Arrived in Dublin

I was flying Aer Lingus to Dublin and the email they sent me said the gate closed 45 minutes before flight time. So I got up earlier than I planned and caught an earlier train. Of course, 45 minutes before the flight they had not even posted the gate number. Aer Lingus owes me at least 30 minutes of extra sleep. And the flight was late departing — supposedly fog in both Dublin and Brussels meant they were running late. We did make up a good portion of the delay — I guess the pilot knew a shortcut.

At the passport control the agent asked “What is your purpose for visiting Ireland.” I never really know how to answer that, so I said “to drink some good Irish beer.” He smiled, said “Good Man!” and stamped my passport. Honesty is the best policy after all.

I bought my transit ticket (7 day Leap Visitors Pass, good on all busses, trams and trains in Dublin County, including the airport bus) hopped on the next airport bus and was soon at my hotel. After dropping my bags and unpacking a bit it was of to my home away from home in Dublin — The Porterhouse Temple Bar.

When they were getting started, this was the brewpub. The brewery has long since moved to the sticks.

In addition to their own line of beers they have a nice selection of guest beers.

Ad do a lot of Irish pubs, they use these lighted tap handles which make for terrible pictures

There was no doubt for my first beer, the Oyster Stout. One of my favorite beers in the world. The “Oyster” comes from the raw oysters added to the conditioning tank. Some people say “ugh” but I say “yum!”  My phone camera as some color issues I haven’t tracked down. The hat is more black and the beer is less red in real life.

I needed some food so I ordered the Fish Pie. There was more mashed potatoes than fish but I guess that is the point. Some nice melted cheese on the top. Anyway it was good and hit the spot.

Next I had a Wrasslers XXXX stout. It looks a lot like the Oyster but the taste is quite different.

I could have had another (or three) but the late nights, early mornings were catching up so I headed back towards my hotel. Near the hotel is a new (for me place) The Big Romance. They opened just after I was last hear in 2018.

A decent selection of beers. The seemed to have a lot from Whiplash and I asked if that was standard or did they have a tap takeover recently. They said they were, but they usually had 2-3 of their beers as they were friends. Fair enough.

I ordered the Kinnegar Rustbucket Rye Pale Ale.  The lighting was very dim and very red so the beer doesn’t look as good as it was.

A couple of years ago I got a nice picture of the Rustbucket, so think of that one instead...

Last Day in Antwerp

Needless to say, Tuesday was a bit slow in getting started — the Kulminator party was still going on when I left at nearly 2am.

We decide to see how the brewery was progressing at Speciale Belge Taproom.

Inside, it was clear they were not yet brewing. When I inquired, they said they were having problems with the contractor— in factor the other guy was on the phone to him as we spoke. They guy on the phone was not happy.

That is OK, the had lots on tap to drink. I started off with a De Ranke Hop Harvest. I believe this is XX Bitter with fresh (“wet”) hops. In any case it was delicious.

Next up was a De la Senne Jambe de Bois (“Pegleg”) Tripel. Again, a very nice beer.

After the brewery gets up and running they plan on offering a full menu. Much of the kitchen is in, just not working yet. The do have grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and snacks..

My last beer was from Hof ten Dormaal, called “Hof ten Darth Maul” — OK, kind of weak but I like their beers, so I tried it. It is an Imperial Stout aged in Genever barrels. The underlying beer was good but the Genever didn’t do anything for me. Would rather have preferred it plain.

We both had early flights the next day but it still was a bit early to call it a night, so we caught a tram and ended up at De Ware Jacob. No prizes for guessing what we ordered.

There were a couple where those came from. Then I noticed they had the Tre Fontane Tripel from the Italian Trappist Brewery. Neither of us had tasted it so we shared one. Wow! Huge eucalyptus in the nose and a bit in the taste. Very enjoyable and very different.

The also had the Tynt Meadow English Trappist Ale, so we shared one of those.

Also very good but quite different from the Tre Fontane (as you’d expect, they are different styles)

I did get a kick of the storage instructions. “Quiet everybody, you’re disturbing my beer!”

That is it for Antwerp for a while. Off to Dublin in the morning.

