A bit later than we were used to, but it’s almost time for the fifth edition of the biggest and best craft beer festival of Brussels: BXLBeerFest! On the 30th of September and the 1st of October in Tour & Taxis, you get once again the opportunity to try more than 400 beers—and some meads and ciders—from 60 smaller, artisanal breweries from Belgium, Europe and beyond. From a clean glass, of course!
At first glance, MangiaSempre is a shop, or more specifically, an Italian ‘bottega’. The shelves and fridge counter are stacked with high quality products, everything you need to cook up an Italian meal at home, and yes, even some beers.
But then you’ll notice the beer taps and the menu with the daily specials and sandwiches, and you’ll quickly realise MangiaSempre is so much more than just a shop! Although the terrace with Brasserie de la Mule parasols probably was a bit of a giveaway already…
Liesse is a bit of a strange place: you could be enjoying some Alsatian cuisine like flammekueche and bretzel one day, and returning some time later, only to find a completely different, undefinable, eclectic combination of dishes on the menu, like a lentil dahl, mayonnaise eggs, and crispy pork belly!
What does seem to be a constant through all menu changes, though, is a motivated team helping the chef in residence to get the food to the hungry customers, the high quality of said food, and a selection of incredible Cantillon bottles!
The first beer festivals are reemerging again, but in Brussels not really yet. Luckily, like last year, when beer festivals weren’t at all allowed, Belgium Beer Week comes to the rescue, proposing dozens of beer-related activities from 23 till 29 August 2021. Last year, its scope was limited to Brussels and Antwerp, but this second edition also includes activities in Leuven, Bruges, Ghent, Mechelen, Liège, and Namur.
It is a sad year for beer festivals, since about all of them have been cancelled. However, that doesn’t mean there is nothing to do for beer lovers!
During the very first edition of the Belgium Beer Week—from 24 till 30 August 2020—you’ll get the opportunity to enjoy a large number of small beer events all over the city, in venues you’ll probably already know and love. Check out which tap takeovers, tastings, tours, workshops and other Belgium Beer Week events you can expect in Brussels next week!
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic measures, going to a bar or restaurant to enjoy a fresh draught beer isn’t an option anymore for the next couple of weeks… After drinking all the beers you had in your fridge, where can you get some more?
When the first version of this article appeared about a week ago, there were still plenty of options to go out and stock up, but even though beer shops are legally allowed to stay open*, many have decided to close their doors anyway, and—if they haven’t closed completely—rely on delivery and pickup only…
This article was updated regularly until 31/05/2020. By that time, most brewery shops were open again, bars who could and wanted, started selling beers for takeout.
We’re now counting down to the reopening—in whatever form—of the bars…
UPDATE: Closed permanently…
Nothing about Bélier Bar exactly screams craft beer bar: the modest number of six, unbranded taps could be pouring anything, and the amount of spirits on the shelves behind the bar, would rather give you the impression this is a cocktail bar. They do cocktails indeed, but once you discover the beer list, you’ll immediately see that those are not their only strength!
Family Brews opened just a little over a year ago in the Rue des Harengs, just off the Grand Place. In such a central location, you might expect just another tourist trap, but nothing could be further from the truth! For prices comparable to the ones you’ll pay for an uninteresting industrial beer in nearby bars, here you can enjoy some local brews instead. Don’t get hung up on specific breweries or beers, just let the staff surprise you with something they think you’ll like!
It’s the end of August, which means it’s time for the biggest craft beer festival of Brussels: BXLBeerFest! For this third edition they’re once again pulling out all the stops to make this a great beer festival: clean glasses for every beer served, cold storage for the kegs, great food, and plenty of room to sit or walk around to socialise with old and new beer friends!
We’ve seen the Holy Smoke meat smoker in the beer festival circuit quite a few times. Most of the time, there was either a long queue of hungry people, or they were sold out, both a good indication of their popularity and quality. In 2017 they opened an actual restaurant near the Porte de Hal, with an even bigger smoker, to provide everyone in the usually fully-booked restaurant with heaps of pork ribs, sausages, brisket, and pulled pork…