June to Sunday 23 June 2024) to allow a seventh visit to Beer Passion Weekend festival, there was time to revisit several favourite bars in addition to those visited for the first time (Antwerp first visits - June 2024).

This post will follow a top down order from the key in the rough map above starting with Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie taproom. The top photo shows Simon and Andrew both wearing their decades old Bierpassie Weekend t-shirts on Saturday 22 June. I joined them in the courtyard, seated near a wedding party, after my first visit to 't Licht der Dokken and the viewing tower at Red Star Line museum. 

When there was a rain shower we moved inside to a raised corner of the taproom near the fermentation vessels and a view of the bar. I enjoyed a 33cl glass of Cheerio!, a limited edition 8% abv Tripel beer aged on natural fruit (raspberries, blackberries and sweet cherries (5 euros).

At the end of this post, the chart above showing posts about previous visits to Antwerp bars, provides blog post weblinks for more photos and descriptions of all the bars revisited.

Bar Paniek

Enjoying a quayside location, Bar Paniek is in the corner of a warehouse building now used as a workshop housing a fascinating collection of industrial equipment and products.

Classic tunes playing here included All Along the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix) and appropriately Sitting on the Dock of the Bay (Otis Redding).  

Curved staircases lead to a mezzanine level above the bar. Many tables have games boards on them and pinball and darts can be played. The basic toilet facilities are accessed from outside. 

Dr Beer

The next Saturday afternoon visit was to Dr. Beer where we met up again with (L to R) Jennie, Paul and Linda. There was a long table against the far wall, beyond the bar, where we could sit together.

One of the many distinctive features of this cosy bar is that 500ml measures of beer are served in clinical measuring jugs!

Tim's 500ml jug of Johannes De Weize II brewed by Dok Brewing Co (Gent), served from tap 6, cost 8.40 euros. We ordered some late lunchtime food here e.g Croque Monsieur. Andrew treated us to a taste of his hot edamame beans. Tim met Jeroen Peeters, the owner, on his March 2024 visit so was glad to have another chat with him before we left. Jeroen had explained that at busy times only a single bill for a group can be paid by card but on this occasion he was able to accept two separate payments to accommodate us.

Dr Beer is a verified venue for Untappd allowing current beers on tap to be checked in advance.

Our subsequent visit to 't Waagstuk features in  the Antwerp - first visits June 2024 blog post.

The Northerner

We ended up at The Northerner on Friday 21 June after a day in Lier and and an evening at the Bierpassie Weekend festival in Groenplaats. It was the night of the Netherlands v France Euro 2024 football match and, unsurprisingly as we were in Flanders, the bar was crowded with Dutch supporters both inside and outside. Without hesitating, Simon weaved his way to the bar and emerged with a tray of Saison Dupont for us and we stood outside drinking until the match ended and there was space for us to go inside and sit down.

The bar emptied out later and there was a chance to get a photo showing the wheelback chairs, dark floor tiles and relatively low ceiling. I remembered it as a bigger space but in fact it is rather compact.

After midnight, Andrew fetched our table another round of drinks including a draught Brussels Beer Project Juice Junkie IPA for me, served in a stemmed glass (4.20 euros). As closing time approached the change in the music encouraged us to drink up although all the other chairs were stacked away before we actually left, without needing any direct requests to do so.

The Northerner is also an Untappd verified venue.

Jazzcafe De Muze

Having enjoyed two visits to De Muze in March, Tim was able to persuade the group to visit at the end of our first evening in Antwerp. It's located at Melkmarkt 15, just across the street from De Pelikaan.

Our table, in the 'tram compartment', between high backed wooden seats gave a side view of the stage and we particularly appreciated the trumpet player's musical abilities. Admission is free but there's an extra 50 cents per drink once the music starts.

Paters Vaetje

Paters Vaetje has a small frontage with a red canopy in Blauwmoezelstraat on the other side of the cathedral from Groenplaats.

Soon after arriving on Thursday evening, I met up with Andrew and Richards at a ground floor table near the entrance and enjoyed the familiarity of returning to an often visited bar where the service is always friendly. Simon would join us after a delay to watch the England v Denmark Euro 2024 match on a TV in a bar near Brussels Midi station. On this occasion we put the small kitchen to the test and enjoyed dishes of lasagne served in the pot or spaghetti bolognaise with parmesan cheese.

As tradition dictates, Tim's first beer in Antwerp was a draught Bolleke De Koninck.

