Antwerp - The Usual Suspects 2022

 After missing visits to Belgium in 2020 and 2021, the Usual Suspects returned to Antwerp on 30 June 2022, a day before the start of Bierpassie Weekend.

Simon, Andrew, Dave, Tim, Keith & Richard - De Vagant

The author of this post (Tim) was glad to meet up again with Simon, Andrew, Keith and Richard. This would be Tim's first meeting with one of the instigators of the annual pilgrimage to this Belgian beer festival - Dave. 

John Reynor - RIP

Sadly, John Reynor, another early adopter, passed away in 2021. We would pay a tribute to John at De Vagant on the Friday with jenever and beer and Dave generously footed the bar bill.

Previous posts about visits to Antwerp have followed a daily diary format but this year there will be three geographically differentiated posts as shown in the rough map:

S - Het Steen area featuring Cafe Pardaf and Paters Vaetje

H - Hoogstraat area featuring 'T Half Souke, De Ware Jacob and De Vagant

G - Groenplaats area featuring Bierpassie Weekend and De Kat.

This post will feature a few bars and other places of interest falling outside these areas which are all in the Grote Markt / Cathedral of Our Lady area, near the river Scheldt.

It was convenient and economical for me to stay at the Hotel Rubenshof again. Unlike Tryp Hotel, where most of the others were staying, it does not have air conditioned rooms or a lift but thankfully temperatures were slightly lower than in 2019. Unhappily for the others, the Tryp Hotel air conditioning had broken down on this occasion.

The Hotel Rubenshof reception and breakfast rooms retain delightful art nouveau features including stained glass windows, carved wooden cabinets and decorative paintings. Breakfast cost 9 euros and  included juice, yoghurt, bread rolls, croissants, ham and cheese. There was sometimes a wait for the coffee pot to be refilled.

After checking in, my first attempt to secure a beer at nearby Biercafe de Jordaan was unsuccessful due to a holiday closure. This was a wasted detour not improved by the rain which had not let up since my arrival. Things would improve after tram rides to reach Groenplaats and then on foot to 'T Half Souke on Hoogstraat. See separate Hoogstraat post (WIP).

'T Half Souke is one of the heritage cafes, featured in Belgian Cafe Culture by Regula Ysewijn, that I had earmarked for a visit after finding it closed in 2019. 

Preparations for this trip included updating a Google map to show Antwerp cafes featured in Regula Ysewijn's book.

L'Entrepot du Congo is a brasserie near Hotel Rubenshof and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts that I had earmarked to visit for a beer or a meal. There were roadworks in this area and on this visit I would only photograph the exterior. It was interesting to find 'Brouwery Brys Bornhem' engraved on a stone panel of the frontage.

I had also hoped to revisit Cafe ZeeZicht with the 'usual suspects', previously visited in 2018 (photo above). Near Tryp Hotel, this is one of the beer cafes in Dageraadplaats (known by our group as 'Argument Square' after many previous late night drinking sessions!). This was another missed opportunity for me on this trip though. 

Apart from Belgian beer cafes and the festival, this trip included three interesting visits unrelated to beer! On the Friday morning, while the others were resting after staying up until 4am in 'Argument Square', I enjoyed a free solo visit to Plantentuin (Den Botaniek), a landscaped botanical garden created in 1825.

Later, I would meet up with Simon for a walk around the Begijnhof / Beguinage which dates from 1545. With its cobbled streets, church and central garden this was well worth a visit although it was not as extensive or impressive as the one in Leuven which we had visited in 2018.

Looking North towards Antwerp from the ferry at Linkeroever

The third visit was to cross the river Scheldt on the free ferry from Het Steen to Linkeroever with Andrew, Dave and Simon on the Saturday afternoon while Keith and Richard revisited Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie in the docks area to the north. Simon would return to Antwerp using the pedestrian tunnel while Andrew, Dave and I returned on a later ferry. The four of us met up at De Ware Jacob. See separate Hoogstraat post (WIP).

We had intended to visit Brouwerij De Koninck, the brewery of Triple D'Anvers and Bolleke De Koninck APA (Antwerp Pale Ale). Another opportunity for 2023!

