For centre dwellers like us, it was quite a trek to get to Silex Bar… It was totally worth it though, and the inhabitants of the until recently beer bar deprived south-east of the Brussels capital region, can finally take delight in having a bar with an excellent and varied beer selection in their area. And, with a bit of luck, they’ll still be able to enjoy some glasses on the off-street terrace!
With the name Chez Lutgarde, it is not surprising they mostly serve beers from the young Lasne brewery Abbaye d’Aywiers, better known by the name most of their beers carry: Lutgarde. You could even consider this bar the downtown taproom of the brewery. What drew us in, however, were the advertisements for some Brussels breweries you don’t see in that many other bars yet, like Brasserie Vandekelder! Once inside, we discovered that actually all the beers they serve, are from small, independent breweries, and quite a lot of them even from Brussels!
At every beer festival you’ll find them: groups of friends playing a card or board game, while sipping on the available beers. That means there’s clearly some overlap between gamers and craft beer lovers, and for them there is Le Bar à Jeux! An excellent selection of beers, combined with a huge library of games to play, makes it easy to spend quite a bit of time there without even noticing. And when the rumbling of the stomach draws attention to the passing of the hours, there is some food available as well to keep you going!
It seems Korean food is becoming more and more popular in Brussels, and some of them really make an effort to make their beer menu as attractive as their food menu. An excellent example of this is Bap and Dak, in the Rue Lesbroussart in Ixelles.
Not only do they offer a tasty selection of Korean comfort food inspired by the vendors of the steamy Gwangjang market, but they also showcase some of the best local craft breweries!
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: Opened a second location in Brussels centre.
With the addition of Patatak to the food scene in Saint-Gilles—already a year ago—there are really no excuses left to have a bad beer with your chips. This chip shop even has three beers—by Dupont and De la Senne—on draught! The chips themselves are freshly cut, and fried in beef fat, which has become a rarity in Brussels.