Category: Year in Beer

Our days have definitely slowed down, but have been very exciting! After filling up on a great breakfast at our hotel, we were ready to face our Sunday. The biggest goal for the day was to visit Orval, our third Trappist. Chris was a little unsure of the hours and wondered if they would even be open at all. So with some apprehension and crossed fingers we set off on the half hour drive. Lucky for us, the heavens were on our side. The official tavern next to the abbey was open, the abbey grounds were open to visitors, and to top it off, the sun was so bright it hurt my eyes. It was the first time we had seen the sun on the whole trip.

We have been to numerous abbeys, churches, cathedrals, etc. and rarely go to them anymore because they are all beautiful and impressive, but one starts to look like all the others. However, nothing could have prepared us for l’Abbaye Notre Dame d’Orval. Well, except for the pictures in our beer books, but pictures barely do the abbey justice.

The Orval abbey was truly a sight to behold. As we turned down the road, the abbey loomed in the valley, seeming to reach the heavens themselves. As we got closer, we could make out the huge Virgin Mary relief looking benevolently upon us. To our right was an equally large Jesus on the cross relief. The sight of them either fills one with an overwhelming sense of spirituality or PTSD symptoms from Catholic school, depending on your point of view.

We were just relieved that the tavern, A l’Ange Gardien, was open. I suggested that we go in to have a beer before they had a chance to close. Sounds paranoid, I know, but it’s from past experience that I have such concerns. We started off with Petit Orval. A 3.2% diluted version of the regular Orval, Petit Orval is found only at the abbey and is created especially for the brothers. Using my usual descriptor, it was ‘good’. One could even say it was a true session beer from God.

Only after we secured Orval on our brewery list did we venture over to the abbey. The ruins of the old abbey were open to visitors, but the main part of the newer active abbey was not. The visitor center/gift shop did have signs telling where to enquire about personal retreats and prayer services with the brothers. I thought it too extreme a method to see rest of the property.

We did get to see Mathilde’s Fountain, the water of which comes from the same source as that used in both the beer and cheese. The story goes that Mathilde, a member of royalty, was looking in the pond and her wedding ring fell into the water. She reportedly prayed at the abbey for its return. Within days, a fish appeared at the surface with her ring in its mouth. Hence, Orval’s logo of a fish with a ring in its mouth. In good royal fashion, she donated a lot of money to the abbey after that.

We returned to the tavern for more beer and food before moving on. When we walked back in, a couple who were there on our first pass noticed that we came back and got a good chuckle out of our return for seconds.

Caracole was another brewery we wanted to visit. The original plan had been to visit on Saturday, but we didn’t make it. After Orval, we decided to drive another half hour to see if it was open. Much to our disappointment (but not surprise), it was closed. The only day it is open to the public is Saturdays 2pm-7pm, the time we were originally going to be there. We missed our chance.

We drove further on to Le Pichet in the town of Hastiere. Mentioned in the Good Beer Guide to Belgium, its claim to fame is not only a fantastic beer list, but also that the meats are cooked on an open wood fire. They didn’t speak English and our French pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired, but we pointed and mangled the language. Then we watched our jambonneau and sauciss cook on the grill as we drank Achel and Rodenbach. We were kept further occupied by a scruffy Benji-type dog that begged at our table and nipped at the local children as they harassed him. From what we can gather, his name was “Puppy”.

The problem with beer travel this time of year is that it gets dark very early. We decided to call it a night and drive the 40 minutes back to our hotel in the dark. Despite the day not going exactly according to plan, we were happy we made the leap of faith and kept driving. The beer God was definitely shining upon us, and the resulting adventure was well worth it.

We left Flemish-speaking Belgium Saturday morning and headed south into French-speaking Belgium. The main target of the day was the Abbey Notre Dame de St. Remy, home of the Trappist brewery Rochefort. Before Rochefort, we were going to stop at Fantôme followed by Caracole.

Fantôme holds an important place in my beer education. It was their beer that started me appreciating Belgian beers. Fantôme was not my first Belgian, but before Fantôme, I didn’t really think twice about them. Post tasting Fantôme, I knew I needed to explore the uniqueness that is Belgian brewing.

Arriving at Fantôme around noon, I went to the door only to have the owner/brewer inform me in a combination of French and sign language that they wouldn’t be open until 2pm. This would force a change in plans. We decided to return to Fantôme after Rochefort  instead of going on to Caracole. We didn’t have time to do both.

