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.

Brussels (Marolles & Saint-Gilles) - Monday 1 July 2019

Visits to La Brocante (Marolles), Brasserie Égalité and Brasserie de l'Union (Saint-Gilles) would round off our fifth and final day in Belgium.

On the way from Hotel Barry, Place Anneessens 25 to La Brocante, Rue Blaes 170, Steve and I passed the impressive Palais du Vin. The art nouveau style warehouse building has been recently renovated since construction in 1909.

Walking up Rue des Capucins, we passed the Léonard mural by Turk and De Groot where the actual Palace of Justice (featured in the painting) is also visible in the distance.

We passed La Brocante and made a quick tour of the daily market held in Place du Jeu de Balle.

Returning to La Brocante, on the corner of the market place, we found a table and looked through the menu card.

Eventually a waiter found time to take our order. Steve ordered an Oude Kriek from Oud Beersel but as it was only 11.30am I ordered tomato juice and a ham and cheese sandwich.

2/3 remainder of baguette sandwich - saved for later!

The large baguette sandwich was good value (4.20 euro) and freshly made. We didn't see the cafe's cat today but see Tim's post from 22 March 2019 for more photos from La Brocante including its cat.

Getting a WhatsApp message from Keith alerted us that his group had arrived at our rendezvous point Brasserie Égalité so we headed to Saint-Gilles via the gardens around Porte de Hal and then up Chaussée de Waterloo.

Égalité is one of the Saint-Gilles bars featured in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium by Joe Stange & Tim Webb.

Brasserie Egalite - Steve arriving as Keith, John & Richard are seated outside.

Brasserie Égalité, Parvis de Saint-Gilles 47, is open most hours of the day and night. 

We arrived just in time to find beers from the large refrigerated display before access was temporarily suspended for an interior cleaning exercise. 

I had been on the look out for Brasserie de la Senne Bruxellensis but picked up a bottle of Brusseleir by mistake. However, this 8% ABV black IPA proved to be an excellent alternative!

From our table outside, the five of us had a good view west towards the church of St Giles which gives the neighbourhood its name. The temperature had dropped since the weekend and it was a bit windy so once the cleaning exercise was completed we found a table inside near the front windows.

Reverting to Saisons, my next beer was a bottle of Saison Voisin from Brasserie des Legendes. 
This is a bar for people who know what beers they will like and can choose a bottle from the fridge but is less suited to anyone seeking advice on what beer to drink.

Brasserie de l'Union (photo 25/3/2019)

The visit to Saint-Gilles had been my idea and for the next bar I suggested either Brasserie Verschueren, by the church, or Brasserie de l'Union a few doors away at the east end of Parvis de Saint-Gilles / Sint-Gillisvorplein. Dear reader, we opted for Brasserie de l'Union.

Arriving at 2.30pm, after the lunchtime trade, we were able to find a table inside.  Our animated waiter was wearing a Brussels Beer Project t-shirt. Unlike our earlier experience we now had advice and strongly held opinions from a beer connoisseur and champion of small local breweries. As well as bottled Saisons from L'Annexe, 

I followed our waiter's advice to have their draught Saison de Bruxelles (6% ABV), served from a surplus keg from a recent party organised by the nearby nanobrewery.
This was a good final beer on my annual Antwerp / Brussels trip. Now there was only time to retrieve luggage from Hotel Barry before catching the 16.56 Eurostar back to London St Pancras International. 

Leaving Saint-Gilles, I passed by Brasserie / Restaurant La Porteuse d'Eau, Jean Volders Avenue 48, another bar featured in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium and now marked for a future visit.

Tim Webb / Joe Stange comment in the Guide 'It's an (Art Nouveau) imitation, faux Horta, but who's checking? More obviously authentic is the list of 70+ beers with goodies from Dupont, Lindemans and St. Bernardus.' 

Also nearby is Malt Attacks, a specialisst beer bottle shop, at Jean Volders Avenue 18. 

Steve would catch up with me at Brussels Midi / Zuid. John and Richard would return on a later Eurostar service and Keith would head back to Germany. 

Brasserie Verschueren (photo 22/3/2019)

I was glad to hear that before leaving Saint-Gilles, the latter three also had time to visit nearby Brasserie Verschueren where they met the bar's cat. Richard later commented '... St Gilles was fantastic, relaxing and a nice change from the tourism of the centre.  Three excellent bars and one indifferent cat, with more on the list for next time.  So convenient for the centre, a nice place to live I'd say, and everyone that passed along that street seemed to know everyone else.  Maybe a nice area to stay in future.'