Beer Cafes and Bollekes: Beer for a Day in Antwerp

~Antwerp Through the Ages~

Like so many cities and towns in Belgium, Antwerp is but an hour and change by train from Brussels. If you’re like me and your trips to Belgium never amount to more than about five days at a time, these medieval cities and towns end up as day trip destinations, even if they merit several days. But with a modicum of advanced planning, you can spend an enriching day in Antwerp. And you won’t be at a loss for beer and places to drink it.

A historic port that accrued its wealth through the diamond trade, Antwerp started life as a fort during Charlemagne’s time. During the 1500s, it emerged as the region’s premier port after Bruges’ once-bustling port silted up.

By mid-century, Antwerp was one of Europe’s most important cities, boasting a population of around 100,000 inhabitants, one of whom was Pieter Paul Rubens. The city suffered several reversals of fate over the next three centuries till Napoleon Bonarparte rebuilt the ports in 1797. By the late nineteenth century, Antwerp was the world’s third-largest port after London and New York.

Despite being bombed during the Second World War, the city retains its medieval charm with cobblestone lanes and one of Europe’s most impressive Gothic cathedrals. The old city is anchored by the Grote Markt, a pedestrian square framed by guildhalls and the Renaissance-style city hall. Art abounds, and the influence of Rubens is everywhere.

Even if you don’t have time to visit a museum, you can admire the intricately carved confessionals of St. Carolus Borromeuskerk (a church Rubens helped design for the Jesuits), or you can take in a handful of Rubens’ masterpieces in the Cathedral of Our Lady.

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Beer Cafes in Antwerp

Antwerp may not be a “beer destination” in the same way that some cities and regions in Belgium are, but it is home to De Koninck, brewers of the ubiquitous work-a-day Antwerp Pale Ale that fuels the city. If you’re in Antwerp for more than a day, visit the brewery. If not, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to order up a “bolleke” (bowl-shaped goblet) of De Koninck. And you won’t be disappointed. De Koninck is a quaffable “session” ale with a toasty maltiness that sets the stage for a plum-cherry fruitiness, a subdued Belgian-style yeast profile, and a subtle spiciness that recalls cinnamon and allspice.

De Kulminator (Vleminckveld 32):

If you had to visit one drinking establishment in Antwerp and one only, make sure De Kulminator is at the top of your list. Simply put, this place is a gem, a labour of love. Ignore all the online reviews that either don’t get it or miss the point. Complaints that the beer is served “well past its prime.” Complaints about classical music. (The horror!) Complaints about the rude owner who serves his beer too warm. Complaints about the price of the beer. (Apparently some reviewers seem to have forgotten that they’re paying for beers that have been carefully cellared for longer than many of them have been of legal drinking age.)

After 44 years tending his garden, it appears the owner has soured on anyone but regulars. His first question when he finally opened the door after we rang three times: “Are you here to drink or to taste?” The semantics of this question may strike some as all too subtle, but to the owner of this beer café from a bygone era, the answer serves as a suitably pointed shibboleth. After we had (correctly) answered the question and had beers in front of us, the owner and his wife softened their prickly demeanour and spent a few moments chatting with us. Their “rudeness” strikes me as an expression of frustration with a new crop of beer drinkers who don’t seem to understand what the couple had set out to do, an expression of a growing cynicism regarding the “tickers” who flock to Kulminator — tickers who want to check off another “classic” establishment on their bucket list, or tickers who want to check off several rare Belgian beers at once. All of this is a shame really, especially considering the amount of time and effort the owner has dedicated to compiling what amounts to an archive of beer.

So don’t be put off by the sphynx-like riddles you’ll face at the door, assuming the door is even unlocked. You’ll be handsomely rewarded for your patience. And hurry to this snapshot of a bygone era before the owners throw in the towel and retire. Apparently that day is coming soon. Whether the new operator of De Kulminator will preserve the charm of the place and the integrity of the cellar is anyone’s guess. At the very least, some of the eccentricity pervading the establishment will surely be lost.

Tasting notes (highlights):

2010 Rochefort 10. €8. Spanish fig chocolate cake, rum raisin, and plenty of subtle baking spice. Autumn honey, dates, plum, Calmyrna figs, and the beguiling aged character akin to aged saké. Nutty, mix of tawny port and off-dry Oloroso. Complex yet deft on the palate, epic finish.

2005 Orval. €10. Very subtle Brett, like Calvados meets French apple cider. Spiced stewed apples, undertone of leather and wood, sour cherry, and an elegantly beguiling note of toasted orange zest/Cointreau. Brown sugar/crême brûlée malt notes. Extremely complex. Medium-full bodied with reprise of aromas, horse blanket, very mild carbonation due to age, brown sugar/orange candy with spice. Like a fine wine, this is one to savour. Sublime.

