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A Walk on the Wild (Yeast) Side
by Ian McLaren
A day trip from London can now take you into truly exotic beer country.
It starts from Waterloo Station. Take the 06.14 train and at 10.02
local time you are at Brussels South Station. A ten minute walk takes
you to the Cantillon Museum Brewery, 56 Gueudestraat. Here, they'll take
you through the process of brewing Lambik beers: those of you who are
only used to British brewing are in for many surprises. Guided tours
are at 11.00. Tasting the beer will be an even bigger surprise!
Now you are ready to move out into the Payottenland, the south-western
suburbs of the city which are the homeland of Gueuze and Lambik beers.
A 55 tram from Brussels South takes you to Calevot station and a
connection with the UH bus to Beersel at 23 minutes past each hour
(00:23). You should be ready for an excellent lunch at the Drie
Fonteinen, 3 Hermanterlinckplein (opposite the church). This sells its
own brewed and blended beers and has regional and game dishes. Just
before that, though, you should try a glass of the home-blended Kriek
(cherry beer) at In de Drie Bonnen, 13 Hoogstraat, just round the
corner.
After lunch, you might feel like a walk up the hill (a mile or so) to the
Oud Beersel Brewery (open Saturdays) or its brewery tap, In 't Bierhuis,
228 Laarheidestraat. Get back on the UH bus to Halle (00:28 at Drie
Fonteinen, 3 minutes later at Oud Beersel). At Halle you could visit Frank
Boon's brewery (Wednesdays 3pm only) or the pubs in the market place (try
De Fazant, 8 Grotemarkt and De Triangel, 25 Basiliekstraat). From Halle
take the HL bus to Leerbeek (00:34) which connects with the LK bus to
Gooik (00:01) – or it's about a mile to walk. There is a new brewery in
Gooik – De Cam – a cultural centre and a bar, all behind the police station
in Dorpstraat.
From Gooik, you'll probably be ready to head back into Brussels. The LK
bus leaves at 00:04 and goes direct to Brussel South station (takes half
an hour or so). If you are back early for the train (the last check-in time
is 20.40) call in at Au Labourer, 3 Grondwetsplaats, just beyond the city
end of the station, for a Mort Subite Artisanaal geueze.
Of course, you will have missed some great pubs, but there's a limit to what
you can do in a day – and there’s always next time. The CAMRA local guide to
the Brussels area is available from Stephen D'Arcy, Boite No 5, 67 Rue des
Atrebates, B-1040 Brussels (send a cheque for £4).
Ian McLaren
(Ian McLaren’s new book Communication Excellence is available from good
bookshops or amazon.co.uk. Ed)
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 6.
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