Busy Brussels: Buildings, Bustle and Belgian Beer

The final days, the final article and the final glasses of Belgian beer. Welcome to the fourth and final instalment of the Busy Brussels series. And just in time too, as in just a couple of days my partner and I are embarking on a wonderful, all-encompassing trip to Japan. We can’t wait.

Enough about Japan, for now, as believe me, that time will come, and you may even get sick of all the Japan content. Back to Belgium and more specifically: Brussels.

If you’ve missed the last three volumes (where have you been?), click on the below fancy buttons for a wee recap.

Volume One

The First Days

The Middley Bit

The first covers the itinerary in detail, the hotel and the booking plans. The second looks at the first two days in Brussels and what we got up to, the third covers the big and busy third day and presently, we’re on the fourth. We’re going to look at the fourth and final days we spent in the capital.

Having already spent three days here, my friend and I were getting acclimatised to the city and it’s bustling, busy streets. Check out what we did, the sights we saw, the Christmas Markets and the last drops of Belgian beer we hoovered up over these days.

Voyage and Discover

Day Four

Following the evening spent sampling Belgian beer in Goupil le Fol the previous night, we allowed ourselves a mini lie-in. It happens, every once in a while, but not often 😊 Today, we were off to a Waffle Workshop we’d booked online.

9:50-11:30 Waffle Workshop

We paid £24.50 each person and we actually booked it via AirBnB. In essence, I’ve found you can book experiences and visits through AirBnB and you can pay in GBP instead of EUR. We arrived at around 10am, and didn’t leave until just after 12.

They sent through some instructions and straightaway said we should arrive on time and to come hungry! For information, click here to see their website (not affiliated). They also explained that the streets in Brussels have two different names: something I didn’t know previously! They have a French name and a Flemish name: Rue des Foulons / Voldersstraat. There were no signs outside the building to indicate we were in the correct place. In fact, we were still unsure as we entered the premises and they directed us upstairs. However, as it turns out, we were in the correct place and keen to get started.

Making the Waffles

Each station was given a recipe and was set up with the necessary equipment. The ingredients were in the centre of the table. Since there was a family taking part, as well as some couples, there was a choice between the quantities of waffles you could make. Ben and I opted for the smaller batch, as there were only two of us and we were unable to carry around stacks of waffles all day without making a mess of our bags. This still made 3 waffles each! Two of which we consumed on the premises and one the kind girls wrapped us for us in tin foil to take with us (undecorated).

There were two staff members with us for our wacky waffle workshop. One was giving us the instruction on the food and the waffle irons and the other was generally just taking some cracking photos of the group and the waffles made for promotion purposes. We gave our permission for this. They were both lovely girls with cracking English, as well as Spanish. After cooking our waffles, we could decorate them with a range of sprinkles, sauces and a banana or two. As can be seen in the photos, I grabbed some Frozen sprinkles and chocolate sauce. We had time to eat them there along with a fruit juice of choice. I’d recommend this workshop as it was really fun, interactive and yummy!

TikTok Sensations

Finally, as a silly fun activity, we filmed a TikTok video. In reality, it’s the only TikTok video I’ve been a part of. We had to act all serious and nod to the music, and then go mental and crazy in the background. Ben got to be the last person to be the ‘centre person’ and eat a waffle very quickly. I don’t really know how else to describe this video. You can check it out just here. Regardless of how idiotic we may look, it was a good laugh and the kids really enjoyed it.

Due to this unexpected extra activity, we ended up leaving the workshop later than planned, so perhaps plan a wee bit of time for this, if you’re going to do the same.

11:40-13:10 Choco Story

Having been to the Choco Story in Bruges with my parents yonks ago, I had a vague idea as to what to expect. Ben was very excited for this visit, of course. We arrived tardy compared to what we had planned, and were obliged to wait quite a while once arrived there to enter the attraction. This was due to the number of people and the flow of the visit. We hadn’t booked this one in advance, but it came as part of the Brussels’ card. Finally, we arrived at around 12:15 and left at 13:20.