Addendum

In a theme related to the Wetherspoon's Carpets book by Kit Caless, some photos of Antwerp Cafe floor tiles are grouped above.

Antwerp - Friday 28 June 2019

Day 2 of the Belgian trip begins with breakfast in the Hotel Rubenshof dining room containing art nouveau details including stained glass windows and rooflights.
We walked into town via the Antwerp Zuid branch of Belfius Bank at Riemstraat 47 as we needed extra Euros from an ATM.

Continuing along Kloosterstraat we passed some cafes and upmarket clothing, antiques and home interiors shops.

Reaching Sint-Jansvliet, we noticed cyclists queueing outside the entrance for St Anna's Tunnel (the underpass). Instead of waiting, we entered the building to ride two flights of wooden escalators to reach the 572 metre long level cyclindrical tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists that runs under the river Scheldt to Linkeroever (left bank).

There are historic photos of tunnel construction mounted on the walls of the escalator shaft and the tunnel itself. There are no lanes marked on the tunnel floor so pedestrians need to take care to avoid obstructing the waves of cyclists that pass after descending by lift.

Emerging into the bright sunshine we headed north and walked through the Open Air Maritime Museum Boeienweide to see the anchors and large steel marker buoys on display.

After spotting a large ferry crossing the river, we headed to the dock near Frederik Van Eedenplein for a free ride back to Antwerp. This gives nice views of the skyline including the outline of Zaha Hadid's angular Antwerp Port House to the north.

Het Steen - from ferry (photo: Steve Kelly)

The lightly loaded ferry deposited us, slightly damp from some spray, at the ferry terminal next to the medieval fortress of Het Steen (stone castle) which was undergoing renovation.

MAS

We walked a kilometre north and then alongside Willemdok to reach MAS (Museum aan de Stroom). From the rooftop observation deck, reached by flights of escalators, there are panoramic views.

View towards north west from MAS (photo: Steve Kelly)

Steve spotted that the cooling towers, visible 10km to the north west, are next to a nuclear power station (Doel) on the banks of the river Scheldt.

A walk north of less than a kilometre led to Bar Paniek on the east side of Kattendijkdok.

Inside the warehouse building is a bar and seating shared with a workspace where grinding noises could be heard.

My first beer of the day was Antwerpse Brouw Co Seefbier, brewed nearby. Our shady seat outside looked across the dock to new residential tower blocks.

At 1.15pm we headed to the taproom of Antwerpse Brouw Co at Indiestraat 21 only 150 metres away as John texted to say that he had arrived there.

My first beer here was Super Cadix, 5.6% ABV dry hopped lager.

The taproom is part of the brewery building but we did not notice any brewing activity. 

Keith, Steve, Richard and Simon

Before long, Keith and Richard would join our table in the courtyard, under a canvas awning for shade. Simon had spent Thursday night in Brussels and was the last to join our group after checking in at the Tryp by Wyndham hotel and catching a tram to a nearby stop.

As one of the original crowdfunders for Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie, Keith Moore had found the funders plaque inside the brewery bearing his name. At the Bierpassie Weekend festival later, he would also meet up with founder Johan Van Dyck. Keith had travelled to Antwerp from his home in Germany and mentioned that he had again won the annual Mainz craft beer festival prize for home brewers. The 2018 summer beer style contest was won by his Entdeckung (Discovery) based on the beer once brewed by Fuller's.

Keith has programmed a Raspberry Pi computer to control brewing temperatures for his beers. Unsurprisingly, when asked about his favourite bar at the end of the trip, Keith picked the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie taproom.

Hussy, a new 7% ABV 'easy going blonde' limited release beer to try for the first time, reached the high standard set by the brewery's other beers which I have previously enjoyed.
During our visit we observed landscape gardening activity involving the construction of raised beds from railway sleepers, adding plants to fresh soil and watering. The taproom courtyard now has a greener look than previously.

Steve and I persuaded Keith, John, Richard and Simon to visit nearby Bar Paniek and we arrived via the rear workshop entrance on Kattendijkdok-Oostkaai at 5pm.