We drove on to the town of Rochefort and after a wrong turn and a bit of hunting and searching we found the abbey. Besides the wrong turn, it took some time as the abbey is not signposted until the you find the road it is on, plus we entered the side of town opposite of the abbey.

Rochefort is unique among the Trappist breweries in that it is the only one that doesn’t have their own brewery tap. Though this is bad news for our brewery list, it did count toward our goal of visiting all 7 Trappist breweries. We walked up to the gate, peered in, shot some video and took some pictures.

We still needed to try the beer so we drove 2km up the road to the unofficial brewery tap, Le Relais St. Remy. As we walked up, there was, of course, that anxious moment as to whether they were open or not. Much to our glee, we noticed an older couple enjoying a meal, so all was good.

Rochefort has three beers 6 (7.5% ABV), 8 (9.2% ABV), and 10 (11.3% ABV). Since we didn’t need an 11% beer, we both tried the 6 and then I had an 8. Later that evening, I had the 10 with dinner. All are dark, delicious and quite easy drinking even as you go up the scale in ABV. We also enjoyed a nice meal of ham and leek quiche with a salad.

Then it was the 26km drive back to Fantôme, which was much shorter this time because we didn’t take the wrong turn. The brewery and adjoining tasting room is located on the main road that runs through the small town of Soy.

If there are words to describe the brewery tasting room, they would funky and rustic. There are ghosts and even some laminated pictures of dried ham hanging on a beam. While we were there, another couple came in to buy beer to go. Besides them, the only people in the bar area were the owner/brewer and two women who we took to be his mother and grandmother. See Grandma in the picture below.

Funky could also describe the beers. We tried the regular Fantôme, which can only be described as an apple bomb. This was the beer that first awoke me to the uniqueness of Belgians. They also had the Brune, which according to CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide to Belgium, is a rare occurrence. So, we savored the Brune, which had a strong raspberry flavor. There was a chocolate version, too, but not available for tasting, so Merideth bought a bottle of that to take with her.

I am not sure the Fantôme beers are for everyone, but I really enjoy them. With quirkiness like this, they just exude a passion for brewing.

It was time to head further south almost to France to the town of Bouillion, our home for the night. But on the way we stopped at a war cemetery Merideth spotted. War cemeteries are our favorite historical places to visit in Europe mainly because they are the most poignant and thought provoking monuments in Europe.

The cemetery, located in the town of Hotton, was for UK and Commonwealth soldiers, airmen and even a 53 year old war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. Walking down the rows and reading the headstones, you see the person’s name, date of birth, the day they died, where home was… From this you get a sense of connection to the people who made the ultimate sacrifice that all the books and movies cannot provide. Most graves we visit are bare, but some have flowers or occasionally a picture.

These cemeteries are dotted all over Western Europe and are usually signposted from the main road.

Merideth signed the guest book before we left the cemetery and then we continued our journey south to our final destination. It is a good travel day when we can indulge both our love of beer and history.

Friday we were finally ready to get down to the real reason for our visit to Belgium. Flogging Molly was headed back to the States and Ute back to Germany. So after burning the candles at both ends on the first two days, we finally had time for some serious beer work.

Leaving Amsterdam mid morning, we took the train to the Dutch/Belgian border and picked up a car. Once we had a vehicle, our destination was Kluis Achel, the newest of the Trappist breweries and also our first Trappist that we have ever visited.

It was actually somewhat hard to find. Merideth’s job as navigator is not always easy and this wasn’t the easiest job. By the way, it sucks being the driver, too. My idea is that we would skirt along the border, hang a right at Eindhoven and then we would be there. Well, the Eindhoven roads were a big construction zone and unlike Germany, the Netherlands didn’t list EVERY possible town that you could reach via each exit. But after some trial and a few errors, and through the constant drizzle of rain we did reach the abbey.

Haven been only around since 1999, the brewery and it’s adjoining tasting room/cafe has a quite a school cafeteria look and feel. You even pick up trays and go down a line of food to a cash register at the end. And being cold, rainy, early December, we were two of maybe ten people in this cavernous hall. And definitely the youngest.

But don’t let that fool you… there is still great Trappist beer to be had.

We tried both beers available, the Blonde and Bruin. They are really good beers; smooth, delicious and very good at disguising their ABV. But having them at the brewery gives them that transcendental quality. Add artisanal cheese and then the dessert that was basically a cinnamon bun on top of a custard tart… wow!