Event Day

Night mode shot of the Kulminator

The reason (or excuse) for this trip was a party at the Kulminator to celebrate their new hours (Tue-Sat 11am-6pm, with Sat going away in August). So this was the last evening they will be open and the last Monday. Tom and I were invited.

They had been closed for a month (since before Christmas) and spent a lot of time getting the place ready. It was like the K of 15-20 years ago. No piles of papers everywhere, counters cleared off, boxes of beers put away.

Almost everybody was from Antwerp, long time friends and customers of Dirk and Leen. I can’t ever remember Dirk having such a good time — of course he is working when I’m there.

Dirk brought out every large bottle I think he had. There were 9 liter bottles of St. Feullien Tripel, Cuvée van de Keizer (fairly old), St Bernardus 12. A couple of double magnums of Liefmans Goudenband from 2003 that was specially brewed (bottled?) for the Kulminator. Some Bush Noël Prestige and some Bush Noël from 2006 that someone said was the first year they brewed it (I don’t know if that is true). And of course, draft Bush Noël from 2017. I sort of lost track after that...

Their 45th Anniversary beer was ready as well, but I didn’t get a chance to taste it.

There was a frites truck parked out front for food, plus some appetizers inside.

Anyway, a good time was had by all.

Antwerp Day 2

We agreed to meet at noon, when Cafe Ernst opened. On the way I passed Cereal Heaven — the First Belgian Ceral Cafe. If you just have to have your fix of Captain Crunch or CocoPuffs this is the place to go. I guess there is a market for everything.

Cafe Ernst is fairly new, opened in the fall of 2019. They have 10 beers on tap as well as a number of “Raw Wines” (I think this means organic but I’m not sure) by the glass.

Mostly newer Belgian breweries with some Dutch and other craft beers. I started with the Brasserie de la Senne Wadesda Lager. This was mentioned when I first had the Ministry of Belgian Beer Pils 13 as another new good Belgian lager. It was good.

Next we both had the Petrus Sour Framboise — the Petrus Aged Sour Pale Ale with raspberries. Very raspberry but not quite as tart as I remember the Petrus Sour Pale Ale — but it has been years since I’ve had it.

The food menu is mostly snacks, but that have that traditional Belgian bar food, Spaghetti Bolognese. The sauce is homemade and had some large chunks of meat. Always hits the spot.

The last beer was the Siphon Cendre Black India Saison. I have no idea what that means in terms of beer, and after having one I still don’t know, but it was a tasty beer. The dark malts tended to overpower the “saison” character.

We next headed up towards Suikerrui and Cafe Pardaf. Along the way I notice that the “Best Beers Cafe” had closed, which was not a surprise. I had hopes when they first opened but they seemed to cater more to a nightclub market and that is not for me. The had an OK beer selection but fairly average for Antwerp.

Cafe Paraf has really upped their game recently — this is what greeted us...

Their bottle list is quite extensive — I was surprised to see they even had a few beers from Schneeeule (Marlene and Ingmar). So far they’ve had every bottle I’ve ordered, so the list probably isn’t padded — at least not too much.

I am pretty sure the Oud Beersel was “bag-in-the-box” as it was warmer than the usual draft beer and not very carbonated. No problem with that on my part. It was a bit milder than I expected but still nicely tart and funky.

They had an insert with a few other draft beers — they have put in a few taps at the back of the bar and aren’t readily visible. Some interesting choices...

We both promptly ordered the Avec Les Bons Vœux but were sadly told it ran out the other day and handn’t beer replaced. So we both had the Gouden Carolus Xmas.

No doubt that this was from Het Anker — a huge anise nose and just about as much in the flavor. A very, very nice beer.

Monday was going to be a long (and late) day so we decided to knock off a bit early, maybe meeting later for a nightcap. Sadly, that was not to be for me. When I was just thinking of heading out I had a major crisis from a client back in LA and spent the next five hours trying to get things squared away (for those keeping track, Network Solutions messed up their domain server listing somehow). So what was going to be an early, restful night turned out be late and stressful. But everything seems to be fixed so I can go drink beer on Monday.