I felt we somewhat rushed through this visit, due to the late start and being conscious of the following visits. In hindsight, we could have totally missed the next place and stayed longer here… Then again, we weren’t to know. But now you do!

The museum journey explains the history of chocolate from its origins in the Americas, to the fashions and changes it underwent in Europe over the last few hundred years. It was an interesting exhibition with an interactive audio guide; I did find, however, this guide to be a bit confusing as there were two separate ‘storylines’ if you like, and it seemed to jump about a bit from room to room. Some rooms were more interesting than others, as is perfectly normal, but overall, I’d say it was worth it.

Additionally, this place was also accessible for those with limited mobility because I noticed there were stair lifts for all the steps throughout the museum, or alternative routes. At the end of the visit, there was a kitchen-type area where the chocolate demonstrations were offered.

Unfortunately, thinking we didn’t have much time, we skipped this bit but again, all things considered, we could have stayed for it. Large chocolate figures Asterix and Obélix stood near the exit. Hmm we should move on as all I can think about is chocolate now….

Mannekin Pis

Until now, you’ve heard about the wee girl and the dog cocking its leg, but let me introduce the main event: the little boy weeing. He has an interesting history and a connection to the people, as I have said in the previous article. For any of you who have heard about this little legend, you may imagine him to be 10 foot tall in a glorious fountain in the centre of a square. No such luck, I’m afraid. Basically, he’s a teeny wee laddie peeing off a small rock, behind some bars, at the side of the road. How does something so small end up on all the fridge magnets?

He’s made of bronze now but was first erected (stop it, he’s a child!) in the late 1300s out of stone, and replaced with the bronze in the early 1600s. People have gifted him a number of outfits over the 400 years of his life and some have made attempts at theft and kidnapping. After the last attempt, and successful recovery, the little boy found a new home in the Museum of the City of Brussels in 1966, as I have said in Volume Two, and a copy statue stands in his place. He has been nominated as spokesperson for the city and a representative of the people on a number of occasions, and is treasured as a real citizen of Brussels.

It was actually so cool that on the day we saw him, he was wearing an outfit for the inauguration of the new Belgian-Congolese cultural centre.

Mannekin-Pis wearing his Congolese Dignitary outfit.

13:10-14:10 Costume and Lace Museum

Some of the mannequins. I like the pink and green dress.

This is where we made up some time because this was definitely not up our street. Thankfully, it was ‘free’ as it came as part of the Brussels’ card, as I certainly wouldn’t have bothered otherwise. We arrived at around 13:30 and left at around 13:50. The small room on the ground floor towards the back was the only moderately interesting room, in my opinion. There were displays of Belgian lace and the traditional methods and values of said material and patterns. Of historical and cultural interest, this tiny room was moderately interesting, although there’s only so much lace we can look at. This took all of around 10-15 minutes.

I have so much style. (Photobooth at the museum)

The other, larger exhibition was based around a fashion designer and all her clothes. As a matter of fact, we hadn’t heard of this designer (quelle surprise) and didn’t find any information about her as we took a quick look around. There were just rows and rows of models wearing dresses and clothes. Fascinating…[eye roll]. I couldn’t help in any case to remember the Doctor Who episode with the mannequins that were actually killer robots… Jokes aside, some of the clothes were pretty but not our cup of tea in terms of a museum to look around.

An exquisitely ornate vintage lace wedding dress

14:10-15:00 Belgian Brewers Museum

This place was cute. Certainly not possible for persons with limited mobility, due to the large narrow winding staircase to descend down into the brewing museum. We arrived at about 14:00 and left at about 14:45. Famous influencer Léna Situations was in one of the Grand Place buildings and so the place was mobbed as all her fans were waiting for a glimpse/show. It’s clear she came out once we were inside the museum, as we could here it very loudly from inside. You can read about it here.

