“Victorian pub” it says on the terrace screen outside The Hairy Canary, and that is exactly what it looks like when you enter. The Hairy Canary is the kind op bar where you would expect the bartender to fill your pint glass, slowly pulling cask ale through a beer engine. Unfortunately — or maybe not? — you’ll rarely find English cask ales on this side of the Channel. For those of you still curious about more traditional English ales, they do serve a couple of those in bottles.
The list of English ales is displayed prominently behind the bar of The Hairy Canary, and although the simple printouts lack the charm of chalkboards, at least you can see immediately which beers are new that month. This month’s selection included beers by Sharp’s Brewery, Timothy Taylor & Co, and Wychwood Brewery. All those ales are served in pint-sized bottles — well, a more European 500 ml actually — so trying all five or six beers on the list in one go, might be a bit of a challenge.
On draught you’ll find a familiar selection of InBev beers, including Goose IPA and Blue Point Toasted Lager, and a couple by Guinness, commonly found in the Irish pubs in the same Schuman area as well. Quite surprising was the draught beer of the month: BrewDog‘s Punk IPA. The price of a 25cl glass of Punk during happy hour — which appears to be between five and six — was even more surprising: less than €2! It seemed to be quite popular with the patrons as well.
While still discussing drinks: it might be worth mentioning the list of over a dozen single malt whiskies, including four different ages of Glenfiddich and a Highland Park 18yo.
Although some signs still mention “homemade pies” and “restaurant”, you will not be able to order an actual meal at The Hairy Canary anymore. They generously provide you with a bowl of salty snacks with your beer, and some more bar snacks, like crisps and peanuts, are available as well. If you need more sustenance, you could try the tortilla or meatballs in tomato sauce. Still hungry? Apparently, it’s quite common to eat your order from a nearby pizzeria here.
A visit to The Hairy Canary will transport you to a completely different world, one with carpeted floors, tufted leather seats, loads of old signs and pictures against the wall, and beers by the pint. And some of those beers are even quite nice.
tl;dr
Beers
- 8 beers on draught
- 1 special beer of the month
- English ales on bottle
Bites
- Crisps, peanuts and the like
- Cheese & salami
- Cocktail sausages, tortilla & meatballs in tomato sauce
The Hairy Canary
Rue Archimedesstraat 12
1000 Brussel
+32 2 230 24 17
What have people been drinking here recently?
- Henrik Perälä is drinking a Blonden Os at The Hairy Canary
- Kristoffer Saxin is drinking a Kriek Extra at The Hairy Canary
- Chris Lohr is drinking a Pauwel Kwak at The Hairy Canary
- Bengisu is drinking a Tripel Karmeliet at The Hairy Canary
- Ellen Lohr is drinking a Bolleke De Koninck (APA) at The Hairy Canary
- Zach M is drinking a La Chouffe Blond at The Hairy Canary
- Csaba Pál is drinking a Bolleke De Koninck (APA) at The Hairy Canary
- Pablo Aguirrezabal Jauregui is drinking a Guinness Draught 0.0 at The Hairy Canary
- Glen MacNeil is drinking a Jupiler at The Hairy Canary
- Tim Pe is drinking a Kilkenny at The Hairy Canary