Safely mixing beer tasting and driving is tricky, but if someone in your group is willing to stick to small portions, it opens up some interesting possibilities in the West Flanders countryside. You might want to base yourself in a rural town for a day or more, since driving and parking in Ghent was a motherfucker and it’s probably just as bad in any other city. You can also do some stops fairly easily by train and bike, or with a lot of walking. Don’t rely on small towns to have cabs, but don’t rule out the harder-to-reach breweries just for the sake of convenience either. There are so many places to go in West Flanders we could only scratch the surface, but you could do a lot worse than to hit these three places if you can.
Obligatory trip to Westvleteren, sort of
Many people have visions of driving to the St. Sixtus abbey to pick up a case of Westvleteren, but you won’t be shocked to hear this is difficult in 2015. A quick google gives you tales of making hundreds of attempts to call the hotline to make a reservation to come in at a certain hour…nope. In the end they’re monks, not capitalists, and they’re overwhelmed. What you can do is have lunch and some beers at In De Vrede, the delightful little tourist trap across the street from the brewery, which has a gift shop where you can buy a six-pack if you’re there at the right random time. We weren’t. That’s okay.
It’s real and it’s spectacular
You’ll still be able to enjoy fresh glasses of Westy blonde, 8, and Hype Juice (I mean “12.”) I enjoyed my lunch, some of each beer, tastes of cheese and ice cream (!) made with the beer, and an amusing hustler of a waiter who flirted with one of our friends a little when her husband was there and a lot when he wasn’t. It just feels good to drink the most overhyped beer(s) in the world for prices in the neighborhood of five bucks. And yes, they’re exceptional. I said overhyped, not overrated.
Eclectic beers at the perfect size at De Struise
De Struise makes some great beers, like my beloved Pannepot. They also make some weird beers. And some of their great beers are a bit on the intense side (Black Albert, Cuvee Delphine…). So how wonderful is it that (at least on the day I was visiting) they offered 8cl (3 ⅓ oz) glasses of beer for a Euro? It’s a great way to taste a lot of beer while not getting too much of the strong stuff. At those sizes, drivers can have a little fun too and cyclists won’t wreck their bikes.
I’m crushing your head 8 cl at a time!
As it turns out, my favorite of this visit was restrained by De Struise standards: the delicious and well balanced oud bruin Sour Tan. I could have drank a lot more than 8 cl of this. I also enjoyed the dark sour Sigma, the hoppy saison Rio Says, and the self-explanatory Expresso Stout.
Outdoor (!) fermenters and barrels at De Struise
As a bonus, if you buy beer to take home, they throw in a 750 ml bottle that is only available as a “free sample” with a bottle purchase. Nice!
Nano hop farm at De Struise
We want to be friends with De Dolle now
Service all over Europe can be brusque by American standards — no one relies on your tips to make a decent living, so no one needs to wear a fake grin and kiss your butt. However, you can tell some servers in Belgium really like what they do for a living. Els, the wife of De De Dolle owner/brewer Kris, is one of those bartenders. (I hear his 96-year-old mother still gives tours, too, but she wasn’t there this time. What a neat family!)
We happened to show up at De Dolle the day they released their Easter beer, Boskeun. We’d all had this beer in bottles in the US and found it pretty good, but fresh it was simply incredible, one of the standouts of the trip (even next to Oerbier Reserva 2012, which on a normal day would have been the best beer of my week). The tap handle had an animatronic Energizer bunny attached to it that played drums when the beer was poured. Our friend Betsey wanted to take a video next time someone ordered one, and instead Els offered to let her get behind the bar and pour the beer herself. So fun! It’s one thing when a mediocre beer needs a gimmick, but if you mix a good beer with a fun gimmick with a cheerful barkeep, you’re in business.
Kris was tired after a long day but was also very nice, and seems like an interesting guy. He did all the art in the brewery and all of De Dolle’s labels. Here’s a good article if you’re interested in learning more about Kris, Els, and their brewery. They’re open very limited hours, so plan carefully if you want to make it.
If you lived here you’d be double fisting by now
Sun sets on our De Dolle beers
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