History of the Building

The museum is situated in the old guild House of Brewers, right on the Grand Place itself, and showcases the history of brewing Belgian beer. Going back to the 14th century, the guild of Belgian brewers was an association of brewers and merchants who oversaw the practice of their craft in Brussels; and who dominated economic life. Only guild members were legally allowed to brew beer within the city.

On one hand, it’s argued that this structure protected professional standards. On the other hand, critics argue that the rules imposed (trading hours, max prices etc.) reduced free competition. The building was destroyed by the French in 1695 (rebuilt in 1698) and then the guilds throughout Belgium were suppressed in 1795 during the French period and the furniture and archives were sold at a public auction in 1796. Something tells me the French aren’t Belgian beer fans. The Union of Belgian Brewers which unites all the breweries in the country returned to take up office in this building in the early 1950’s.

The Museum

There are two main rooms, plus a teensy little bar. Firstly, you’re treated to the old-world brewing equipment from the 19th century with mash tuns and boiling kettles etc. It has that quaint historical appeal for sure. Going forwards through the doors at the end, you enter a modern, circular room with a screen and chairs in the centre and brewing equipment around the walls. The screen shows educational videos on Belgian beer and the company that runs it and brews. I found a strange abundance of mirrors in this room that made navigation difficult: it’s hard to explain but if you go, you’ll see what I mean.

Despite this museum being included in our Brussels’ card, I noticed a sign for ‘regular’ customers explaining that this museum was ‘Cash-only’ so that’s something to bear in mind. With each ticket, you get a glass of Belgian beer to boot from the small bar. It’s worth it almost for that, considering the prices in Brussels’ for Belgian beer anyway. The two options on our day of visit were Palm and Stella Artois. Being quite familiar with Stella, with everywhere from the local off-license to Tesco selling it, I opted for the other, to-me-unknown beer: Palm. Check out my beer notes for my opinion.

15:10-17:25 Belgian Beer World

Don’t bother. I’m trying to think of a better and more illustrious way to say it, but I think that will have to do. We arrived at 15:25 and left at about 17:15 . In brief, we were not impressed. At all. What an absolute waste of time, electricity and space.

I was excited to come here. When something reads “Belgian Beer World” I am thinking Disneyland for beer lovers. I’m thinking Belgian beer fountains, displays and so much information, interactive fun and tastings.

In contrast, we were greeted with a disappointing exhibition reminiscent of Glasgow’s Willy Wonka fiasco. It’s located in the Brussels Stock Exchange and takes up an impressive amount of space. What a shame they squandered it. You have to go downstairs to get the tickets, then all the way back round and upstairs to go to the actual visit. Not very logical and a bit irritating. Luckily, the stock exchange is quite beautiful and ornate inside.

Inside the Museum

To begin with, the entrance area for the Belgian Beer World looks big and exciting. However, on closer inspection, there was not a lot of content. And this theme was abundant throughout the rest of the exhibition. There was a lot of space: whole vast rooms you walked across with nothing in them but a couple of screens. I found the information that was provided and the content to read was either very obvious information, or very unclear and ambiguous. And that’s if there was some information.

Most of the information was conveyed with large portrait-orientated screens which flicked through 5 pages, each with one sentence on. For inclusivity purposes, this change was very slow. To the point we were waiting several minutes just to read all five sentences that we could have read and digested in one minute or so. It was extremely frustrating. I also couldn’t help but think that these sentences could have been just written on a board. The amount of energy used to power all these screens (some of which just showed a smiley face, or a title) could have been better used elsewhere and with physical boards of information.

What’s more, as inclusive as these slow screens may be, I know for a fact my mother would not be able to stand all that time waiting for them. And there were no chairs anywhere to be able to sit and watch. Our feet hurt so much that not halfway through, we resorted to having to sit on the floor to wait for the screen changes. Don’t forget, this is our fourth day of exploring the city and like many visitors, we’d walked miles.

