Belfries and Beers in Bruges

Cobblestones and Canals

Ethereal cobblestone lanes, canals, medieval Flemish architecture, magnificent squares that recall the wealth and power of the merchant class, secluded parks, and even a few windmills make for an enchanting ambience you won’t find in many other cities. Bruges’ urban landscape and narrow alleys also conceal many a beer café gem where you can relax from the hard work of sightseeing and eating all that Belgian chocolate. Add to that the stately belfry, the Groeninge Museum with its Flemish art collection, and the Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaarde in the shadow of De Halve Maan Brewery and you have more than a few reasons to unpack your luggage. An even longer stay opens up the possibility of day trips to some of the smaller beer towns in West Flanders to offset the sobriety of the First World War battlefields you might also visit. If time is tight, fear not: Bruges is a mere hour away from Brussels by train.

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Brussels to Bruges

As for that train, we boarded it bright and early in Brussels and settled in with the crowds heading off to sun themselves on the beaches in Ostend. This day trip to Bruges was extra special for me, for it was a long-overdue journey back to a time when I first encountered Belgian beer in the early nineties. And what an encounter it was. The beer I had ordered looked like the pilsners and lagers I had just learned to appreciate in Germany, but something was just a little different. I downed it in about thirty seconds (as was my wont back in the day) and ordered another. I drank this one a few seconds more slowly and noticed that the beer had a certain richness and residual sweetness to it. Not long into my third beer I noticed something else — a bit of an unexpected kick. A tripel, it was.

Plus ça change …

De Halve Maan

Crossing bridges over canals and passing through secluded squares, we made our way to De Halve Maan (internationally famous for its two-mile beer pipeline under the city) for our mid-morning tour. De Halve Maan was also a trip back in time for me. When I first visited Bruges, I went on a tour of the First World War battlefields of Flanders. Unsurprisingly, it had been a somber day, fields draped in mist and dampened by a constant rain, cemeteries dotting the countryside near the town of Ypres. On the way back into Bruges, the tour guide decided to lighten the mood with a stop at one of Bruges’ breweries — De Halve Maan, as it turned out. I heard the words “top-fermented” and “bottom-fermented” for the first time that hushed evening in the brewery, no one there but us. This time around, I learned something else I didn’t know: fruit beer originated as a means of preserving fruit. Back in the day, farmers added cherries, raspberries, and other fruits to the beers they had brewed and ate them over the winter. After that they drank the beer. Whether or not this story is apocryphal, I know not. Sounds plausible, though.

The rest of the tour consists of the new brewhouse and a walk through their in-house museum of historical brewing and bottling implements. You’ll see the open fermentation squares that the brewery once used, an old coolship, horizontal fermentation tanks of 1950s vintage, and the old malt floor and chimney. A stellar view over Bruges from the roof of the brewery is your reward for all that climbing. When all is said and done, you can relax in the renovated and airy taproom or on the bustling terrace with a glass of prodigious Strafe Hendrik quad, an elegant Strafe Hendrik tripel, or Brugse Zot.

Cafe Vlissinghe

Morning beers out of the way, we made for the Café Vlissinghe in the St. Anna district. Founded in 1515, Vlissinghe is the oldest tavern in Bruges and one of the more charming places you’ll find for a drink in a country renowned for their charming drinking establishments. Old portraits and engravings line the walls underneath a ceiling held aloft by heavy wooden beams, and an old-fashioned heating stove exudes good will. Legend has it that the first owners of Café Vlissinghe, “Old Teunis and his wife,” lived to be a hundred years old and died on the same day. Their portrait still hangs on the wall to the far upper-right of the fireplace. An oil-on-wood painting in the arch above the entry to the dining room bears witness to the region’s maritime history while offering hints about whence the building’s original proprietors came (Vlissingen in the Netherlands). If calming, diffused light in a dark-paneled room isn’t your thing on an afternoon with not a cloud in the sky, head for the sunny courtyard.

De Bierboom

On our way back to the center of town we took a small detour to check out Bruges’ windmills and to indulge in a bit of nostalgia where I had that first encounter with Belgian beer. A few blocks down the Langestraat from the Bauhaus Hostel, De Bierboom is a cozy combo of beer shop and modestly decorated bar that’s like sitting in someone’s living room dating from the 1970s. An opulent art deco café this isn’t, but the taproom is the perfect refuge from the tourist crowds that sometimes throng the city. Beers to go consist of a number of beers I hadn’t seen anywhere else — including several from the West Flemish towns around Bruges — and can be had for an average price of €2/bottle. Take the beer with you for a picnic in one of the shady parks or under a nearby windmill, or spend about a euro more per bottle and drink it there.

