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Hi All,

Am going to Brugge & Brussels for a day each next week, and know nothing about Belgian beers, just looking for a few different beers/styles that I really must try, At the moment I'm looking at:-

Stong/Dark Beer:- Westy or St Bernadus 12, maybe Rocheford 10, Chimay Blue
(going to try Gambrinus/biettempel in Bruge for Westy, wont loose sleep if I can't find it, the rest seem easy to get, planning red rose cafe/'t Brugs Beertje for these)

Saison:- either Dupont or fantome
Again Dupont seems handy enough to find, delirium in brussels might be best for fantome

IPA:- Houblon Chouffe/Hommelbier, Delirium in Brussles seems the best bet for the Chouffe

Lambic:- will be going to Moeder Lambic in brussels to try a few Cantillon beers(which ones in particular should I be looking for!)

If there any really obvious beers that I am missing/any better examples than the ones I'm looking at/or any bar/cafes you would recommend for the harder to find ones, it would be great to hear from yee,

I don't want to be spending too much time in and out of bars, because initially it was supposed to be a weekend break for her indoors! <!-- s:mrgreen: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt="" title="Mr. Green" /><!-- s:mrgreen: -->

Thanks,

Andy

Keep an eye out for anything by Brasserie De La Senne: they do some great stuff in the Belgian styles and some foreign ones too. Their Stouterik stout is really good, also Taras Boulba pale ale and Jambe de Bois tripel.

My top Cantillon beers are the straight Gueuze, the hoppy Iris and the white grape Vigneronne. Moder Lambic may have the straight lambic on cask, which is worth trying just for the rarity value.

Don't stay too long in Delirium; it's a shithole <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->

As TBN says, go for the Taras Boulba - a wonderful hoppy golden ale and only 4.5%abv, so positively sessionable. My favourite Belgian is Hercule Stout from Ellezelloise, the best stout in the world! But what do I know? Just avoid all the stuff you can buy at home and enjoy choosing random beers off huge menus.
For bars, in Brussels I like the Cafe A La Mort Subite and the Porte Noire. In Brugge, give the Brugs Beertje a miss and head to the Poatersgat on Vlamingstraat instead.

Thanks for the help lads, I definitely had a better idea of where to head to, and what to ask for because of it.

Went to all the bars in Brugge I'd hoped, highlight was the Poatersgat alright, thanks to the guy behind the bar there I found Viven pale ale, the best beer of the holiday!

Now to see if I can find it in Ireland!

There's a bottle in my fridge but you can't have it.

that's mean, but when you open it, post what you think is in it, because I fancy paying tribute to it with my next brew!

generally put columbus & simcoe in all my IPA's so presuming it's the malt/sugar/yeast makes it so special!

that said I did drink it after a Jupiler,Rochefort,Westy, Saison Dupont and a Houblin Chouffe, so to say I was merry is an understatement