One of the last things was an attraction where you enter a room, and then the walls all become screens for a yeast organism’s life adventure. It’s quite child-like and a bit silly, but amusing enough, I suppose. Just not after all the other crap rooms. Furthermore, we were waiting ages for this room to open too. More time wasting.

We spent an hour in the museum part but this could have been done in half the time if we hadn’t have had to wait for the screen changes. Also, the same museum could have fit into half the space. And considering I was wondering whether 2h 25 mins would be enough when first planning it, I was absolutely not impressed.

The Sky Bar

The only good thing about this place, I’d have to say, was the end room and the Skybar. The last room was rows of empty beer bottles with their labels dating back a canny few years. There were screens (of course) which gave you information on some of the beers and allowed you to have time to pick and choose which beer you wanted to get as your freebie with the entrance ticket in the Skybar. You can by all means also purchase further beers and the selection is mighty.

There are all sorts of beers on offer, various types and styles. It’s quite impressive. There is a machine where you can design and print our your own beer label, but of course this wasn’t operational on our visit. We also found the machines only suggested a couple of different beers, and it was hard to find the exhaustive list, but they do have menus in the Sky Bar.

The Sky Bar is named as such because of the fairly decent view you get from the vast, ceiling to floor windows on some sides of the bar. The staff are friendly and used to all questions. If I could humbly make any suggestion about a future visit here, I’d say scrap the Belgian Beer World and just go straight to the Sky Bar for the excellent selection of real Belgian beer. It’s cute, it’s calm and it’s chill.

17:40 Brussels’ Christmas Market

After the fiasco of the Belgian Beer World, we were ready to move on and visit the long-awaited Christmas Markets.

It was a bit confusing as to where the markets were, as they seemed to be all over in dribs and drabs. At this point, we’d heard that the main markets and activity were in the Saint Catherine’s square. Arriving here at about 18:00, it seemed smaller than we thought, but then we realised that once you go past the church and head to the “Marché aux poissons” area, it’s a whole other ballgame.

Around St. Catherine’s square there were around a dozen interesting craft food stalls and craft alcohol stands (gin etc.). You had a bit of everything and there was a lot of choice, from all around the world. Click here to jump straight to the food description: it’s a belter!

Me being all cute with my chocolate kiss 😉

In the Marché aux poissons (Fish market) area, the market stalls were mainly laid out in two main rows, with stalls lining each row. Like this I I I I. Rest assured, there were no fresh fish being sold here. There were your usual stands of Christmas market wares: ornaments, jewellery, leather, jumpers, hats, scarves, soaps. And of course, you had the giant stalls of sweets, waffles and chocolate kisses. Everything you’d image from a famous Christmas market: and the prices were undeniably high, which wasn’t a surprise.

Something of interest/difference was a Disney+ marketing room where you could sit and get your photo taken for free, and they printed it out and gave it to you. Of course, they were advertising the service and everything but the photo was free. It was cute.

I bought for my partner a wooden box with the design of playing cards on the top. In actual fact, the box was for storing playing cards and could hold up to two packs of cards. I think I paid 12€ for this box and now that I think on, I haven’t seen it since he moved in, although I’m sure he really liked it 😊 All things considered, I thought the price was fair enough to warrant the purchase.

A bit blurry, but the photo taken in the Disney living room.

The atmosphere was really nice: full of excitement and happiness. The only issue for us was the sheer amount of people. As a matter of fact, we had predicted the crowds. Obviously, the Christmas markets are increasingly popular and Brussels’ is a big city. However, it’s not very pleasant trying to squeeze past everyone to get a glimpse of anything in the stalls. I would actually hate to try and sample some Belgian beer, or in fact any drink, in the markets as you were squeezed constantly like sardines. At the end of the long square (rectangle), there was a HUMONGOUS colourful wheel, and an inflatable dinosaur that children could enter and look around. It was quite mysterious as we wondered what was inside, but we never found out.

