With two nights in Brussels, after three nights in Antwerp for Bierpassie Weekend, there was a chance to visit some beer bars for the first time with Richard and Andrew on Monday and solo on Monday evening after their return to London.
Monday 24 June was warm and mainly sunny. We met up and enjoyed a relaxing start to the day in the shade of the trees in Parc Bruxelles with its fountains, bandstand and a choice of kiosks with outside seating for customers at the southern end. Fritz Kola or coffee were our initial choices from the
Woodpecker kiosk.
From here it was mainly downhill, past several Brussels landmarks including St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral and the west entrance to Galeries Royale Saint-Hubert to reach our first traditional bar of the day.
Au Bon Vieux Temps
Tucked down an alley off Rue du Marche aux Herbes which is also accessibe from Galerie du Centre, we had our pick of tables inside
Au Bon Vieux Temps as there were no other customers when we arrived.
Europop music was playing from the radio and there were incongruous 'No Smoking' stickers on the walls, both of which seemed inappropriate for the traditional setting which includes stained glass windows and a strange stovelike structure, with brass knobs, on that protruded from the big fireplace next to our inner corner table.
Richard and Andrew enjoyed glasses of Tripel Karmeliet while my lower strength and price choice was Lindemans Kriek (5 euros) served courteously by the lady at the bar. The simple menu includes a limited range of draught and bottled beers.
We didn't have an opportunity to also visit
A l'Imaige Nostre-Dame situated off an adjacent alley but to visit both would be a sensible option for visitors.
Le Corbeau
We reached
Le Corbeau (The Raven) at Rue Saint-Michel 18, after a ten minute walk, mainly in a north easterly direction along bus pedestrian shopping streets, passing Primark en route.
Le Corbeau is a traditional brasserie, dating from 1874. The long room has a bar midway down one side next to an alcove and kitchen entrance towards the rear.
We chose a table on the opposite side to the bar giving us further views of the rear with a charming Stella Artois publicity image and the front entrance with etched glass and a model Atomium above the inner porch.
Our waistcoated waiter asked if we wanted food because none was available at this time today. Now it was my turn for a Tripel Karmeliet while Andrew and 'Beer Fridge engineer' Richard chose large chunky glasses of Hoegaarden.
Among the many enamel brewery signs on the walls is one for
Non Peut-Etre brewed by
De Proef Brouwerij near Ghent. Spotting this Richard commented that the name is a Brussels usage meaning Yes surely although literally it is No perhaps. Google confirmed this anomaly!
The music playing here was more to our taste and selections included Welcome to Tijuana by Manu Chao and Mr Jones by (appropriately) Counting Crows. (Tim's SoundHound App proved useful in identifying these tunes.)
The raven / crow theme is cleverly featured on wall decorations including a blue neon outline by the kitchen and film posters with adapted titles or altered images on the wall behind our table.
The red seat coverings are looking rather worn but the wear on the table tops gives them an interesting patina. Some research shows that this wear may be due to people dancing on the tables at night when the bar takes on a different personality!
The long room shape and the tables in lines layout at Le Corbeau reminded me of
Le Coq and
A la Mort Subite. I'm not a fan of Le Coq but warmed to Le Corbeau on a quiet afternoon.
The renowned
A la Mort Subite, visited in several previous years, would be our next destination and this is where Tim bid farewell to Richard and Andrew outside, before they headed to Brussels Midi for their Eurostar train back to London.
Now left in sole charge, Tim headed north back to his Apart Hotel in Schaerbeek via the Botanical Gardens.
Interesting landmarks passed included '
The Container', a public artwork by
Luc Deleu at the roundabout on Boulevard Pacheco. (Tim's first job was in freight forwarding and this role included booking space in shipping containers destined overseas for UK exporters.)
After a walk through the green spaces of the
Botanical Garden he looked inside
Le Botanique cultural centre with its impressive orangery to find that, apart from the ticket office, it was closed on Mondays.
