Belgian Beer Trip 2017 - Day 3

The 18th Antwerp Beer Passion / Bierpassie Weekend opened at 5pm on Friday 23 June, 2017.

Sint Andries stroll
 
After breakfast, with seven hours until the festival opens, Dave / Bod and I set off from Bogaardestraat for Antwerp's Museum of Contemporary Art, M HKA. We headed south west, towards the Sint Andries neighbourhood.

We passed a building featuring interesting brickwork and an art nouveau style balcony at the angled corner of Waalse Kaai and Timmerwerfstraat.

We arrived too early for the museum opening at 11am so sat at a table outside Nick's cafe, Waalse Kaai, and ordered a coffee, which was kindly served before their usual opening time. This is a plesant spot with a wide cobbled street lined by trees and the bonus of a classic blue Renault van parked nearby.

The main museum entrance leads into a large room lined with shelves for books and displays including old camera and film related items.

A long table with assorted chairs allows further study of the large format catalogue and other books at leisure.

We ventured further inside to the free section of the museum where 'Olympia' a film of the Berlin Olympic stadium by David Claerbout proved fascinating. Software imitates a camera, moving at a constant slow speed, recording the view of the stadium's exterior and grounds during elevated circumnavigations.

There are two approaches to M HKAFE, the rooftop cafe bar, either by lift, for museum visitors who have paid for admission or from a separate external entrance and several flights of stairs, in our case.

I enjoyed a glass of De Koninck 'Wild Jo' from the bar and we sat outside in the sunshine. A 33cl bottle of this fresh tasting beer cost 4 euros. The bottled beer is fermented with wild yeasts and is named after Joseph van den Bogaert, who ensured the survival of the brewery after WW1.

Seating is also available in a greenhouse but we guessed it would be far too hot in there! An untitled Keith Haring mural painted in 1987 adorns the interior of the M HKAFE. An inspiration for the mural was the work of Tanzania born artist George Lilanga.

Although it was closed for renovation, we passed Antwerp's main art gallery, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts on the way back to the city centre.

Howevere, some sculptures remain on display outside the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. 

Our next stop was at Coffee and Vinyl, Volkstraat 45, where the presence of a red De Koninck caravan outside indicated that beer was also available.

We had a look around the shop which has a huge selection of vinyl records with art displayed on the walls. The Temple of I and I by Thievery Corporation was one of the music tracks played on the sound system.

There were various bottles of beer in a fridge behind the counter and it was nice to be able to sit at the front of the store with a glass of chilled Duvel Tripel Hop Citra (9.5% ABV). Since 2007, Duvel have innovated by introducing a third hop to the Saaz-Saaz and Styrian Golding hops. From a contest in 2016, Citra was chosen as the permanent third hop in preference to Mosaic, Amarillo, Sorachi Ace, Equinox and HBC291. The Citra hop from the Yakima Valley, Washington, is also used at the dry hopping stage.

Before leaving, a trial of the Wild Jo electrical test of hand coordination skills, with a bottle opener as a ring, proved irresistible. My skills were found to be limited, I blame the effect of the strong beer!

Across the road at Volkstraat 40 stands the ornately decorated Rudolf Steiner School building.

Shortly before reaching Groenplaats, the site of the Beer Passion Weekend festival, we walked down Korte Gasthuisstraat and passed an older building signed as Goossens. Antwerp certainly has a lot of interesting buildings sandwiched between less interesting examples. 

Bierpassie Weekend XVIII - Friday opening

By now it was 5pm and the beer festival had started so it was time to pay 5 euros for a tasting glass and programme and buy some 20cl beer tokens at 2 euro each. We exchanged our first tokens at the Delirium bar with Dave choosing Mongozo Banana while my choice was Mongozo Mango. 

At the bar, Martin spotted my Danske Ølentusiaster (Danish beer enthusiasts) cap, a gift from my Danish brother-in-law. With a Danish parent himself, Martin was probably better qualified to wear my cap!

Boulevard Brewing Co Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale was spotted on draught at the Duvel Moortgat bar. My first bottle of this beer proved delicious in 2016 and the draught version was also refreshingly compatible. Tank 7 was a rare example of a non-Belgian beer on sale at the festival.

Keith, John and Andrew (the latter two wearing festival t-shirts from previous years) arrived at the festival to join our table.

Keith Moore lives in Langen, near Frankfurt airport. He kindly shared out a large bottle of the Black IPA, brewed under his supervision at Rheinhessen Brau, Mainz-Ebersheim, for the second CraftBeerMesse in Mainz in November 2016.

The extra label tag for the bottle gives details of the hops used. Cheers Keith!

Leffe blonde is easily obtainable in the UK but there was an opportunity to taste Leffe Royale, hopped with Cascade, from the high counter of the Leffe bar. A further bonus was two sticks of cheese to go with it. Leffe Royale (7.5% ABV) is also available with hops from Australia (Ella), Argentina (Mapuche) and England (Whitbread Golding).

We had been sharing our table with a friendly Belgian couple and when it was time for them to go they agreed to pose with a spare copy of Ullage, the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine, for later perusal.

L to R: John, Mark, Keith, Simon, Dave / Bod, Andrew & Richard

Now there was space for our group of eight to sit down on the table.

Musical entertainment was provided by a jazz band who stopped to perform at various points around the festival. 

My last beer at the festival's first day was Waterloo Recolte. This seasonal beer is brewed at the Mont-Saint-Jean farm, the 'English hospital' of the battle of Waterloo. The Belgian Beer Tourism website describes the 6% ABV summer beer as falling between a white beer and a blonde. The brand has the tagline 'The Beer of Bravery!'.

An Orval nightcap

However, this would not be my last beer of the night as Mark, Dave, Simon and I returned to the hostel bar for a beer before it closed at 1am. Here it was possible to enjoy a 33cl bottle of Orval with its distinctive fruity and bitter taste, for 3 euros after Hostelling International discount applied.  

Twitter links:
@m_hka Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen - Musée d'Art Contemporain d'Anvers - Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp

Belgian Beer Trip 2017 - Day 4

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.

Keith, John, Simon & Richard

The remaining eight of us could now all sit down at the table at the same time.

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.