De Ware Jacob

De Ware Jacob is an authentic traditional cafe bar featured in Belgian Cafe Culture by Regula Ysewijn. It's high on Tim's list for revisiting as the small range of draught beers includes Avec Les Bons Voeux from Brasserie Dupont (9.5% ABV). The menu includes a range of local beers on the first page. One can be sure of good service from Guy Dockx or his staff here.

Het Souke

Nearby, on a corner of pedestrianised Hoogstraat, is Het Souke, another of Tim's favourites now run by Jacob Gouka and also featured in the Belgian Cafe Culture book but under its previous ownership as 't Half Souke. Although it was initially empty inside there were customers outside and it would later fill up inside after the Belgium v Romania Euro 2024 game ended (2-0).

There are 5 draught beers and the bottled beer range is on display at the bar as well as being listed in the beer menu. Tim's freshly poured draught Val-Dieu is also on the bar in this photo. 

De Vagant

Another essential revisit, De Vagant was Tim's last bar of the day on Saturday after Het Souke and now after midnight! Cherry Chouffe on draught was an easy choice here. Owner Bart Daems can be seen behind the bar and a row of Jenever bottles.

Weblinks for blog posts  about previous visits to these bars

Name                         Blog link                                                         No of photos

Antwerpse Brouw Co https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/03/antwerp-spring-2024.html                         1

Antwerpse Brouw Co https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2019/07/antwerp-friday-28-june-2019.html                 5

Antwerpse Brouw Co https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2016/07/antwerp-2-seef-bier.html                         3

Antwerpse Brouw Co https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2018/07/antwerp-saturday-2362018.html                         8

Antwerpse Brouw Co https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2023/07/ABCrevisit.html                                         6

De Muze         https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/03/antwerp-spring-2024.html                         4

De Vagant https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2023/07/antwerp-2023-revisits.html                                 3

De Vagant https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2022/07/Antwerp-2022-Hoogstraat.html                         6

De Vagant https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/03/antwerp-spring-2024.html                         1

De Ware Jacob https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2019/07/antwerp-thursday-27-june-2019.html                 3

De Ware Jacob https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2022/07/Antwerp-2022-Hoogstraat.html                         9

De Ware Jacob https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2023/07/antwerp-2023-revisits.html                                 3

De Ware Jacob https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/03/antwerp-spring-2024.html                         1

Dr Beer         https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/03/antwerp-spring-2024.html                         2

Dr Beer         https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2023/07/antwerp-2023-first-visits.html                         3

Het Souke https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2023/07/antwerp-2023-revisits.html                                 2

Het Souke https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2022/07/Antwerp-2022-Hoogstraat.html                         6

Het Souke https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2019/07/antwerp-thursday-27-june-2019.html                 1

Paniek         https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2019/07/antwerp-friday-28-june-2019.html                 2

Paters Vaetje         https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2023/07/antwerp-2023-revisits.html                                 1

Paters Vaetje         https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2019/07/antwerp-friday-28-june-2019.html                 4

The Northerner https://beereurope.blogspot.com/2023/07/antwerp-2023-first-visits.html                         3

Antwerp - Spring 2024

For a three night visit in March 2024, we stayed at the recently renovated Hotel National which is well located within easy walking distance of Groenplaats and its metro station, served by several tram routes from Antwerp Centraal station environs.

Many of the city's best beer cafe bars are within easy walking distance. Over this stay, Tim enjoyed showing Meg some of his favourites, previously featured in posts on this blog, including: 

De Ware Jacob (run by Guy Dockx with Brasserie Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux on draught and bottles / cans of beers from all the Antwerp area breweries); 

Het Souke (run by Jacob Gouka with well chosen music and beers); 

Kulminator (run by Dirk and Leen with classical music playing but a bit chilly inside on this occasion. NB Cash only, give purpose of visit as to taste beer and not just drink it!);

De Vagant  

De Vagant (run by Bart Daems with high ceiling, a good choice of beers and jenevers);

Pelikaan (on a Melkmarkt corner, decorated with enamel signs on the outside and neon signs inside).

De Muze

Opposite Pelikaan on Melkmarkt, it was a pleasant surprise to visit De Muze, for the first time, after spotting on the bar's Facebook page that it features live jazz music every night.

On our first visit we found a 'railway carriage style' private table with a view of the side of the stage. 

De Muze 5 featuring a pianist, double bass, drums, sax and trumpet sounded great. There's no admission charge but a 50 cent supplement per drink is applied when live music is on, usually after 9pm.

There's a good draught beer menu (photo above) and a further two dozen bottled beers to choose from.