We were very tired and felt like we’d fought a battle just by getting from one end of the markets to the other. On this occasion, we decided against going on the big wheel or entering the dinosaur. There was also a temporary and colourful beer house that looked like a ride of sorts, but I think it was just a bar. Again, this time we decided against this stuff. Whilst we enjoyed our time in the Christmas market, it was quite overwhelming and you got very close to a lot of people you’ve never met. Rude people also ruin it for the rest of us just pushing in and don’t get me started on pushchairs and prams….

Brussels Street Food

Gaufres & Waffles

We grabbed some food at 15:00. We had seen this food truck for the last couple of days and really wanted to try it. It was miniature waffles with savoury (or sweet) toppings. We had eaten waffles for breakfast at our awesome workshop, but couldn’t resist this different kind!

I got the Savoyard and to check out the company behind the waffle cone, click here (unaffiliated). It was actually amazing: I could have eaten four of them. Light, crispy and cheesy with the fondue. So Good.

Savoyard Waffle Cone from Gaufres & Waffles.

Vrai Faux & Faux Vrai

At the Christmas Market, I got the Provencal (large) from the Gourmet Parmentiers stall: Vrai Faux & Faux Vrai. Their speciality is “Reimagined Parmentier dishes”.

Their description is as follows: “Parmentiers is a dish which looks like risotto, but instead of rice, the main ingredient is diced potatoes. They are sautéed in a wok for a few minutes, with all the rest of the ingredients which makes up the specific dish.

This method is very quick to make from start to serve and means that a multitude of traditional recipes from across the world can be made, all while keeping the original spirit of the base recipe. They describe their products as being “Gourmet Street Food” and offer to adapt recipes to suit different customers’ tastes.“

Both on their website and on their stall, they describe themselves as working plastic-free and using strictly recyclable/compostable dishes. Using only local and seasonal ingredients in their dishes, they support local Belgian producers.

Regarding my Provencal, it was piping hot and really good, but again, I wished there was more of it. I definitely would have preferred more cheese, although I did prefer the parmentiers in Switzerland.

Provencal (large) from Vrai Faux & Faux Vrai.

One thing that linked both my lunch and my dinner on this day, was the inability of the cooks to spell my name for the order. Check out these ridiculous efforts to spell my name: Vixon.

Fixen and Vexel. My alter-egos lol.

Day Five:

9:50-10:50 Belgian Comic Strip Centre

Not only was the layout of this museum confusing and unclear, but the displays were mostly in French and featuring very Belgian-specific comics. There was a feature you could download on your phone in the form of an app that allowed you to scan a QR code next to a display, then aim your phone at the display as if to take a photo. What appeared on the screen next was quite cool: an augmented reality bit that added speech bubbles or extra images to what you could see. This was unique, unusual but quite unclear as to how to achieve this. It took me a while to figure it out and get the Wi-Fi to work, of course.

Like everything these days, you need to have a smartphone and naturally, it drains your battery when using it for everything so just be careful. I only used it on a couple of things to try it out but ultimately, I just wasn’t interested enough for me to warrant it.

Dragon Ball Z Character without the AR app.

Brussels Street Art

Indeed, rather than the museum, I’d say I preferred best the artwork that you find dotted about the city. It’s quite famous and you can find on the internet numerous tours that take you through and see all the murals. However, as I have said, we aren’t really into comic strips and artwork like that. I like to see them on the walls, but I had to be strict when it came to planning the itinerary and, on this occasion, the tour to see them all did not make the cut. Here are a couple of examples we saw on our travels.