L'Ermitage Sant-Gilles
A little later in the day and after a decision to spend the evening in the Saint Gilles area, to the south of Brussels Midi station, Tim caught a #3 tram from Thomas stop (above ground) to
Parvis de Saint-Gilles premetro station (underground).
The broad paved pedestrian area, to the east of St Gilles church, was busy with cafe customers enjoying the warm weather outside and buzzing with the sound of their conversations and music from the cafes.
It's only a few minutes walk to the cream coloured
L'Ermitage Sant-Gilles with an entrance on the corner of Rue de Moscou and Rue de la Forge, just downhill from Brasserie de l'Union.
With large windows, white walls and a blond wood bar, the space seems light and airy. There's a feature spiral staircase to an upper floor at the end of the bar. The colourful graphics and minimalist furniture give the taproom a contemporary feel.
My beer choice was a 25cl glass of 5.5% ABV Le Pendu 'Une NEIPA mettant en avant les houblons Enigma, HBC 586, Amarillo et Bru-1. Bombe aromatique!' (4.80 euros) from tap XII. This was after a sample from the only working handpump (X) of Le Grand Oeuvre 7% ABV grape ale which was flat and too sour for my taste.
You can find out what is on the taps 'The Tarot Deck' at L'Ermitage Sant-Gilles using the
Untappd App as it's a verified venue.
Music played here included How Soon is Now? by the Smiths.
Pizzas and snacks are served here and it's open daily from 5pm.
There's a stylish staircase down to the toilets, accessed from near the corner entrance to the bar.
Note that this bar is different from the original rustic style
Brasserie L'Ermitage brewery and taproom at Rue Lambert Cricx 26 which is near Brussels Midi station and Cantillon in Brussels and only open on Fridays and Saturdays.
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| Brasserie de l'Union Brasserie Verschueren |
The adapted BRUJAZZWKND map above shows stages visited (red) as well as other bars visited (pink) or noted (lilac) that were not involved with the festival.
Staying near Brussel-Noord station, the first beer cafe we walked to, after arriving on Friday afternoon, was Le Cambridge at Rue de Malines, 37. 
The laminated menu includes a good beer range with local options like Taras Boulba and Zinnebir in bottles. 
Tim chose draught Mystic Krieken for his first beer of the day. Features to admire at this beer cafe include the pale wood bar, tables and bentwood chairs. The floor features traditional tiles in three colours.
A previous visit to Le Coq at Rue Auguste Orts 14, in June 2023 had not impressed Tim but as one of the BRUJAZZWKND indoor venues, near Place de la Bourse, it was time for a return visit. 
On a hot day, most customers were outside and the deep interior was not busy. A table between the entrance and the bar was convenient for a chance to see the various blackboards with beer suggestions. 
The laminated beer menu warns 'No cards' and features several Brussels Beer Project bottles. Tim chose Westmalle Duo, a guest draught reasonably priced at €4 for 25cl. Meg was offered a choice of tea bags from a wooden display box to add to her glass mug of hot water (€2.50). Reggae music was playing which suited the weather. Tim now understands why Le Coq is a favourite Brussels beer bar for many.
C-RHYMS was Friday's lively first act on the Omer stage in the Place de la Bourse. This was the hip-hop strand of jazz with some breakdancing. 
After C-RHYMS memorable set, we moved to nearby Les Halles Saint-Gery where a soundcheck was in progress for Big Dave & The Dutchmen, the first of The Busker Blues Sessions. Super 8 Flandrien from the bar reinforced it's impression as one of Tim's Belgian favourite beers. 
James Stevenson, Tim's Brussels-based friend, had recommended Cafe Bizon. On Friday evening, we found a table inside, near the entrance before the start of Friday's set by Bruno Deneckere & Kathleen Vandenhoudt (Sharing the Blues - Duo) as part of BRUJAZZWKND. With an Americana style, their music has been described as 'Belgicana' but the songs are in English.
The central bar leaves only limited seating space at high tables on either side but there are more tables upstairs. Tim liked Cuvée Devillé by Den Herberg (6.2% ABV, €5) which has been described as an 'Orval clone' and is fermented with Brettanomyces yeast.
