Beer Posts Archives - Wanderwiles

La Trappe: Touring Koningshoeven brewery in Berkel-Enschot, Netherlands

Entrance to the monastery, brewery and tasting room are to the right

Time for another beer post from David!:

Trappist beer – brewed by Trappist monks, those of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, formerly the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe – is widely recognized and revered (certainly by us) as some of the world’s best. The name “Trappist” originates from the La Trappe abbey located close to Soligny in Normandy, France, where this order of reformist (i.e., more restrictive) monks was founded in 1664.

Currently, fourteen monasteries produce Trappist beers under the official recognition of the International Trappist Association. Six are in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and the U.S.A. Twelve of the fourteen (excluding those in France and Spain) also qualify for the Authentic Trappist Product label, which certifies that the beer is made within the abbey, by (or under the direction of) Trappist monks, and that profits are solely for the needs of the monastery and its community or for charity and social projects.

Annual production among the 14 monasteries varies widely, from 1,700 US barrels (31 gallons per barrel) at the breweries in Italy, Austria and the UK, up to 124,000 US barrels at De Koningshoeven Brewery (Brouwerij de Koningshoeven) in the Netherlands, popularly known as La Trappe.

In early October, we drove a couple of hours from Antwerp to tour the Koningshoeven Brewery and the monastery grounds, commonly referred to just as La Trappe. We booked our English-language tour online the night before. Our group had about 15 people, from Germany, Korea, Brazil, and the US.

The tour begins delightfully the way most other brewery tours end … with a beer! You can choose from eight beers, more than any other Trappist brewery. The beers include a light blonde called PUUR (4.7% ABV), a bockbier (7%), a dubbel (7%), a tripel (8%), a quadrupel (10%), and a unique La Trappe beer called Isid’or (7.5%), named after Brother Isidorus Laaber, their first brewmaster who started brewing in 1884. It’s quite nice, amber-colored with an herbal, fruity and slightly floral aroma/taste combo. (La Trappe also makes an oak-aged quadrupel (11%). It’s available only in 37.5ml bottles and sold only in the gift shop.) While sipping our selections – an Isid’or and a quadrupel – we watched a short film about the abbey and brewery. It’s a great start to the tour.

Tony demonstrates the proper way to pour a beer.

Our burly tour guide Tony was knowledgeable, humorous and very enthusiastic, and he clearly enjoys beer. We started in the brewhuis amid the giant lauter tun and brewing and wort kettles. Tony gave us an animated, informative presentation on the brewing process. Given La Trappe’s high output and the decline in the monk population (average age, about 40), their labor force draws largely on local residents and their managing director and distribution agents are not a monks although they work under the direction of monks. In their fields and gardens, the monastery and brewery employ persons with learning difficulties and mental disabilities.

La Trappe also makes cheese (with beer, of course) and they use the spent grain from brewing to make bread. Both products are available in the tasting room. We didn’t get to see the cheese-making or bakery operations, but we stopped in a building that housed an antique oven and an assortment of old baking equipment. The tour with Tony ended with a visit to the large automated bottling area.

We then stopped by the tasting room for lunch and a flight of five beers (not full-size, mind you). The space is pleasant with high, beamed ceilings and a soaring wall of windows overlooking a wooded area. There are outside tables available in good weather. I had a spicy chicken sandwich, served on a large Trappist bun, and some frites. Tamara had an excellent frittata with bacon, onions, tomato, basil, and spinach, served with a small salad and Trappist bread. My selection was good, but Tamara’s was much better and I was jealous.

Excellent frittata…and, of course, beer!

All in all, we had a great time and would recommend a visit.

Practical info:

Brewery tours should be booked in advance online on the brewery website. The cost is €12 pp for a tour through the brewery, a movie about life in the monastery and the brewery, and one full-sized beer of your choice. Note: visitors are requested to arrive 15 minutes early for tours. Also, entry is not through the monastery entrance shown in the top photo, but down a path from the parking lot.

Food was reasonably priced in the tasting room at €9.50 each for the frittata and sandwich. There’s also a large gift shop on site offering beer, cheese, sausages, soaps, beer signs, clothes, crafts, etc.

Cabardouche: A new microbrewery in Antwerp opens to the public

Happily, David’s been working on several beer posts. Here’s his latest:

Cabardouche is a new microbrewery in Antwerp located at Engelselei 258 in the Centers van Borgerhout area, just under some railway arches amid a strip of other shops in newly renovated spaces. It joins much larger and well-established local favorites De Koninck (owned by Duvel Moortgat) and Seef as one of the few breweries in Antwerp. The name Cabardouche derives from “Cabaret douze” and harkens to Napoleon’s system of numbering cabarets in Antwerp, with the number 12 (or “douze”) reserved for brothels.

The Cabardouche team began home brewing in 2012, turning out 20-liter batches in the kitchen and living room. By 2014, they were brewing their recipes in the facilities of other established breweries such as Pirlot in Zandhoven. After several years of gypsy brewing, they crowdfunded their way into their own brewery in the Centers.

The new Cabardouche location is nice on a sunny day.

We went to their opening party on September 21, 2019. It was a beautiful day and the party was in full swing when we arrived. The sliding glass doors spanning the brewery were wide open, and about 70 people were mingling around picnic tables set up on the sidewalk, including some kids drinking lemonade from Bruis, a shop next door with coffee and craft sodas. We tried five of their beers, one on tap and the others bottled, and they were priced at one Euro each, a special price for that day’s opening.

