We stumbled upon Chez Mon Ex when Wonder Bru‘s first beer Mate Brew was launched there. With the signs advertising the Luxembourgish Battin beers outside, one wouldn’t immediately expect a craft beer bar here… As it turned out, they do really like the Brussels and other craft breweries there, and quite a few of these beers feature on the menu, both on draught, and in bottles and cans! It still has the look and feel of a neighbourhood bar, because, well, it is!
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.
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…
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!
From the outside, it would be easy to think Fernand Obb is yet another greasy spoon, but both the food and the beer menu will quickly show you it’s not: upscale burgers, luxury shrimp and cheese croquettes, and a wide range of local beers.
Don’t expect to find any chips though, but we promise you: you will not miss them at all!
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.
It’s been a while since we had an excuse to visit Schaerbeek to report on a new beery destination, but the Python Beer Cellar finally lured us back to the city of donkeys!
The modern looking bar—but with just a touch of curly nostalgia—is quite a walk away from the other beer bars in Schaarbeek, therefore serving a completely different herd of customers, who can—and should—make this bar their own.
You’ve probably tasted their products, even if you’ve never heard of La Fruitière: some of the best beer bars get the cheese for their cheese platter from this cheesemonger. Cheese and beer make a great combination, so it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that finally, a cheese shop decided to sell and serve beer as well, and even on draught! And not just any beer, but some of the best Brussels—or even Canada, as it happens—has to offer!
If you’ve been to any beer bar or beer festival in the last couple of months, you must already have noticed the posters or flyers, for BXLBeerFest. In just a week— Saturday the 25th and Sunday 26th of August 2018 to be exact—the biggest, cleanest, freshest, and tastiest beer festival dedicated to artisan beer in Brussels, will take place for the second time at Tour & Taxis, and we sure hope you can all make it!