The small upstairs seating area was free so we found a shady spot, just under the roof, with a view of the dock. The Bar Paniek draught beer range includes Seefbier and Bootjes Bier, the latter referencing the Red Star Line which operated passenger ships from Antwerp to New York until 1935.

Tim, Simon, Keith & Richard on the tram (photo: Steve Kelly)

It was hot under the roof so after one beer we walked to the tram stop on Londenstraat and travelled by 70 and 7 trams to Meirbrug, a short walk from Groenplaats the site of the Bierpassie (Beer Passion) Weekend festival.

Arriving about twenty minutes after the festival opened at 5pm we were able to find a table on the west side of the square, near the Brasserie Du Bocq stand (14),  that would later offer some shade.

Entrance is free but a 20cl Bier Sommelier tasting glass costs 5 euros with a complimentary glossy programme. The blue beer tokens cost 2 euros each and except for a few beers marked in the programme as '2 jetons', one token simplifies payment for a glass of beer.

Having visited Allagash Brewery in Portland, Maine, in October 2017, I was keen to try Brewers' Bridge, the collaboration beer brewed with Brasserie Dupont of Tourpes, near the border with France.

At the Dupont bar, after he recognised my brewery cap, I was able to tell the barman that there are some wonderful people at Allagash. An Allagash blog post includes photos of the brew day and mentions that the Saison style beer was brewed with Dupont yeast and Cascade hops shipped over from Grandview, Washington.

Another special beer to try was draught Boulevard Brewing Co Jam Band Berry Ale a 5.9% ABV fruit ale made with blueberry, raspberry and tart cherry. (The Kansas City based brewery, founded in 1989, is now owned by Duvel Moortgat Brewery.).

King Mule IPA (photo Steve Kelly)

Our table was not far from the Cornelissen brewery bar and this is where Steve found his favourite beer of the festival at an early stage - King Mule IPA. This 5.7% ABV / 80 IBU 'unique stubborn Belgian IPA' ix mixed with tangerine juice.

After a recommendation for Brasserie Dubuisson Peche Mel (Bush), I also enjoyed the peach flavours and then discovered that at 8.5% ABV it is rather strong in alcohol.
A good thing about this festival is that with so many beers to choose from that it is possible to stick to a style like fruit beers and easily find plenty of variety.

Another benefit of the festival is live music including the tradition of the strolling Dixieland Street Band who livened up the evening when they played Dixieland jazz music near our table.
By now our group had grown to include Graham who had been in Europe since a Polish trip with Mark Geeson and his Farnham friends to Krakow, Wroclaw and Gdansk earlier in the month.

Cathedral (north side) - view from Elfde Gebod

At 8.30pm our group, less vegetarian Steve, left the festival and walked around to the other side of the cathedral for a meal at Elfde Gebod (11th commandment) where we sat at a long table outside the restaurant building that dates back to 1425.

The 6.9% ABV amber beer I enjyed here was Martin's IPA 44 from a company founded by British master brewer John Martin in Antwerp in 1909.

Several in our group ordered Apostle's Fish Stew (16.95 euros), while I ordered Steak Robespierre served with a bowl of frites (18.90 euros).

Thanks to Keith for suggesting a Dutch Trappist beer -  La Trappe Tripel as my next beer here. I agreed with Keith about the fruity pear flavours from the 8% ABV Tripel.

As Steve had not returned to join us I caught the 4 tram at 11.22am from Groenplaats for five stops to Pacificatie while the others headed back to their hotel via Dageraadplaats. 

During this time Steve had enjoyed a visit to Billie's Bier Kafetaria where he met Billie! This was his favourite bar of the trip and it's also one that I had enjoyed visiting with Simon in June 2017.

Passing a corner building with a rack of clothes on the pavement outside and hearing music I took a look inside. 

Cafe Baba at Pacificatiestraat 36, is an unusual combination of gallery, retro shop and bar with tables inside and outside.

From the blackboard outside which listed a few bottled beers, I chose Westmalle Dubbel, a favourite Trappist beer. 

A good choice of late night music on the decent sound system included Angie Stone's I wish I didn't miss you and Charles and Eddie's Would I lie to you. Cafe Baba stayed open after midnight but this would be my last beer of the night and there was only a walk of 450 metres to reach Hotel Rubenshof.