Antwerp Day 1

The plan was to meet Tom at The Northerner at noon, when they opened. On the way I passed De Pelikaan and decided to stop in for starter beer. The Pelikaan is handy for an early beer because they open at 8:30am. When jet lag has your personal clock out of sync with local time, finding a spot for an early beer is a good thing.

One hasn’t properly welcomed oneself to Antwerp without a Bolleke of DeKoninck. I guess since they renamed the beer itself “Bolleke” that is redundant these days. Anyway, it was good. 

The tap list at De Pelikaan isn’t special but I always find something to drink. The Beer of the Month was a special beer Hapkin brew but I didn’t get the details.

Somebody on Twitter pointed out that if you took all the blue descriptions it sounded like Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem.

It was just about noon so I headed over to The Northerner. This is a fairly new place, run by a couple, he from Northern Ireland (hence the name) and she from Belgium. It is a friendly place with good beers on tap and and improving bottle list. Worth stopping in when in Antwerp.

The Beer of the Month here was Paulaner Hefeweizen.

I started off with Saison Dupont. I had a little issue with my phone camera so the head had settled a bit in the picture below.

Tom had still not arrived. He often mistakingly called this place “The Highlander” which is a totally different pub up by the University (and next to ‘t Waagstuk). He doesn’t believe in carrying a phone so he had no way call for help or call up a map. Oh well, I wasn’t waiting for him, beerwise.  So I ordered the Delta IPA from Brussels Beer Project.

A nice IPA, nothing particularly stood out as “Belgian” though.

When The Northerner first opened that had a regular menu with Pulled Pork as the specialty. I guess that didn’t work out because now they just have the usual snacks plus a Croque Monsieur (a grilled ham and cheese sandwich). I ordered the Croque.

It was very nice, the bread was hearty and plenty of ham and cheese. I needed a beer to go with it, so I ordered a Dochter van de Korenaar Belle-Fleur IPA from their “Bottles about to finish” list. I have seen this at more and more pubs in Belgium, a list of beers than will soon be gone.

Well, it was now past 2pm and still no Tom. Luckily we had a fallback arranged, 2pm at De Ware Jacob. So I headed that way. Along the way I found out  Den Billeklester on Hogestraat had closed. That is sad news for me, as I always had a good time at that corner pub.

Soon I was at De Ware Jacob

Tom was there, already working on a beer. He said he couldn’t find The Northerner after walking all over, so he just drank beer somewhere else.

De Ware Jacob only has a half dozen taps but they have Dupont Avec les Bons Vœux, the only place in Antwerp that seems to have it regularly. So I had one.

Actually, I had more than one but I won’t bore you with the pictures. This has become one of my must visit places when in Antwerp. Not just for the Bons Vœux but is just a cozy, friendly place.

We decided to give Dr Beer a try and headed up towards the harbor. It was open this time.

I was pleasantly surprised at the interior, very bright and comfortable. If I lived in the area I could see being a regular.

The draft list is pretty good as well. It looks like it rotates frequently

I ordered the Finesse Triple from Dochter van de Korenaar.  A very nice triple.

Since I already had had two beers from DvdK, I decided to go all out with their Extase Double IPA. It too was very nice but I ended up burping hops all night. I suppose that is a feature of a DIPA, not a bug. Originally I was told the plan for Dr Beer was food and beer parings but that didn’t work out for them and now they a large selection of cold snacks but no real meals. We had some smoked ham and old cheese and that tided us over.

The Bons Vœux’s were catching up to me, so we decided to call it a night. On the way out we checked out the bottle shop and one bottle caught my eye...

I know it wasn’t named for me — I am not that big a fan of Oak Aged beers.

Google maps suggested that we catch a nearby Number 17 bus for a direct shot to Centraal Station (where our hotels are). It turns out, though, the southbound 17 doesn’t actually go to Centraal Station but stops a couple blocks away (the northbound stops directly in front). By the time we realized that we were quite a bit south. Luckily there was a stop with some trams and we soon were on a Number 2 tram to Centraal Station. A bit more adventure that I wanted but all turned out well. Dinner was fast food so no pictures.