With dim lighting, high ceilings and interesting decor, De Muze has a lot of character and we revisited the following night for more jazz and beer!

Cafe Scaldis

Tim has visited many of Antwerp's traditional beer cafes featured in Regula Ysewijn's book 'Belgian Cafe Culture'. On this stay his mission was to visit Cafe Scaldis, Cadixstraat1 in Eilandje neighbourhood, once the heart of docklands but now surrounded by new residential housing developments.

As Regula Ysewijn writes 'Cafe Scaldis was founded in 1946 by the parents of current landlady Jose. The wooden bar comes from a 1920s cafe which makes cafe Scaldis look a lot older than it is'. 

A visit needs to be planned carefully as it is only open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, from 12 noon until midnight. Note also that cash payment is expected.

After a visit to nearby Museum aan de Stroom (MAS), on a bright afternoon, with a cold east wind blowing, we opted to sit inside cafe Scaldis. As the only customers seated inside, for some of the time, it was a pleasure to chat with Jose and to be photographed with her before leaving.

Stella Artois is the only beer on tap but bottled beers are also available. When it's busier the barrel tables in front of the bar allow groups to sit together at the bar. Jose mentioned that her regular customers usually visit later in the day.

More revisits + Cafe Hopper + Chatleroi

With time to spare between leaving Cafe Scaldis and 4pm when the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie taproom opens on a Thursday in March, we walked further north to view the architecturally impressive Antwerp Port House / Havenhuis. The old fire station is topped by the new Zaha Hadid Architects' structure. It is situated at the northern end of the 24 tram route. 

Also of architectural interest is the Straatsburgbrug (Strasbourg Bridge) 'traction station' brick building nearby which the tram circles before returning to the city. The oval-shaped building includes external steps to allow elevated viewpoints for the public and was designed by Van Belle & Medina as part of the Brabo 2 project. 

It's always a pleasure to visit the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie taproom. The soundtrack was a mixed bag on this afternoon but it was nice to hear Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Tim left an Ullage magazine (Autumn 2023) which included a feature on the taproom for its founder, Johan Van Dyck, who had kindly provided our group with an impromptu brewery tour in June 2023.

Also visited in June 2023, Dr Beer was our next destination, also quite near to MAS. It was busy for a Thursday afternoon but we found a good table (near hanging cane chairs and an anatomical model!) in the cosy surroundings and were expertly assisted in choosing beers by Jeroen Peeters who was happy to provide Meg with a sample of De Mortselarij Miss-T to taste from a stemmed black glass.

Before leaving, Jeroen was pleased to be given a West Berkshire CAMRA Ullage magazine (Autumn 2023) with a mention of Dr Beer and he had soon featured a photo of us with it on the bar and shop's instagram account realdrbeer.

On our last morning in Antwerp we visited the renovated Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKA) which is recommended for art and design lovers. There were special exhibits about James Ensor and Rik Wouters. Remember to allow enough time to get maximum value from the 20 euro admission charge.

It's situated in the Zuid neighbourhood, even further south from the cathedral than Dansing Chocola, where we dined on the night we arrived. 

Although impressed by the art and interiors, we decided against refreshments at the cafe at KMSKA and instead headed to the roundabout at the southern end of Leopold de Waelplaats, the space in front of the museum. There are several cafes in this vicinity including Chatleroi, Wijnbistro Patine and Cafe Hopper. A blackboard outside Chatleroi (closed until 4pm) lists dates when the cafe hosts concerts and DJs. 

We were happy with our eventual choice of Cafe Hopper where most tables were taken. Some customers were reading from a supply of newspapers on top of a grand piano and good music was playing. While Meg had a cappuccino, Tim finally ordered his first Bolleke De Koninck of the visit (normally the first beer ordered, when in the city where it's brewed, rather than the last!).

Antwerp 2023 - revisits

On my sixth visit to Antwerp (Thursday 29 June to Sunday 2 July 2023) and the first not coinciding with Beer Passion Weekend festival, there was time to revisit seven favourite bars in addition to those visited for the first time (Antwerp 2023 - first visits).

Cafe Kulminator

As it was near Hostel Pulcinella, our group managed three visits to Kulminator but I missed the third visit in order to meet up with Paul and Jennie in De Vagant on Saturday. Groups and tourists are not usually welcome at Kulminator and Dirk in his gatekeeper role must hear the words 'taste', 'cash' and 'euros' before considering admittance. Despite his age, the bright red frame of Dirk's spectacles made him look rather intimidating as he surveyed us on the pavement from his elevated position inside!

