James B., Julian and I visited Belgium between 10 and 17 August 2007, with the intention of sampling as many distinct Belgian beers as possible without any of us ever drinking the same beer twice.
We sampled 38, 43 and 38 distinct beers respectively, for a total of 119 beers drunk during the whole trip. Discarding duplicates (beers sampled by more than one of us), 85 distinct beers were drunk.
They were all superb. Belgian beer is uniformly superior to British beer. The fact that's it's twice as strong and twice as nice makes up for the fact that you get served half as much, half as fast, for your coin. Bring as much as you can back with you.
Official beer log (Sam Hughes, Keeper of the Log)
When |
Where |
Julian |
James B. |
Self |
| Friday 10 August 2007: Ferry and Brussels | lunch on the ferry | Hoegaarden | Grolsch - alright, this doesn't count as Belgian beer but it was part of the trip so I'm putting it on the list | |
| dinner at Vieille Ville | two beers, at least one of them Leffe Brune, the other one (if any) Chimay | Chimay | ||
| evening at ??? | Orval x2 | Kriek - variety unknown, we were very inexperienced at this at the time! | ||
| Saturday 11 August 2007: Brussels | morning at Cantillon Brewery | Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic x3 | ||
| Rosé de Gambrinus Cantillon x3 | ||||
| dinner at Le Marmiton | Leffe Brune | Bellevue Kriek | Brugs | |
| Grimbergen x2 | ||||
| evening at Delirium | Westmalle Tripel x2 | Lucifer | ||
| evening at Lunette | Pauwel Kwak | Rochefort - not sure whether 6%, 8% or 10% | Saint Feuillien Blonde | |
| evening at ??? | Judas | Ciney Brune | Hapkin | |
| Sunday 12 August 2007: Breweries and Brussels | Vapeur Brewery | Saison de Pipaix x3 | ||
| Vapeur Cochonne x3 | ||||
| dinner at ??? | Duvel (or possibly Leffe Blonde) | Hoegaarden - already consumed by Julian | Leffe Blonde (or possibly Duvel) | |
| evening at Poechenellekelder | Bush Ambrée | Saint Martin | Karmeliet Tripel | |
| Monday 13 August 2007: Antwerp and Brussels | afternoon at Oud Arsenaal | Trappist Achel Bruine 8% x2 | Trappist Achel Blond | |
| lunch at Horta | Boon Oude Gueuze x2 | Rodenbach Grand Cru | ||
| afternoon at Het Elfde Gebad | Lindemans Gueuze | Het Elfde Gueuze | Lambinus Honingbier | |
| afternoon at De Vagant | Rader Ambrée | Corsendonk Agnus | Rader Blonde | |
| dinner at ??? | Mort Subite Gueuze | Brugs - already consumed by Sam | ||
| Mort Subite Kriek | Mort Subite Kriek | |||
| evening at A La Mort Subite | Lambic Blanche x2 | Faros | ||
| Tuesday 14 August 2007: Ghent and Bruges | lunch at 't Genieterke | Belle Vue Gueuze | ||
| afternoon at Dulle Griet | Oude Gueuze Boon Mariage Parfait | Chapeau Gueuze | Saint Idesbald Dubbel / Tripel (not sure) | |
| dinner at ??? | Jacobins Gueuze x2 | Palm Speciale | ||
| Brugge Tripel | Westmalle Trappist Dubbel | Haecht | ||
| Tongerlo | ||||
| evening at 't Bruges Beertje | Arabier x3 - this was our 50th unique beer | |||
| Witkap Stimulo x3 | ||||
| evening at Erasmus | Gouden Carolus Classic x2 | Gouden Carolus Tripel | ||
| Wednesday 15 August 2007: Bruges | lunch at Verdi | Bourgogne des Flandres | Brugs - previously had by Sam! DUPE! | |
| afternoon at De Halve Maan Brewery | Brugse Zot x3 | |||
| afternoon at Strijderhuis | Houten Kop | Vlaskop | Couckerlaerschen Doedel | |
| Pee Klak Morsels Bier | Pee Klak Hoeve Bier | Dikke Mathile | ||
| dinner at Brasserie 1900 | Karmeliet Tripel x2 - previously sampled by Sam | Pauwel Kwak - previously sampled by Julian | ||
| Brugge Tripel | ||||
| evening at Zolder | Delirium Tremens | Watou Tripel | Barbãr | |
| Quintine Blonde | Lamoral Degmont Tripel | Zatte Bie | ||
| Oude Gueuze | Leute Bokbier | Petrus Triple | ||
| evening at De Kuppe | Malheur | Verboden Vrucht | La Guillotine | |
| Thursday 16 August 2007: Bruges | dinner at Curiosa | Brugs Straffe Hendrik Blond x3 - this was our 75th type of beer | ||
| Watou Tripel | Saint Bernadus Prior 6% | |||
| evening at 't Bruges Beertje | Gouden Carolus Tripel | Trippel Bornem | Brigand | |
| Floreffe Triple | Floreffe | Moinette | ||
| evening at Zolder | Gouden Carolus Ambrio | Saison Dupont | Montagnarde | |
| Friday 17 August 2007: Ostend and ferry | No beer drunk | |||
Those 85 beers in full
- Grolsch
- Hoegaarden
- Chimay
- Leffe Brune
- Orval
- Kriek
- Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic
- Rosé de Gambrinus Cantillon
- Leffe Blonde
- Brugs
- Grimbergen
- Lucifer
- Westmalle Tripel
- Pauwel Kwak
- Rochefort (6/8/10?)
- Saint Feuillien Blonde
- Judas
- Hapkin
- Ciney Brune
- Saison de Pipaix
- Vapeur Cochonne
- Duvel
- Bush Ambrée
- Karmeliet Tripel
- Saint Martin
- Trappist Achel Bruine 8%
- Trappist Achel Blond
- Boon Oude Gueuze
- Rodenbach Grand Cru
- Lindemans Gueuze
- Lambinus Honingbier
- Het Elfde Gueuze
- Rader Blonde
- Rader Ambrée
- Corsendonk Agnus
- Mort Subite Gueuze
- Mort Subite Kriek
- Lambic Blanche
- Faros
- Belle Vue Gueuze
- Chapeau Gueuze
- Oude Gueuze Boon Mariage Parfait
- Saint Idesbald Dubbel / Tripel (?)
- Palm Speciale
- Jacobins Gueuze
- Brugge Tripel
- Westmalle Trappist Dubbel
- Haecht (?)
- Tongerlo
- Arabier
- Witkap Stimulo
- Gouden Carolus Classic
- Gouden Carolus Tripel
- Bourgogne des Flandres
- Brugse Zot
- Vlaskop
- Couckerlaerschen Doedel
- Houten Kop
- Pee Klak Hoeve Bier
- Pee Klak Morsels Bier
- Dikke Mathile
- Brugge Tripel
- Delirium Tremens
- Watou Tripel
- Barbãr
- Lamoral Degmont Tripel
- Zatte Bie
- Quintine Blonde
- Leute Bokbier
- Oude Gueuze
- Petrus Triple
- La Guillotine
- Malheur
- Verboden Vrucht
- Brugse Straffe Hendrik Blond
- St. Bernardus Prior 8%
- Brigand
- Trippel Bornem
- Bellevue Kriek
- Moinette
- Floreffe
- Floreffe Triple
- Montagnarde
- Saison Dupont
- Gouden Carolus Ambrio
All in all, a successful mission. We could have hit 100, but it would have taken real work, and we'd have had to leave the car behind - so no far-flung brewery visits.
