Beer Mania

There are many beer stores in Brussels, but only a few make an effort to differentiate themselves from the rest. Beer Mania does so in two different ways: firstly, you can have a cold beer and a meal there, and even quite late. Secondly, they have their own beer, available nowhere else. We had visited Beer Mania already a couple of years ago, but our beer buying interests have since then moved from the mostly Belgian beers on offer there. When they announced a Finnish beer festival however, we saw it as an excellent reason to return.

Even thought Beer Mania is one of the oldest beer stores in Brussels — it might even be the oldest — it was only the first time they hosted such a beer festival. The festival was actually organised by the Belgo-Finnish gypsy brewers of Monkey Monk, thereby showcasing their own beers, and those of a number of other Finnish brewers. It was a great occasion to get acquainted with a couple of hard to find breweries!

As we mentioned already, Beer Mania has their own beer brewed as well, under the name Mea Culpa. The biggest attraction of the beer however, is the peculiar, hand-blown glass it’s served in: big, the stem swinging to the side and only attached to the side of the chalice. If you think about taking one home: they sell for about €50 a piece…

Most of the other beers sold there — and the other glasses — are Belgian, as it is displayed on the shop window in big letters, and most of the usual — and some less usual — suspects will be available. Still, during our visit we spotted one rack with a couple of bottles by BrewDog, De Molen, and Toccalmatto — already quite familiar to us — but also some less familiar breweries like the Catalonian La Calavera, the Polish Doctor Brew, and the Swedish Brygghuset Finn.

We haven’t had time to try the food yet, but you can actually have a hot meal here: carbonades flamandes is the most important item on the menu, but croques monsieurs or cold cheese sandwiches are available for those less hungry as well. Just need a snack with your beer? Cheese and cured meat platters, or a sausage should do the trick.

Officially, Beer Mania is open until nine in the evening from Monday to Saturday, but don’t be surprised if it’s still open much later.

tl;dr

Beers

• No beers on draught
• Hundreds of different beers for sale
• A couple of fridges with beers for immediate consumption

Bites

• Carbonnades flamandes & chips
• Croques monsieurs or (cold) cheese sandwiches
• Cheese & cured meat platters

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What have people been drinking here recently?