The Little Bear of Bruges

Given its location a few steps from the market square (Markt) and the belfry, the absolutely classic ’t Brugs Biertje won’t be too far off of your sightseeing itinerary. Convivial patrons sit cheek by jowl in the crowded seating area by the front window; dark wood fittings and brown floral-patterned wallpaper covered with beer placards and street signs welcome visitors to the slightly more spacious back room. This dimly lit but lively tavern may not quite have the same time-warp charm as De Kring in the town of Lambeek, but it does have one of the more extensive beer lists among the places I’ve visited in Belgium — over three hundred bottlings to choose from. The beer list is organized by province, and then reorganized by style/specialty at the back of the menu. If you don’t have time to visit other parts of West Flanders, you can sample several local and regional beers while you’re here.

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And with that, we headed off to catch our train back to Brussels through golden twilight and verdant fields. Coming soon: Breweries and taprooms in the home of Flemish red ale.

Thank you danke schön are due to my good friend Martin for hosting me in Brussels and being such a good sport every time I drag him around Belgium in search of new beer and old traditions.

A Few Beers for You to Try:

Brugse Zot. In addition to their heavy-hitting Strafe Hendrik quad and a fine tripel, De Halve Maan began producing the popular Brugse Zot in 2005. This unfiltered blond ale with a meringue-like foam cap clocks in at 6.5% and features floral honey malt notes, a spicy yeast character, and aromas of fresh-cut meadows. A crisp and refreshing bitterness counters the malt sweetness, assuring the beer’s quaffability on a warm summer day. Keep an eye out for the impressive vintage-dated Straffe Hendrik Wild, an age-worthy tripel re-fermented with Brett yeast. Two Tankards for the Straffe Hendrik Wild.

Bryggja Tripel Extra Hops. A small operation based 9 km to the east of Bruges in Moerkerke and founded in 2013, Bryggja is representative of the kinds of well-kept local secrets you’ll find at Bierboom. This beer adds floral notes to the typical panoply of tripel aromas and buttresses the honeyed malt with a strong bitterness that pushes the envelope of the style.

Fort Lapin No. 5 Kriek. A relative newcomer to the Bruges beer scene, Fort Lapin is located just north of Bruges’ town center and is available at Café Vlissinghe. Though without the complexity of a wild-fermented kriek, Fort Lapin’s tart and dry ale offers a hibiscus-like zing and conceals a  mild cherry character. If you’re looking for a refreshing alternative to the kinds of fruit bombs sold by Lindemans, this fits the bill on a sunny day. Fort Lapin also brews a dubbel, a tripel, and a quad.

Vliegende Paard Brouwers. Founded in 2013 and located 10 km southeast of Bruges, Vliegende Paard has made quite a splash with its Préaris-labeled beers. Their experimental lineup changes often, so take the plunge with whatever you happen to find. While at Brugs Biertje, I had the Smokey Li, a hefty amber-orange beer (8% ABV) brewed with Lapsong Souchong tea. Redolent of wood-smoke and medicinal notes reminiscent of a peated Scotch layered over caramel malt, this intriguing beer offers up cherry-wood fruitiness mid-palate, finishing with a tannic tautness and a distinctive Islay note. One Tankard

Cuvée Soeur’ise Oak-Aged Tripel Kriek. Brewed by Brouwerij De Leite (founded 2008) in Ruddervoorde, a town about 15 km south of Bruges, this orange-red beer with watermelon hues was a revelation. Cuvée Soeur’ise combines subtle horse blanket Brett notes with maraschino cherry, hazelnut, marzipan, and a beguiling vanilla-butter oak character on the nose, unloading a charge of tart cherry laced with fresh hay, vanilla, and tannic nuttiness on the palate. Two Tankards

Related Tempest articles:

Where the Wild Beers Are: Brussels and Flemish Brabant

Of Coolships, Cobwebs, and Cantillon

Sources:

Café Vlissinghe’s website.

Belgian Beer Tourism (a wealth of information on all things Belgian beer).

Websites of the various breweries mentioned here. (Follow the hyperlinks in the text above.)

All images by F.D. Hofer.

© 2018 F.D. Hofer and A Tempest in a Tankard. All rights reserved.