A lot of universities and university colleges opened their doors to students again this or last week. One of these university colleges is the Erasmushogeschool Brussel, and their Arts department “Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema and Sound” has its own bar: RITCS CAFE. It’s not run by students — as often is the case for student bars in Leuven for instance — but very professionally, by beer lover Steven. Within the restrains of a space used as a college cafetaria at noon, he manages to make RITCS CAFE a place where both lager guzzling students and more discerning adult beer drinkers feel welcome in the evening.
The tap selection is quite limited: only three pumps, of which one Stella.
The second tap currently pours Goose IPA, from InBev‘s own ‘craft’ brewery Goose Island. RITCS CAFE actually was one of the first bars in Brussels to serve this beer on draught, and it does so cheaper than anywhere I’ve seen it so far (€2,50 for 25 cl).
The third tap serves more than one purpose: as a backup Stella pump during busy student events, and to serve a special beer at other times. Expect a Chimay Tripel on draught at the upcoming Trappist Night, for instance.
The bottle list contains a nice selection from De la Senne, Brouwers Verzet and Oud Beersel, but don’t hesitate to ask if they have anything that isn’t on the boards. One beer you’ll only find here, is their very own EhBier, brewed by ‘t Hofbrouwerijke.
There are all kinds of events at RITCS CAFE, but of most interest to us, are of course the beer related events. The next one up is the aforementioned Trappist Night, on the 5th of October, where you’ll be able to try about ten different trappist beers from all over Belgium and abroad.
Other beer events haven’t been announced yet for this academic year, but in the past they have included events highlighting spring beers, Christmas beers or a specific brewery, so just keep an eye on their Facebook page.
Even though the café serves as a college cafetaria during the day, there is no food available in the evening, except for the usual cheese and crisps.
Interested to pay Steven and his RITCS CAFE a visit? Keep in mind they’re only open from Monday to Thursday, from 17h00.
tl;dr
Beers
- 2 or 3 beers on draught
- 3rd beer can be anything
- Quite an interesting bottle selection for a student bar
Bites
- Crisps and cheese
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What have people been drinking here recently?
- Stan De kinder is drinking a Hop Harvest at RITCS Café
- Danitsia Mornie is drinking a XX Bitter at RITCS Café
- Steven Vermeylen is drinking a Double Bane of Existence at RITCS Café
- Peter Otto is drinking a Superdelic at RITCS Café
- Steven Lintermans is drinking an Unplugged - TESTBATCH - Non-Alc. IPA at RITCS Café
- warresnatermans is drinking a Zinnebir at RITCS Café
- Casper Le Compte is drinking a La Verguenza at RITCS Café
- Casper Le Compte is drinking a Chute Libre at RITCS Café
- Steven Vermeylen is drinking a Mate Brew at RITCS Café
- heldervautmans is drinking a Trappistes Rochefort 10 at RITCS Café