Street art in Brussels: a large mural high on a building showing a bar with Belgian beer

I include a strange statue we saw on our first day, which seems to show a couple of people carrying a cloud. This ‘art’ stands on top of a building, so you can only see it if you have a viewpoint. Further research led me to the artist’s webpage. It’s a 2.5-metre high and 7.5-metre long aluminium cloud supported by three pairs of bronze legs. So, it seems that nobody is carrying anything. There seems to have been a lot of work gone into this piece of art, but as for why, I don’t know. Art is in the eye of the beholder?

11:05-11:35 Coudenberg

This was a weird one. I had little-to-no information about this museum, as I’m always wary of spoiling things for myself prior to visiting. The little I did read about this place, I didn’t envisage it to be of very much interest, but the concept intrigued me. We went because it was included in the Brussels’ card and I actually quite enjoyed it. We arrived at 11:10 and left at 11:35. Basically, you get to go down to below modern-day street level, and you end up on the old street that used to be there and the old Coudenberg Palace.

This place used to be the royal residence and was reportedly one of the most beautiful princely residences in the whole of Europe. After a devastating fire in 1731, the palace was abandoned, and everyone moved down the road to a new House. In the 1770s, officials levelled the ruins of the old palace, as well as numerous surrounding buildings in order to build the grand Place Royale square. The Coudenberg archaeological site lets you see some old buildings and rooms that were preserved to be used as cellars and foundations.

I found it quite hard to orientate myself when down there. For me, I struggled with relating our position underground with the current-day position above ground and where everything is in relation to each other. Then again, I am a bit rubbish with directions anyway. I think this place is definitely worth a visit. Note: They don’t necessarily tell you which parts have been restored and is ‘new brick’ and which is original, but they’ve certainly done restoration work down there.

11:35-12:50 – BELvue Museum

Located above the Coudenberg Palace, we arrived here at 11:40 and left at 12:25. Personally, I felt that this one was of the better museums. I think it gave a nice feel and community spirit element to Brussels. Humanised it, somewhat. It was spread over two or three floors and there were many adaptions for accessibility requirements: lifts, digital audio guides to read text aloud, a sensory trail for blind people and disabled toilets.

Some rooms were more interesting than others but I took my time to read in detail the timeline that spread around the centre of the museum, across two floors. It notes important dates and events in the city’s history and builds quite a good story. The artifacts are a secondary illustration of these excerpts.

Patatak Sint-Gillis Friterie Chip Shop

We wanted one last stab at Belgian fries before returning to the UK. People make such a big deal of them over there, and I couldn’t really tell why. The chips I tried, they didn’t seem any better than chips we had back at home. I thought perhaps then the chips could be different to perhaps USA fries or the likes. But honestly, I didn’t see the appeal. Maybe I should try more and different places for chip-specific research. We managed to just spend 30 minutes here, from 13:00 to 13:30.

This Friterie (French for Chip Shop, if you like) was a gourmet fries specialist. They played African and Latin music inside, which was right up my street and they offer seats inside towards the back. From the offset, it looked just like a takeaway shop, although they offered a selection of both draught and bottled Belgian beers. It took a little while to get the food but they also seemed to be quite busy. My last Belgian beer that wasn’t a Gueuze went down a treat (read about it here).

Comparatively, I thought these were the best chips we’d had in the city on this trip. However, as I have said, I didn’t think they were all that special compared to what we have here in Edinburgh. Overall, the food was very good.

Enjoying the last Belgian beer that wasn’t sour!

Belgian beer on draught available at the Patatak Chip Shop

Poutine Bxl topped chips with some thin vegetables, cheese and what we suspect was pulled pork. As a side, I got a croquette moueles and crème (a mussels and cream croquette). It was rather a creamy croquette and made for messy eating. Not bad but probably wouldn’t order again.

Didn’t like naff wooden fork: give me a real one please, but NOT the blasted dirty fork from the hotel room on our first day. Yuck.

Given that they had taken a while cooking the food, and our timed itinerary, I didn’t have the time to complain and wait for a new dish when I found a hair on my food.

