Bruges

[Roland Martin]

In 1991 I found myself in Bruges, Belgium for an afternoon, on the recommendation of a French friend who said that town had the best-preserved Medieval architecture in Europe. After much exploration, lots of walking on a warm summer day, we had worked up quite a thirst. We stopped at a place called Taverne Erasmus, more because of its attractive placement on one of the canals than for its beer reputation. Not knowing Belgian beers at the time, we simply asked the waiter to bring us his own favorite. We sat in the sun overlooking the water, and drank the best beer we had ever had. A beautiful reddish-golden ale whose name I forgot as soon as I heard it. Ah, that elusive first love! But it changed my life. I now return to Belgium nearly every year, and have met many wonderful beers, lots of which I am fortunate to find in my local store.

Many, many thanks to Michael Jackson and his "The Great Beers of Belgium". It is my bible when I go there.

[BigIndieBeerMan]

My first experience with Belgian-style beer was just this past summer at the Madison County Hopfest in upstate New York. For just $7 you could walk into a tent and sample from a variety of New York State microbreweries. After several hours and several samples I determined that I had fallen in love with the beers of Ommegang Brewery out of Cooperstown (now I have a reason besides the Baseball Hall of Fame for my summer pilgrimage). I particularly enjoyed the Hennepin and the Rare Vos. Interestingly, I was just reading about their winter brew on the website. It's called Three Philosophers and it was designed after an essay contest winner on this website. Hmmm...I must have missed that contest.

[fidcastro]

Originally posted by Roland Martin
I now return to Belgium nearly every year, and have met many wonderful beers, lots of which I am fortunate to find in my local store.

Many, many thanks to Michael Jackson and his "The Great Beers of Belgium". It is my bible when I go there.

OK, so I guess I should pony up and buy Jackson's book, but I only have a week in Belgium, and I want to do it right.

My wife and I will be in Knokke-Heist (20 minutes from Bruges) for a week early this summer, and I was hoping you could give me some of your favorites to try while I am there. I have never been off the North Amercan continent, so this will be a new experience for me, and I want it to be good.

Fid

[Richard English]

There is a brewery just on the main square at Brugges which has a restaurant and tap. I can't remember the name (indeed, I can't remember all that much about the entire evening) but I do know it was wonderful!

By the way, I hope you're intending to stop in the UK on your way back from Belgium - Belgian beers are fine but we have an even greater range of wonderful beers in England - over 5000 according to some counts. Check out http://www.quaffale.org.uk/ for a complete listing of our breweries.

Even if you can only manage a day in London, go to Fuller's or Young's breweries (both in London) and find out what brewing and beer should be all about.

[fidcastro]

I am trying to convince my wife that a couple days in England would be a good idea, but most of her family are in/near Amsterdam and in Germany. We still have a few months to work it out.

Fid

[Richard English]

Bear in mind, of course, that on many airlines the stopover in London will not cost anything extra since it's en route.

Alternatively, if your fare does not permit a stopover, you can hop on the train from Brussels and be in London a just a few hours.

[YamahaXS]

There is a brewey in Brugges "Straffe Henrik" (= Strong Henry) that is every bit worth buying, drinking and even touring. They have quite a bit of old equipment still laying around that gives you a unique perspective on the historical process of brewing beer.


Anyways, Brugges is a great place to visit! Check out the Michealangelo and then go get a Straffe triple!