On our first visit, David fluffed his lines and said 'sample' instead of 'taste' but eventually the door was opened for us after assurance that we could pay for our drinks with cash (euros).

L to R: Paul R, Graham, Les, Simon, David, Tim & Mark. Photo: Jennie R

Paul and Jennie needed to point to our group, sat near the window, in order to gain admission after our earlier arrival on the Friday!

Leen served the beers for our group including Gueuze for Graham using the traditional method.

Although the classical music and traditions of the legendary Kulminator may not appeal to all, the price list has not been updated for several years resulting in better value than ever!

Tim enjoyed a total of three beers on his two visits with the 75cl bottle of St Feuillien Saison shared. The third beer was draught Gouden Carolus Cuvee van de Keizer Whisky Infused 2022 brewed in Mechelen by Het Anker.

De Vagant

In 2022, Tim had visited an updated De Vagant with a group to honour the late John Reynor with beers and jenevers served by Bart Daems, the new manager. On Saturday 1 July this year, Bart was wearing a Heino t-shirt and posed with the autumn 2022 Ullage magazine opened at the page with a story and photos from that day including John at top left of page in photo below.

This was Paul and Jennie's first visit to Antwerp and it was nice to meet up with them again here while the others were at Kulminator for the third afternoon running.

Tim enjoyed a draught Cherry Chouffe on this visit.

De Ware Jacob

It was only a short walk down Reyndersstraat and Vlasmarkt to reach De Ware Jacob.

The excellent draught range here includes (Tim's choice) Brasserie Dupont Avec les Bon Voeux (9.5% ABV), Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie Seef and St Barnardus Abt 12 (10% ABV). Although there was a table free outside we preferred to enjoy the surroundings of the compact room with its wood panelling, inlaid mirrors and traditional bar furniture.

Guy the owner was not around but Tim asked Dafne to pass on the autumn 2022 issue of Ullage which includes a mention of his previous visit.

Het Souke

Photo: Mark G. L to R: Tim, Les, Graham, David, Paul, Jennie, Simon

Tim was keen to revisit Het Souke after a first visit in 2022 when he met owner Jacob Gouka and enjoyed the music at the cafe on the corner of pedestrianised Hoogstraat and narrow HH Geeststraat.

This was the first time the whole group came together on the Thursday with Les, the last to arrive c/o FlixBus, now able to enjoy his first beer.

The five draught beers are Stella Artois, Bolleke, Seef, Val Dieu Cuvee and Tripel d'Anvers. 

There are 24 bottles including Trappist beers, Minerva and Bootjes Biers from Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie and Tripppel and Blackout from Swiekes bv established in 2020 at Oud Turnhout, east of Antwerp.

Tim gave Jacob the autumn 2022 Ullage magazine which includes an article with his 2022 photos from Het Souk. James posed for a photo holding the relevant page open while resting his left arm in plaster on the shoulder of Maximilian - his 'best coworker yet'.

Paters Vaetje

We enjoyed simple meals like lasagne from the limited menu for the small kitchen next to the bar at Paters Vaetje on the Saturday evening. This reliable beer bar is easy to find as it faces the north west corner of the cathedral near the ground level Nello & Patrasche marble sculpture. Tim's beer selection was draught Brouwerij The Musketeers 'Joyride in a Shopping Cart' a 6.5% ABV honey ale from the brewery's Bucket List series of limited edition beers (4.10 euros). 

Oud Arsenaal

Tim and David's last beer in Antwerp on the Sunday would be at Oud Arsenaal on the way to Antwerp Centraal station for the train to Brussels. We were both keen to revisit this brown cafe with its interior dating from the 1920s. Regula Ysewijn mentions in Belgian Cafe Culture that it is one of the few cafes in Antwerp that is still run by the same family that started the business.

Every table inside was occupied when we arrived but we shared a table and then gained some elbow room as a lady next to us kindly moved to a vacant seat on the other side of her window table, to face her friend.

Tim was delighted with the draught hazy Seef bier which may become his beer of choice on future visits to Antwerp where it is widely available.

David noticed that the young man serving our drinks resembled the current owner and was able to confirm that he was indeed the son and so the tradition continues.

Oud Arsenaal is close to the busy weekend market in Theaterplein so a weekday visit may be more suitable for anyone looking for a quiet spot during the day. 

Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie

Revisiting Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie and a meeting with Johan Van Dyck deserves a separate blog post to do it justice. Watch this space!