Dekkera, “la bièrerie du quartier Wiels“, is the first venue in Forest appearing on our blog. The reason for this is simple: in Forest, Dekkera probably is the first and only beer bar — and shop — not serving and selling ‘big beer’, but exclusively local and other Belgian craft beer. Of course, that that is exactly what we like to see!
The beers selection at the only recently opened Dekkera, is made according to a charter they wrote for themselves. The charter states: beers should be brewed within a 200 km radius from the bar, in a brewery producing no more than 10.000 hl per year, that is owned by the brewers themselves, independent from big breweries, and the beers should not be available in the big supermarket chains. One transgression might be condoned if they really like the beer, but more than that, and the beer is out!
The result is still a two page long beer list — sorted by flavour — which includes all our local breweries, although at the moment, Cantillon was only represented by a poster on one of the walls. Furthermore, you’ll find many familiar names like ‘t Verzet, De Dochter van de Korenaar, De Ranke, Dolle Brouwers, and Tilquin.
During our visit, the selection of the five beers available on draught was rather blond, but nevertheless a nice mix: pale ale — Ouwen Duiker, blonde ale — Zinnebir, saison — Saisonneke Extra, tripel — Jambe-de-Bois, and pils — 13.
There are only two food options: either a small or a large cheese platter, with cheese from nearby fromagerie Jacques Defrenne, generously sprinkled with all kinds of nuts.
As mentioned, Dekkera is not only a bar, but a beer shop as well. A couple of shelves display a selection fo beers, nicely sorted by brewery, grouped per region. For each brewery, a description is provided, and a map on the wall will show you where each of the supplying breweries can be found. Within 200 km of Dekkera, of course!
It is very telling that Dekkera identifies itself as the bièrerie — a combination of bar and beer shop — of the Wiels neighbourhood: it first and foremost aims to be a place to welcome the people living in the immediate vicinity, like Copain and 1030 Café do in Schaerbeek. They don’t seem to have a lot of competition in the area, so if the locals can get used to a full-grain pale lager, instead of corn juice — or better yet, any of the other, even more flavourful beers — they should be fine.
tl;dr
Beers
- 5 beers on draught
- A charter guarantees al certain level of craftiness and proximity of the supplying breweries
Bites
- Small and large cheese platters, from nearby fromagerie Jacques Defrenne
Dekkera
Rue Pierre Decosterstraat 109
1190 Vorst
+32 474 10 91 60
http://dekkera.beer
dekkera_wiels
What have people been drinking here recently?
- Agapi A is drinking a FUGU ON TOUR #4 Ft. Cloudwater at Dekkera
- Léa Volt is drinking a Le Chariot at Dekkera
- k-x-k is drinking a Sunny Baia at Dekkera
- k-x-k is drinking a Weizen Saison at Dekkera
- Emmanuel L. is drinking a XXX-Bitter at Dekkera
- Emmanuel L. is drinking a La Poisse at Dekkera
- Yassin Fth is drinking a Zenne Pils at Dekkera
- Simon M is drinking a Straight Saison at Dekkera
- Simon M is drinking a Dunkel Weisse Naturtrüb at Dekkera
- Simon M is drinking a Keekebisj Export at Dekkera