Cafe Bizon has traditional furniture, exposed brick walls and a beamed ceiling where gig tickets are pinned up, reinforcing the beer cafe's reputation as a live music venue. 
Later on Saturday, James led us to nearby Beer Capital, Boulevard Anspach 89, which has multiple screens for sporting events. On another hot day, the Happy Hour offer of 50cl Jupiler for €3 or 50cl Stella Artois for €3 was appealing. 
The Le Corbusier inspired concrete bar was the main reason for a visit to Barbeton, Rue Antoine Dansaert 114, on Saturday. 
A review in The Bulletin mentions that the bar opened in 2012 as a Frédéric Nicolay project. 
For the first beer on a hot Saturday, Stella Artois seemed appropriate, especially as the beer menu was rather limited.
Earlier, we had passed Au Derby (formerly Au Daringman, closed until 3pm) and Au Laboreur (open), both on Rue de Flandre.
A visit to Quai Au Foin / Hooikai, the filled in 'Hay Wharf' of the old Port of Brussels, allowed a close look at the Wim Delvoye sculpture 'Concrete Truck' (2013). 
As well as public artworks, Brussels is also a good city to find street art and we passed two examples before reaching Barbeton.
Formerly Cafe Monk, the brown cafe reopened in 2024 as Billie after refurbishment and with a house IPA brewed by Belgoo in the south of Brussels. 
Belgoo Blomekei and Saisonneke Extra were also available on draught when we visited.
We visited Billie several times over the weekend and it became a favourite Brussels bar. It was nice to be able to order at the bar. The BRUJAZZWKND performance we enjoyed here was by Trikosis (Sunday 3pm, soundcheck in photo above), a band from the Netherlands who describe their style as 'East European traditional music arranged in a crazy trikoway and own gipsyklezmerstyle songs'. 
The long bar looks good at night with coloured shelves and overhead globe lights. 
In the daytime it's easier to appreciate the marble topped bar, the traditional bar furniture and floor tiles.
Near the Bourse, at Rue Antoine Dansaert 6, L'Archiduc is 'Brussels' Iconic Art Deco Bar' founded in 1937. 
Listed as number 1 in BRUJAZZWKND indoor venues, we arrived after the start of Sunday's 5pm session with Belmondo - Maillard Duo but a few seats were still available at balcony level. The latest album by the French jazz musicians Thierry Maillard (piano) and Stéphane Belmondo (Flugel Horn) is QR CODE 2. 
There is a small bar downstairs and table service.
The short beer list includes a range of beer styles and includes the rarely available dark Trappist Westvleteren 12 (€16). Art Deco and Jazz enthusiasts should obviously visit this bar when in Brussels.
Between the Bourse and the Grand Place, it was nice to see an blackboard on Rue du Marche aux Herbes at the entrance to the gated alley, with an ornamental metal arch and sign, which leads to A l'Imaige Nostre-Dame, indicating that the historic Estaminet had reopened after a period of closure. 
On our visit, at opening time on Sunday (12 noon), we were greeted by Martin who explained the history of the building, originally a place of detention with prisoners kept in the cellar who would offer prayers to an image of 'Our Lady'. The Estaminet was founded in 1884 in a building that dates back to 1682.
Martin mentioned that the property had been redecorated and suggested we had a look at the two rooms upstairs. 
The oppportunity was also taken to take photos downstairs before more customers arrived. Orval was Tim's choice for the first beer of the day.
As with L'Archiduc, premium prices e.g. Orval €6.80 can be justified for the special surroundings and service. Only the music playing (e.g. Eurovision 2026 winner - Bangaranga) struck the wrong note here!
À la Bécasse, Rue de Tabora 11, only 50 metres away, has a similar gated alley for access and is also recommended for special surroundings and service.
One final brasserie to mention is Le Corbeau which we walked past late on Friday night returning to the hotel near Brussel-Noord. Previously visited in daytime, it is featured in a June 2024 blog post and is one more establishment due a return visit.
All three bars are recommended and the tradition of a Lasagne meal on a visit to Poechenellekelder was maintained!
