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.

Antwerp - Saturday 23/6/2018

After breakfast on Saturday, I walked about two miles from Hostel Pulcinella, Bogaardestraat 1, to the new Brouwery Cafe de Seefhoek, Indiestraat 21.

Turning left from fashionable Hopland into Kipdorp Vest, I stopped for a photo of De Kroon van Hopland. This bar opened in 1910 and was noticeable for its steel sculpture and crowned devil sign above the corner entrance.

My walking route also passed the impressive dockside Museum aan de Stroom (MAS), previously visited in 2016 and 2017. 

Looking north from Londenstraat's bridge, where tram lines have recently been laid, it is possible to see the Port House, formed of a traditional building straddled by an angular glittering new structure, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. 

On arrival at the Indiestraat 21 entrance to the Brouwery Cafe de Seefhoek, a tour group had stopped to hear about the history of this sizeable industrial building which also houses Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie.

A sign in the street indicates the entrance and that the Brouwery Cafe is open from Wednesday to Sunday at noon.

There are outside tables in the courtyard, some with shades.

Inside there are fermentation vessesl on the left, brewing vessels ahead with a bar in front and on the right a screen had been hung from a balcony to show FIFA World Cup games. Two photos were joined (above) to give a panoramic view.

The full range of Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie beers were available on draught. My first beer here was Super Cadix dry hopped lager, possibly named after Cadixstraat, the next parallel street to the south. This was reasonably priced at 3 euros.

As the others had not arrived at this rendezvous yet there was an opportunity for an indulgent selfie, to include the Super Cadix and highlight my Hop Stuff Brewery t-shirt and Allagash Brewing cap.

John, Simon, Richard, Andrew and Keith arrived in time for the start of the Belgium v Tunisia FIFA World Cup game at 2pm local time.

There was time to order other beers from the bar and the table top menu sheet gave a useful guide to styles, strengths and prices.

Keith Moore had participated in the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie crowdfunding and this was a good reason for me to try the Crowd Funding Bier which was served in a chalice glass. This pleasant glass of 8% ABV Tripel Blond cost 3.5 euros. However, my favourite beer at the brewery on this occasion was Seefbier.

A technician made attempts to improve the quality of the image on the screen but with sunlight from the windows above he was fighting a losing battle. Happily for Belgium, they would win this match 5-2 although Simon and I departed at half time as an advance party for the Bierpassie Weekend festival. The yellow and green boxed area on the right of the photo (above) houses the toilets for the cafe. We were impressed by this cafe / taproom and with its helpful staff and interesting location in the docks area - it is well worth a visit.

We caught a No. 7 (blue line) tram from the current northern terminus 'Eilandje' to a stop near Groenplaats. Using prepurchased Lijn cards from De Lijn valid for 10 trips, each journey costs 1.60 euro.

BierPassie Weekend - day 2

Barry, Trish & Terry

Barry & Karen, Terry & Trish had arrived earlier at BierPassie Weekend and occupied a table on the east side of the festival enclosure at Groenplaats. Although Mark Geeson was not with us on this trip we had channelled his traditional snack provision service by bringing our own edible supplies for the table including an appreciated box of Ritz crackers. The festival was busy and it was nice to be able to sit down and rest our beers on a table. Thankfully it was warmer than Friday.

The BierPassie Weekend programme marks new beers to the festival with a red asterisk. Brasserie De Silly Green Killer IPA with dry hopping was the first of these to be sampled today, proving fairly bitter as appropriate for the style.

John, Richard, Keith and Andrew(Hilton Antwerp in background)

Eventually, the rest of our group turned up making our group ten strong.

Richard, Karen,Simon,Barry,Trish,Keith and Andrew

During the afternoon I enjoyed several good beers from the festival including Corsendonk Grand Hops and two beers from the Arthur's Legacy series developed at the De Hoorn microbrewery - No 13 Aerts 2016, hopped with Target and Golding and No 14 The boy from IPA.Nema hopped with Cascade, Simcoe and Target.

However, my favourites of the day at the festival were the Malheur 6 with spicy and citrus Saaz hop aroma and

Hapkin a powerful blonde beer with a floral touch of Saaz hop.

It is always entertaining to see different groups of drinkers pass by including stag and hen party groups. A disappointment to notice that the bride to be was offering wine and not beer to her group!

Our table was on the right side of the festival for listening to BigBand Ekeren playing lively music from the bandstand near the festival entrance.
As evening approached, Barry & Karen, Terry & Trish departed, to catch a train back to Brussels where they were staying. Their places at the table were soon filled.

CAMRA's Good Beer Guide Belgium suggests Billekletser, 22 Hoogstraat as an alternative to its former neighbour Antwaerps Bierhuyske which shut in July 2017. While I took 4 packs of beers from Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie and Brasserie du Bocq Saison 1858 back to the hostel, the rest of our group headed to Den Billekletser where I would meet them shortly.

In the basic corner bar of Den Billekletser, I enjoyed a flute style glass of Houblon Chouffe, the Brasserie d'Achouffe 9% abv IPA, hopped with three varieties.

The decor here included a framed collection of beer bottle tops.

From here it was only a two minute walk to De Groote Witte Arend, Reyndersstraat 18, where we all sat in the attractive courtyard and ordered 40 cl glasses of Kriek.
Our next stop, a few steps away, was a Jenever / Genever bar - De Vagant, Reyndersstraat 25, where I sensibly ordered coffee! 
On leaving, Simon and I persuaded the others to join us for their first visit to nearby Billie's Bier Kafetaria, Kammenstraat 12, where we would sit upstairs.

My last beer of the night at Billie's would be a Schelde Brouwerij Zeezuiper, a golden triple with notes of coriander.
The main group would now head to 'Argument Square' (Dageraadplaads) with late bars, like Cafe ZeeZicht, near their hotel (Tryp by Wyndham).