My Poutine BXL topped chips with side of Croquette Mouele and Cream

Short and black, it clearly wasn’t mine, but as it was on top and not inside the food, I manned up and just removed the hair and ate my meal. I told them after, so they can safeguard against future issues as there was a staff member matching the hair who was not wearing any head cover. All in all, my food cost 9,50€ for the loaded fries, 5,50€ for the croquette and 4€ for the beer (half pint).

13:15-14:15 Musée de la Porte de Halle

Quite pretty spiral staircase in the museum

Our second-last visit and we were running approximately 25 minutes late. This was to be the last place we’d use the Brussels’ card and it was timed so that our 72-hour card lasted exactly 72 hours. Entering the museum at 13:40, that makes exactly 70 hours and 45 minutes since the first activation. We then left at 14:25. Not bad, if I say so myself.

In any case, I’m glad we also didn’t pay separately for this museum. Together with the Army and History Museum from Day 2, this museum seemed half finished. There was a whole top floor with no exhibitions except a dolls house and it honestly felt like we had broken into someone’s old attic. They’d advertised a panorama bit, with signs advertising some high-tech binoculars that nobody could find and, in any case, the signs themselves were blocking the view over the walls, so it was completely pointless. We didn’t spend that long here but enough to see it all quickly.

There were some guild artefacts in this museum, showing the towns economic strength and history, as well as some weapons and historical, political artefacts. It was alright but I wouldn’t go especially for it.

14:35-15:35 Musée Bruxellois de la Gueuze – Cantillon Brewery

Our last destination on our itinerary before heading to the airport and returning home. We got here at 14:44 and left at 15:49. In the end, just 14 minutes later than scheduled. This Belgian beer brewery specializes in Lambic and Gueuze beers and boy, can you smell it as soon as you walk in the door. In my second volume of this series, I wrote a small introduction on Lambic beer, which you can find here.

The production method of Lambics or indeed Gueuze means that no two brews are the same and the flavour could be different. Brewers combine several differently aged Lambic brews then bottle them for a second fermentation. This second fermentation is caused by the fermentable sugars that are still in the young Lambics (around a year old) and the yeast gets to work on these sugars. The main difference between Lambic and Gueuze is that Gueuze is blended and Lambic is the pure, original product.

The Brewery

In the Cantillon Brewery, they make this version of Belgian beer the old way, as if nothing had changed in 100 years. It’s family-owned and a wonderful example of old-style, traditional brewing. They offer a guided tour or a self-guided visit and for time and cost reasons, we just opted for the self-guided tour (8€) You then are able to taste different bottles at the end and in total, I had a sip or two of 4 different products. Ben polished my glasses off and had a bit extra, as he quite liked them, or enough to drink free beer, anyway!

In the below photos you can see the old equipment and mechanisms they use. The far right image shows the large open vats they sit the liquid in to entice the wild and enthusiastic yeast to come and play.

The brewery is a little way out of the city centre, but only about a 20-minute walk. The owners turned it into a museum in 1978 to allow paying visitors to experience the unique Belgian beer that is Gueuze. Although at that time, it was a financial decision to save the brewery from bankruptcy and aren’t we glad they did 😊 A quote from the founder of the museum, and owner of the brewery, I find quite wholesome and I got from their website:

“In the past I almost had to break down doors to sell my beer, and now people are besieging Cantillon Brewery just to buy a bottle.” (Jean-Pierre Van Roy)

How times, fashion, tastes and interests change!

The Lambic chilling in barrels in the attic cellar

The Lambic and Gueuze Beer

I’m not a fan of sour beers, in fact I hate them in general. My interest in these Lambic and Gueuze beers comes from the fact I’ve never tried them before, and they are unique to this corner of the world. And I love that.

The bartender/brewer said to me that “the more you drink, the less acidic it tastes”. Aye maybe cos yer taste buds are burnt off?? No thanks.

