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!
UPDATE: Closed permanently…
Belgians love eating pizzas at least as much as any nation, but most of the time they go for—not always successful—copies of the Italian originals. Otomat decided to take another direction, and now creates decidedly un-Italian, but nevertheless very tasty pizzas. Besides that, they’ve given beer a central role: Duvel yeast as an ingredient for the dough, and plenty of beers to pair the pizza with, even some local ones!
With La Source as Brussels’ ninth brewery, we can end a decade of the revival of brewing in this city—which started in 2010 when De la Senne joined sole survivor Cantillon—on a high note. While most breweries mainly focus on the production part when opening, for La Source the social aspect of their brewery with taproom was at least just as important. That doesn’t mean the beers are not important—quite the contrary—and so far their beers have rightfully so been very well received!
Closing off the beer festival season as usual, is Brussels Beer Project‘s anniversary festival Wanderlust, this weekend September the 14th and 15th! As usual, visitors can expect a modest (14 breweries) but still very interesting selection of befriended breweries, each bringing at least four beers for you to sample.
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!
UPDATE: La Tana has moved across the street, and the bottle shop has now moved into that space as well, so there are no longer two different locations.
Valerio’s love for beer was already obvious in La Tana 1.0, where the mostly Italian and Belgian beers served alongside the pastas and other Italian dishes, were a more than worthy accompaniment. To do a bit more with that passion for beer, he opened La Tana 2.0 just a couple of houses up the same street as the restaurant: a beer shop, where you can sit down—even on a small terrace, when the weather permits—and enjoy a cold one as well!
We don’t go to the theatre often, and even this time, it was only to grab a bite in its restaurant, Au Marché National. Well, we were lured there by the prospect of an exclusive beer—No Science‘s TNT, brewed especially for the Théâtre National. Unfortunately, it’s only available—on draught—in the bar of the theatre, right next to the restaurant, which is apparently closed during lunchtime. Luckily for us, there are some nice bottled beers available in the restaurant.
Super Fourchette describes itself as “Record restaurant, sustainable and comforting canteen, showcase for independent labels”. In this description, they neglect to mention that this ‘canteen’ also serves a nice selection of organic, Belgian beers to go with your lunch. Pick your seat carefully though, and sit at one of the ‘listening tables’, if you want to listen to your own choice of music on vinyl or cassette, while having your beer and bite!
A new, one-day edition of Wanderlust, Brussels Beer Project‘s anniversary festival, will take place tomorrow, Saturday 15th September 2018, once again hosting a wide selection of befriended breweries from nearby—Belgium and the Netherlands— and far away. Unless something unexpected pops up, Wanderlust is already the last beer festival of the year, so don’t miss this opportunity to try some new beers!