Cabron (Kaasrui 1):

You’ve just spent a few hours marveling at the Rubens paintings and stunning stained glass in the majestic Cathedral of Our Lady. Fortunately, you won’t have far to go to quench your thirst after all that effort. In the shadow of Our Lady’s 123-meter-high spire and just off the Grote Markt square, you’ll find a cluster of cafes where the ambiance is all you’d expect from Belgian beer establishments. Cabron has character to spare, even if it’s only five years young. Tiffany lamps around the perimeter and contemporary copper-coloured “tear drop” lamps above the bar mingle with dispersed light from the feature window, lending the subdued lighting an almost smoky quality. Dark chocolate brown chairs, wooden benches with studded leather pads, and cream-coloured walls alternating with magenta-coloured walls round out the ambience. The aural landscape is a mix of 1950s/60s Brazil and Cuba with the occasional Jamaican dub track thrown in.

The beer list isn’t incredibly long, but as with most beer cafes in Belgium, you’ll find local offerings alongside nationally distributed brands. I had a Nello’s Blond from nearby Hoboken, a southern district of Antwerp along the Scheldt River. The beer is honey-gold in the glass, delivering rich honeyed malt with light brown sugar and mild hoppy spice notes in the aromas. Intense on the palate, Nello’s Blond is off-dry with an effervescence that makes the beer thirst-quenching despite its 7% ABV and residual sweetness. Worth searching out while in Antwerp!

Bar Deco (Torfbrug 2):

You don’t have to exert yourself when you’re sampling the different beer cafes in Antwerp. Just finish up your De Koninck at Cabron and walk virtually across the street to Bar Deco. Not quite as “art deco” as the name suggests, this bar has all the dark wood and mahogany accents that make these beer cafes so warm and welcoming. Worn wooden floorboards support the weight of many a local imbiber who has passed through the doors of this small drinking establishment with its marble table tops and benches that have been polished by many conversations over beer. Half-length chestnut-brown wall paneling yields to violet paint, creating a serene atmosphere to sit and reflect on the sites you’ve taken in during your day in Antwerp.

Bar Deco has six beers on tap, along with another fifty in bottles, including an ample selection of gueuze and kriek (Boon, Girardin, Beersel, 3 Fonteinen, Mort Subite) for those looking for something on the wild side. I opted for the Seefbier, a historic local offering that the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie began brewing again in 2012. It arrived in a pint glass looking not dissimilar to a Witbier: hazy straw yellow with a prodigious foam cap. The Witbier associations didn’t end there. An intense explosion of clove, allspice, banana notes, spiced bubblegum, and a hint of coriander seed had me thinking that someone had mixed a Witbier and a Hefeweizen. Medium-full bodied on the palate, a slight sour-citric acidity balances the honeyed richness and intense spiciness. Classed as a blond ale, it’s a bit of a shapeshifter, which makes for an intriguing beer.

Café de Kat (Wolstraat 22):

Café de Kat is a quiet local spot about 400 meters north of the Grote Markt as you slowly wend your way back to the train station. The clientele on this warm spring evening were all north of sixty, and all quietly enjoying the passage into evening in this laid-back six-table establishment. Like many beer cafes I’ve been to, this one, too, is an L-shaped space wrapped around a central bar. A piano occupies one corner of the café, more a decoration than a performance piece. A rectangular feature mirror near the piano makes the space seem larger than it is, and cool jazz blends together seamlessly with the subdued, cream-coloured incandescent light lighting. I sit down to sip a Ciney Blond from the French-speaking part of Belgium and imbibe the early-evening atmosphere with the rest of the clientele waiting for nothing in particular.

Bier Central (De Keyserlei 25):

The last light of the day is fading on the horizon as I make my way to the train station. A stone’s throw from the station, Bier Central is nothing like the other beer cafes I’ve visited in Antwerp today: warrens of bench seating on split levels, a boisterous, rough-and-tumble feel, and a tourist quotient that is much higher than at the other local spots. It’s also much more lively, the atmosphere cheered on by a 1970s/80s soundtrack featuring the likes of Bowie and British new wave. I opted for a change of pace, a Mort Subite Oude Gueuze. Plenty of classic gueuze notes on the nose and palate (tart cherry, lemon pith, cherry/leather, oak, gooseberry, apple cider, and a touch of vanillans) but all dialed back to a rather unassuming harmoniousness. Clocking in at a mere €6 for a 375mL bottle in a bar, this is the perfect gueuze with which to introduce friends to the wide world of wild and funky beers.

Not too long after I finished my Mort Subite, the train bell started tolling on my day in Antwerp. But with Brussels just a little over an hour away, I still might have time for a nightcap.

Related articles:

In the Land of Flemish Red-Brown Ale

Belfries and Beers in Bruges

Where the Wild Beers Are: Brussels and Flemish Brabant

Of Coolships, Cobwebs, and Cantillon

Sources:

TripAdvisor reviews of Kulminator (accessed 27 March 2019).

Paul McMorrow, “Antwerp.” BeerAdvocate, Issue 22 (November 2008).

All images by F.D. Hofer.

© 2019 F.D. Hofer and A Tempest in a Tankard. All rights reserved.