First I have to say that being here in Brussels has reminded me a lot of living in France. The people here just aren't as tourist/customer friendly and when you are in a big city like Brussels, you really have to watch your wallet. That being said, it is also completely different from France, especially when we visited the Flanders region where they speak Flemish. To show the contrast, I will contrast our first couple tours of breweries here. Friday we had a wonderful walking tour of Brussels and then went to Cantillon which brews true Lambic style, open-fermented beers. It was very interesting and I even bought a t-shirt as it's the Mecca of home-brewers. The beer itself was very sour and definitely wasn't my favorite, even with the sweet fruit added in. Then on Saturday we were scheduled to get on the bus at 9am and go to a brewery in Wallonia, the french speaking part, and then back to one near Brussels. Well, the bus wasn't there. As one of the students that speaks french, I had to try and figure out where the bus driver was when we called him. Turns out he was not even in the right town. We were both waiting at the right address, he was just in a suburb outside the city while we were in the center of the city. So two hours later we finally get on the bus and go to Bush brewery. We had called our guide and she called ahead to let them know we were late etc. but we didn't quite expect the lack-luster welcome we got. They took us into the back room of the pub, showed us a video of the brewing process, and gave us a tasting, but all the while seeming to ignore us. We also tried to get some food as it was late and none of us had eaten since breakfast. We just wanted some fries, but the waitress said we could only order off the group menu or get a sandwich. So we just left and went to the next brewery that we were also late for of course. This one, Het Anchor, was much more welcoming and we got an interesting tour, though he talked a lot about the whiskey they made and not so much about the beer. At least we didn't feel like we were being snubbed. We also got a tasting there, but again no food and finally arrived back in Brussels starving at 5:30. Sunday was our free day and I just wandered around the city a bit, saw a comic store and wanted to buy everything in it and also went to a craft market, like a very small version of the Portland Saturday Market.
Monday was much better. Our guide met us in the hotel and we took the bus to our first brewery, Bosteels, where we got a tour while they were in the process of brewing. It was cool to get to see the spent grains getting dumped from the lauterton and then the wort pouring into the boiling kettle. The people there were also very friendly as it was in Wallonia. They had an American flag hanging outside to welcome us and the owner of the brewery even came to meet us while we were tasting. He took a liking too us and even showed us the old house that wasn't a part of the normal tour. It was before 11am and I had already had 3 beers so I was feeling pretty good on our ride to Ghent where the treaty of Ghent was signed. There were a lot of cool old buildings in the town as we took a walking tour, but we only had ten minutes to grab lunch and I had sat down and ordered in a cafe before I realized what time it was. As soon as my food came I asked to pay and wrapped up my sandwich in a napkin and ran out. They probably thought I was crazy or something but they were still very nice. Our second brewery that day was Liefmans which had some very interesting equipment. They had a square boiling kettle which we had never seen before and a large open-fermentor with cooling pipes running through it. Their filter was also different, more of a sieve than a filter. They also simmered the wort for 6 hours, instead of the usual hour boil. I must say it made a difference in the taste as I had all four of their beers at the tasting. It was very sour from the lactic-acid bacteria they add, and the fruit beers tasted more like fruit juice.
Today we went to Leuven, another Flemish town, and toured the Domas brewery, which was very small and bottled none of their beers. It was all on tap at the pub next door. Again I was drinking beer by 10am and it was very good. Their light beer was hoppy but refreshing and their Christmas beer smelled deliciously malty but had a bitterness too it that was unexpected. Overall it's been a very different experience from Germany but it is definitely good to get out of the beer-purity-law-land. I was getting used to ordering either light, dark, or wheat beer at every restaurant and brewery. Here there are at least 10 choices, if not a whole book full of beers, and I really like trying something different every time.
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