Saturday 24 June was the second day of Antwerp
Beer Passion Weekend XVIII.
After breakfast, Simon, Dave / Bod and I set off from Bogaardestraat for Museum aan de Stroom in Schipperskwartier neighbourhood, north of the city centre, while Mark went shopping.
We passed
Boerentoren (now known as KBC Tower), one of Europe's first skyscrapers, completed in 1932.
African antiques caught my eye passing the shop of
David Norden at
Sint-Katelijnevest 27.
We followed the tram tracks to Minderbroedersrui and passed an interesting looking shop specialising in mid-century modern furniture at No. 70.
A little further along, colourful street art brightened the junction with Keizerstraat.
Eventually we caught sight of the museum with its tile hung exterior, curving windowed areas and roof terrace.
Richard had introduced some of us to Museum aan de Stroom / MAS in 2016 and we repeated the trick of riding the escalators to the top in order to enjoy the free, panoramic, views on the way up and from the terrace. Large photos of Antwerp settings, by various photographers, are displayed on inside walls for viewing from the escalators.
The 2016 lifelike sculpture by Guillaume Bijl - 'Groetend Admiral Koppel' - was an amusing addition to the view towards the river Schelde / Scheldt.
Antwerp was once the home of several chocolate makers. On the way down we visited a free exhibit about chocolate which included advertising material and tins.
We had a wander around the streets further north but did not manage to locate the site of the new Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie brewery and taproom that Keith had mentioned to us. We later noticed the poster for this at the beer festival. Hopefully, we can visit the new brewery and drink Seefbier there in 2018.
Het Elfde Gebod
We returned to the city centre by a slightly different route that accidentally included the pedestrian only red light district. Facing the cathedral, Simon led Dave and I to the ivy-clad Elfde Gebod, Torfbrug 10. Translated as the 11th commandment, here it simply means 'Enjoy'.
Inside, all the ground floor tables were occupied by diners so we found a sheltered table outside.
Religious statues adorn this establishment giving it a unique style.
On a visit to the upstairs toilets it was noticeable that the first floor also provides additional seating space albeit with a little less decoration. We only had time for one beer here before a rendezvous with our friends nearby.
De Groote Witte Arend
A tasteful vertical banner outside indicates De Groote Witte Arend (the great white eagle) at Reyndersstraat 18.
In the cobbled courtyard there are long tables and we joined John, Keith, Richard and Andrew at one of these.
A round of the fruity house draught speciality - Arend Kriek (6.0 ABV, 40cl / 4.20 euros) was soon served and the food menus were studied. In a while Barry and Karen also joined our table after arriving from Brussels for a daytrip. There was time for another round before the food was served.
Inside there are large rooms with tables on the ground and first floors. The walls are decorated with traditional enamel brewery signs.
Andrew, my neighbour at the table, insisted that I take a photograph of the label from his bottle of Hoogheid, brewed by Vleesmeester brewery, and I was unable to resist.
Andrew's Hoogheid had been chosen from the 'Bieren in de Kieker' highlighted section of the beer menu. Our waiter explained that these were the current specially selected beers although Richard countered that perhaps they were the beers nearing their best before dates!
Bierepassie Weekend - day 2
Mark had secured a table near the Corsendonk and Du Bocq breweries bar (14). The Corsendonk Grand Hops (2017) was one of my favourite beers at the
festival with a 20cl glass, poured from a bottle, costing the standard
festival charge of a 2 euro token. The 2017 limited edition beer (31 IBU) contains Mistral D'Alsace, a special hop variety from France and
high quality saaz hops.
Back from his shopping trip, Mark had kindly piled the table with cheese, bread, pate and packets of crisps to be shared by our group. Barry and Karen were there and my arrival was the last for some time as the rest of our group continued to further bars after their meal before arriving at the festival much later. The remaining food then quickly disappeared!
Now it was time for Barry and Karen to leave the festival and return to Brussels by train.
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| Keith, John, Simon & Richard |
The remaining eight of us could now all sit down at the table at the same time.
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| Mark, Dave / Bod with Ullage magazine, Andrew |
Another favourite beer for me at the festival today was King Mule IPA (5.7% ABV) from the
Brouwerij Cornelissen bar (17). This had a tantalising flavour that reminded me of plums and myrtle.
Also within easy reach from our table, a favourite special beer to be sampled was available at the
De Brabandere brewery bar (11). Petrus Aged Red (8.5% ABV)
is a blend of 15% Petrus Aged Pale, pure foeder beer
that has been aged for 2 years in oak foeders, and 85% dubbel bruin with
krieken (cherries).
Intending to catch the last tram towards their hotel, John, Keith, Andrew and Richard left shortly before the festival closed for the evening. They planned to drink a few more beers at late night bars around Dageraadplaats, nicknamed 'Argument Square' on account of arguments about Brexit that first surfaced on last year's trip, begun on the day after the EU referendum. Meanwhile, staying locally, the gang of four, Mark, Dave, Simon and Tim headed to nearby 't Antwaerps Bierhuiske.
't Antwaerps Bierhuyske
Simon had learned from Sue Thirlaway that 't Antwaerps Bierhuyske, Hoogstraat 14, was under threat of closure.
The bar was lively and crowded but Simon, Dave and Mark found seats at the bar overlooking the sink. Simon embarrassed himself by accidentally knocking a festival beer glass out of his pocket so that it smashed on the floor. This was quickly tidied up and no beer was lost. Happily, Mark was able to supply him with a replacement glass ready for use at the next festival session..
A blackboard at the far end of the bar listed the draught beers available. As well as typical Antwerp offerings of Alken-Maes Cristal pils and bollekes of De Koninck, the list included some American beers -
Stone Brewing 'Arrogant Bastard' and
Boulevard Brewing Co 'Tank 7' Farmhouse Ale. Since 2016, Stone Brewing of Escondido, Southern California, also brews in Berlin for European distribution. The inclusion of Boulevard is related to the purchase of the Kansas City based brewery by Duvel Moortgat in 2013.
Sadly the well respected 't Antwaerps Bierhuyske closed on 30 June, 2017, so the photos above may be among the last ever to be taken there.