After two days of non-stop partying and the drive, we were pretty wiped out. Luckily, we were just staying a few kilometers down the road in Hamont. If you visit Achel and stay nearby, spend your night at Villa Christina in Hamont. The building is from the 1750s and has been transformed into a really nice Bed and Breakfast… probably the nicest we have ever stayed at. You do have to climb up an original set of steep stairs that I am sure would not pass any sort of safety inspection in this day and age.

To cap off our day, we found a local’s pub in Hamont right down the street from our B&B, the Hotel de Klok. And they had a great selection of Belgian beers plus good food. I don’t eat beef but they had a stew, Stoverij, that is made with beef marinaded in Belgian beer. I stepped outside my comfort zone and had it… it was amazingly delicious. There is nothing better than finishing off the day with great beer and food.

 

We arrived in Belgium early Wednesday morning after a somewhat bumpy ride over to Europe. Landing in the predawn darkness at Brussels airport, we quickly passed through passport control, collected our bags and were on a train to Antwerp.

The challenge of day was to simply stay awake, as we were seeing a Flogging Molly/Street Dogs show that night. Since we had time and wanted to conserve our energy, we had a leisurely day planned that included a good deal of walking and only two beer stops. Freshly showered, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we set out from our hotel to check out the old city center on our way to Antwerp’s only brewpub.

The first stop was ‘T Pakhuis. Located on a quiet street south of the old city center, we were the first customers of the day. They had three beers available, a Blonde, a Bruin and a 9.5% Tripel that I wasn’t remotely interested in drinking unless I wanted to go to sleep immediately. Merideth started with the Blonde, myself with the Bruin. And a good sign was that Merideth liked the beer. She is not a huge Belgian fan so to hear encouraging words bodes well for the trip.

Though we have been to Belgium before, it was always in the French-speaking regions. In Antwerp, they speak Flemish/Dutch and this was our first introduction to the language. It shares a lot of words with German so you would think we could pick it up quickly. But that was not the case. Since it was slow, we were able to enlist the help of the bartender with key phrases and pronunciations. It’s still a work in progress.

Our only other beer stop for the day was to visit the Kulminator, Antwerp’s most notable beer bar. Though they boast less than a dozen taps, the Kulminator is world famous for their aged beer selection.

The bar is cozy, rustic and quaint. The major decorating feature seems to be a who’s who of beer bottles, whether as a candle holder dripping with wax or a dusty bottle adorning a shelf. A couple of cats made appearances now and then from behind the bar. Besides being a beer geek destination, their clientele seems to be mainly older locals, which added to the quirky ambiance.

We were handed the rather thick binder that was their beer menu. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. While we perused the seemingly endless beer listings, I enjoyed a Kriek from Kasteel and Merideth had Belgian Pils. Trappists, Guezes, Krieks. You name it, the Kulminator had them going back to the 1990s. Some were expensive (20 euro+), others could be had for a price of a regular beer.

In the end, we couldn’t choose. Part of the problem was jet lag induced indecision, but the other issue was that most of the beers were in the 9%+ ABV range. We still had hours to go before the show and we wanted to be awake to see it. We left Kulminator with a heavy heart. We wanted to stay all day but we needed to move on.

We made it through the day and it was finally time for the Flogging Molly/Street Dogs show. We had a good time like always and I happily survived a partial collapse of the crowd barrier when I was at the front. Not my fault.

Being in Belgium, I had visions of watching Flogging Molly while quaffing a Chimay Blue or a La Chouffe. So you can imagine my disappointment when I saw the only beer they served at the venue was Stella Artois.

As many of you probably know, I am not a big fan of “wife beater”. For me it lacks any real flavor or depth and is just a gateway beer for any other non-descript macro lager. But we had an extra drink token and I decided to give it a try. Where else would Stella taste its best than in its home country? My opinion remains the same; even in Belgium, it tastes just like any other non-descript macro lager.

After the show, we met up with friends at a bar in Antwerp’s city center. Here, not having a bunch of beer at the show paid off as Bar Mondial sported a nice selection of beer including several Trappists. So, we finished up our first day in Europe staying up to the wee hours of the morning enjoying beers from Orval and Westmalle. As we got back to our hotel after 3am, we were pretty impressed with ourselves for making it through the whole day. It might be a while before we top it as a first day in Europe.