Arrived in Antwerp

First post of the new year!

My last post of last year was in Antwerp as well, five weeks ago. If you remember, I made it an easy day because a felt a cold coming on. Boy did I. A few days after I got back home I came down with the chest cold from hell that knocked me out for three weeks or so. Still was not 100% recovered and here I am heading back to Antwerp. The things I do for my readers...

The flight was LAX-JFK-BRU on Delta. Believe it or not, I don’t travel as much as I used to and don’t have the super high powered frequent flyer status that let me often ride in the front part of the plane. So I was in coach, and my section was absolutely full, so no empty middle seat beside me. The flights were uneventful from a technical standpoint — not too bumpy and no delays, just the usual 45 minutes on the taxiway at JFK.

After clearing passport control, claiming my bag and clearing customs (which in Europe is walking thru the exit that says “Nothing to declare”) I came across this mural in the arrival hall. Some times it is good to be reminded why I do this...

For years the fastest way to get to Antwerp from the Brussels Airport was the  “Sabena Bus.” Even though Sabena Airlines is long gone, many old timers still call it that. Leaves on the hour just outside the exit to the parking ramp and drops you off at Astridplein in about 45 minutes. The price has been a constant €10 since the Euro came in.  But it was 15 minutes after by the time I cleared everything so that was a 45 minute wait, in which time I’d probably fall asleep. Luckily, a few years ago Belgian Rail put in a new line directly from the airport to Mechelen (and thence to Antwerp). It takes 30 minutes and during the day there are three trains a hour. It costs a little more, €11.70, partly because there is a surcharge to pay for the new line. The ticket machines only take chip and pin credit cards so that often makes things complicated for US visitors. Luckily, there is an App for that. I fired up the Belgian Rail app and quickly bought a ticket, snickering inside at the long line of Luddites at the ticket machine. (Not really, but it sounds good).

Everything else was uneventful. My hotel room was ready, so I even got in short nap before I had to go meet Tom, who flew a different itinerary. Our planned meeting point was Beerlovers Bar at 3pm, which is when they opened.

When I got there a few minutes before that guy was standing there in front of the door with a bunch of papers in his hand, as if he was about to deliver something. I sat at the bench out front and Tom came over and we waited. At about 5 past 3 o’clock I said, maybe we should try the door. Tom said, no that guy has been waiting a while. So we waited another 5-8 minutes or so then a couple with baby carriage came by, pushed open the door and went in. Turns out that guy was waiting for something/somebody else. Some phrase about the word “assume” comes to mind.

Beerlovers has really upped their bottle list but I usually go for draft beers at the start. A nice selection there, from all over Europe. Which can be a small problem if you are mainly interested in Belgian beers.

I had had the Pils 13 on my last visit and thought it was great, so I started with that.

As it was before, a really nice beer. More in the German Pils tradition than the Czech but quite nice.

Number 7 was a surprise, the Gänsteller Weiss from Andy Gänsteller in Schnaid (near Bamberg). I have seen his beers in Copenhagen and Stockholm (and heard about them being often in Rome) but this is the first time I’ve seen them in Belgium. So I ordered one so support Andy.

It is a bit mild for a German wheat beer, in terms of the clove phenolics and the banana esters, but as you’d expect, a very nice beer. The barman said they’d had the Kellerpils before and it was very popular. He told me “there are lots of really good beers from that part of Germany” — you don’t say. He added “and they are really cheap.” I don’t come to Belgium for Franconian beers but it wouldn’t pain me to see them served in a wider area.

I finished up with De Ranke Guldenberg, always a good triple. Tom tried the Kees Imperial Stout — which I would have tried except for the “Caramel Fudge” part. I really like Kees’ beers but this sounded like an alcoholic candy bar and smelled like one, too. The Carmel Fudge was a bit less in the taste but it still overpowered the beer. I know I am old school (as well as just plain old) but I do like my beer flavored beers.

The Guldenberg was spot on.

Tom too had a hard flight, so we decided to grab a bite to eat and call it a night. We stopped at the VietPho place and both ordered Lemongrass Chicken Pho.  I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture, so I’ll leave you with one I took in December of the same thing.