Lambic

This taster was of a lambic that was less than a year old, unfiltered and from the barrel. The base of all the drinks they make, explained the brewer. For me, I found it acidic and gross. Undrinkable. On the positive side, I like its ending body and unfiltered hint. But overall, absolutely not.

La Gueuze 5.5%

Smells horrific. It’s acidic. A war was happening on my tongue. It’s like lemon juice. A very sour beer. Absolutely not my cup of tea. Although, it also kind of reminds me of tea with lemon in it. A lot of lemon. A blend of 1-, 2- and 3-year-old Lambic they said. Secondary fermentation in the bottle, gives it some head, which I found interesting. Naturally unfiltered as this is what then causes this second fermentation.

Gueuze Belgian Beer poured into a glass with the bottle next to it — La Gueuze

Rosé de Gambrinus

Stinks too. Not sure I smell the fruit. Can taste the raspberries a bit now but it’s hard to place. Would be good as a sauce to ice cream or a dessert or something. Less acidic or at least more distraction than the Gueuze.

Kriek

Smells like a liqueur chocolate almost, because of the deep flavour. It’s got that deeper kind of taste that yearns to be paired. Almost palatable but not quite for me. More distraction going on. Screammmmssss to be paired, though.

And that concludes our trip. You know how it ends because I told you in Volume One, we risked a random taxi jaunt, and it all paid off and we saved some pennies! All that is left is for me to tell you about the Belgian beer we drank on these last two days, and I mean apart from the Lambic and Gueuze. The kind of Belgian beer I actually like 😊

My Belgian Beer Notes

Disclaimer: This paragraph relates to beer and therefore aimed at adults. As it’s a family-friendly article, any swear words have been removed (reluctantly), but I cannot remove the alcohol part. Adult content: Alcohol.

Belgian Beers I tried on Days Four and Five:

Palm Amber Belgian-Style Ale – Palm Brewery – Amber Ale 5.2% (Bottle)

Cold. Ridiculously clear. Good head, pretty in the glass. Doesn’t taste like an amber. Minimal flavour. Goes down well. Probably too well. Super thirst-quenching. Doesn’t seem like a Belgian.

Grand Cru – St-Feuillien Brewery – Extra-Blond Amber 9.5% (Bottle)

Yellowy colour. Unfiltered and can see mini physical particles suspended in the beer. Smells fresh and hoppy. Big start, wasn’t expecting. Fizzy on tongue straight away. Cold and thirst-quenching/refreshing. A little citra-y but not overpowering and actually quite a nice beer. Cold but warming quality, perhaps?

Blonde – St-Feuillien Brewery – Blond 7.5% (Bottle)

Clear. Harsh smell. Kinda trails off in the middle and then comes back in the end. An ‘old’ taste again. What is with Ben and picking these beers? Meh. Not for me, glad I got the Grand Cru.

Zinnebir Belgian Pale Ale – Brasserie de la Senne – Pale Ale 5.8% (Draught)

Smells good, unassuming, seems unfiltered. Nice and cold. Lovely understated flavour with some bitter hoppiness but it doesn’t smack you in the face. Refreshing and not too bitter… but a bit bitter.

Belgian Beer Photos

A collage of 20 images showing the Belgian beer we tried in Brussels — A collage of most of the Belgian beer Ben and I tried whilst in Busy Brussels

Alright, that’s all done and dusted. Sorry if it seemed a wee bit rushed this time around. Belgian beer deserves to be savoured and sipped slowly.

It’s my fault, I left it a bit later than planned and in 7 hours I am jetting off to Japan for a 3-Week Travel Extravaganza!! Three weeks of backpacking around Japan with trains, buses and metro. It’s going to be a heck of a trip.

Can’t wait to hear about what we’re doing? Here’s a sneak preview of the planned itinerary, but you’ll need to wait until I’m back to find out if everything went to plan….

Busy Brussels: Buildings, Bustle and Belgian Beer – The Final Days