It's all David's fault. He suggested Belgium in the first place, which was surprising because his only comments on Brussels during a short trip last summer was 'boring' and 'expensive.' Although, to be honest, his assessment of Amsterdam during the same said trip wasn't much (if any) better. I think 'dirty' and 'full of asshole rich kids on European vacation getting high and puking in the gutters' pretty much summed it up. Maybe the slight change in plans wasn't so innocent after all.
Regardless, after some poking around on the web, I discovered that Antwerp, a mere 5 hours' drive from Hamburg, was home to the #1 beer pub in the WORLD! (As ranked by ratebeer.com). As my loyal readers might remember, J-Amy are visiting. And as my loyal friends might remember, J-Amy, David and I all have a proclivity for the sudsy stuff. That settled it. We were on a pilgrimage to our analogous Mecca - The Kulminator - reputed to have over 500 varieties of almost exclusively Belgian beer. It was also reputed to have a nice atmosphere and fair prices.
Again we consulted the internet where we found a camping spot just outside the city and since the weather was supposed to be fair and the hotels outlandishly expensive, we went for the camping option (more cash for beer). Amy graciously agreed to drive the 5 hours in exchange for a three day supply of apples. This turned out to be a challenge as Amy can go through a half-dozen apples in a day, core and all, no problem. As early as humanly possible, we picked up our four-door Kia and hit the road. Almost exactly 5 hours and a few hundred kilometers later, we arrived at the camp spot. As the boys set up the tents, Amy and I toddled over to the Esso station across the way and picked up the cheapest six-pack of beer we could find (just to see, in the name of science, how cheap Belgian beer stacked up, of course). Canned Jupiler turned out pretty darned ok. It certainly puts anything the Germans or the Americans are mass producing to shame.
But, really, we were chomping to get onto bigger and better things and I could fairly hear the Kulminator calling. After the tents went up and the sleeping bags were safely stowed inside, we grabbed the sub-par tram downtown and walked the cobbled streets of Antwerp to the Kulminator. The bar was on an entirely unassuming side street and looked mostly haunted by locals. It had nice, old wooden tables and a similar bar. We took seats in the garden and as we cracked the menus our collective jaws dropped. It was true - well over 500 different beers, nearly all from Belgium. There were Trappists, Abbys, Krieks, 30 or 40 different Chimays (dating all the way back to the 1980's), Lambics, you name it. The vintage beer selection was out of control - it went back to 1979 that I noticed. You could get any year, any variety from any monastary in Belgium. Unglaublich!
Beautiful Belgian Beer:
Say 'cheese' happy beer drinkers:
We spent Friday evening at the Kulminator sampling several beers and eating cheese with Trappist mustard (a real treat). I'm hear to tell you, I don't know if I can ever be bothered to drink the rubbish Pils that Germany tries to foist on me. I have officially crossed into beer-snob land and I may never come back. Hurray for Belgium!
Saturday we spent doing the gratuitous tourist things - looking at old buildings, museums and churches and generally prowling the streets to get a feel for the city. Antwerp is slightly dingier and slightly less well run than anywhere I've been in Germany. It has more of an exotic feel - like you are somewhere different. I loved it. The farmers market was great - a hundred (seriously) different kinds of olives, heaps of apples, cheap avocados and lots of produce we just don't see up north. Around 2, we couldn't take it anymore - we moved onto the next pub on the list (Oud Arsenaal). It was more crowded than the Kulminator and didn't have nearly the beer selection. Although, honestly, who could?
Oud Arsenaal:
Ah, the other great thing about beer in Belgium is that each and every single beer gets it's own glass. Over the course of the weekend, we had beers in maybe 30 different styles of glasses, all designed for maximal enjoyment of the particuarl beer you are drinking.
During the course of the day, we hit two other pubs. Afspanning ’t Waagstuk was very cool. It had lots of beers, was located in a great old building and had a pretty little beer garden. Paters Vaetje was just ok (by Belgian beer pub standards). One theme of the weekend was the folly we committed by starting out at the #1 Kulminator. I mean, it's all down hill from there. And it was. Deliciously, enjoyably, wonderfully downhill. I imagine the other pubs would have knocked out socks off had it not been for the Kulimantor. BUT, alas, our socks remained firmly on.
Lovely Waagstuck pub:
In any event, Antwerp was excellent - both the city and the beer. Oh, and did I mention that Belgium is also famous for chocolate and waffles? Oh, lord, I must have died.
I still love Hamburg (and I love Antwerp, now, too!)
Pretty Antwerp:
For the beer geeks on my readership, here is a list of the beers we tried. These were jotted on the back of a receipt and a coaster - apologies for mispellings and other errors. Read 'em and weep:
At The Kulminator:
Orval Trappist Ale
Saint Feuillien Tripel
Corsendonk Agnus
Avec Les Bons Voeux
Sint Bernardus Tripel
Rochefort Rodestop 6 (1998)
Karmeleit Tripel
Cuvee des Trolls
Chimay Grand Reserve 2003
Caracole Bruin
At Oud Arsenaaal:
De Koninck Winter
Kappitel Bruin
Troubador
Jessenhofke
Ename Cuvee
Ename Dunker
Rochefort 80
Westmalle Tripel
At Afspanning 't Waagstuck
Saison Dupont
Zeppelin
De Koninck
Trappist Achel
Grimbergen Cuvee de l'Ermitage
Grimbergen Dubbel
De Koninck
Rodenbach Grand Cru
Paters Vaetje
Westmalle Dubbel
Corsendonk Agnus
Chimay Red
La Trappe Tripel
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