Blonde Bump (5% ABV) was served on tap. It is a blonde ale: crisp, clear gold with a fine white head. The aroma evoked Citra hops, with floral, citrusy and mild clover notes. The taste was bland, nondescript and mostly bitter, which could be more a comment on this style of beer than on this specific rendition. Not bad, just not “wow.” It got a little better as it warmed (sadly, as a blonde ale should be drunk cold).

Tasting all Cabardouche beers on offer on opening day. Note the only head; must be the Stout Mokke.

Next up was Escort Deluxe 2018 (13% ABV), billed as a creamy caramel stout with seven malts and one bitter (undisclosed) hop. It poured very dark, almost black, with no head – I couldn’t even generate a head by swirling it. Nose and taste were of molasses, caramel and gingerbread, rather sweet. The alcohol was noticeable, as expected, but in a good way, as you’d prefer for an after-dinner brew. The texture was heavy and unpleasantly flat.

Stout Mokke (9.0% ABV) is an imperial stout that poured almost black with a tan head that lasted longer than any of the others we tried. As the name suggests, it has a rich malty chocolate taste with some coffee, molasses and plum. It had a nice lingering bitterness, too (54 IBU).

The REUS (6.8%) is a pale ale that Cabardouche developed for the Reuzenstoet (“Giant Procession”), a 300-year old parade featuring giant puppet-like figures in the Borgerhout district of Antwerp. This beer has a clear amber color with not much head. Rootbeer, banana, herbs and grass dominated the nose and taste. A mild bitterness finished things off. Slightly reminiscent of Triple Karmeliet, if not as good, it was the best of the Cabardouche beers we tried.

We also tried a beer called Don’t Cry Over Spilled Malts, a home brew that came in an unlabeled bottle and is not commercially available. A cloudy, creamy medium brown, it was yeasty and soft, with a spicy (cardamom) nose and taste.

The opening event at Carbadouche was fun and celebratory, and a good experience. The outdoor seating is especially appealing in good weather. But the beers, while good, were not remarkable and we’ll give them a little more time to settle in before trying again.

Practical info:

Cabardouche will be open at their new location at Engelselei 258 in the Centers van Borgerhout on Fridays and Saturdays. Bottles and glasses are available in their on-site shop. They also offer private events and can provide brew space for independent brewers. Contact them at info@cabardouche.be or call Elise on 0484 672636. Find out more on the Cabardouche website.

Craft Beer in Bucharest: David’s first beer post on Wanderwiles!

Although David’s very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about beer, reads on the subject constantly, is always on the lookout for local craft beers when we travel, and has even written on beer for our local paper, he’s never written for Wanderwiles. (I’ve definitely used his input for previous beer posts, though.) I hope this write-up is the first of many from him. -T

We’d read and heard that the craft beer scene in Bucharest is growing, so of course had to try at least one beer bar while there. I did some research and came up with a list of possibilities. It turned out that Bogdan offers a beer tasting tour and, while we weren’t interested in that, he confirmed one of my top picks as a personal favorite. So, on a free afternoon, we headed to Fabrica de Bere Bunã (The Good Beer Factory), a long stroll down Calea Vitoriei from our AirBnB apartment. Located in an old factory, Fabrica de Bere Bunã offered ten of their own beers on tap and another twelve bottled beers from various Romanian brewers. The place is brewpub chic (white subway tiles, natural wood, and chalkboard beer lists) with two-story seating inside (stools only) and outdoor tables on the sidewalk, too.

We shared a flight of four beers, all from small Romanian brewers. [See lead photo.] Haunted – an IPA (6.5% ABV) from Addictive Brewing, which just opened in July 2019 – was light gold with a slight haze and a dank, bitter taste, a fine IPA. Tamara said it reminded her of a men’s restroom without the urinal cakes, but I think that’s just beerspeak for dank (right?). Our next IPA was Fortul 13 (5.7% ABV) from Clandestin Beer (opened in March 2019). It appeared gold and clear, had a nose of apricot and grass, and a slight bitterness. A very good rendition of an American IPA, and much more to Tamara’s liking. We sampled two beers from Zăganu, a Romanian craft beer pioneer opened in October 2013 and named after an iconic Romanian vulture that appears on all their bottle labels. (Zăganu also owns Fabrica de Bere Bunã.) Their beers are widely available. We had Adonis, an American pale ale (5.9%) that was medium gold with a frothy white head. It was lightly hopped with an aroma and taste that was citrusy, grassy and slightly floral. We also tried Brună (7.1% ABV), a schwarzbier that was dark brown, almost black. Aromas of toasted malt, yeasty bread, banana, and slight bubble gum. Taste was similar with a raisin sweetness, and a hint of sour reminiscent of a Belgian oud bruin that was uncharacteristic of this style of beer but tasty.

After Fabrica de Bere Bunã, we walked a few blocks to M60, another spot recommended by Bogdan. Both its Facebook page and its actual brick-and-mortar location emphasize coffee and we almost didn’t go in. Inside, we did find a selection of bottled craft beers on their counter and refrigerated (and bought a can of Hop Hooligans Crowd Control NEIPA), but this place really is more of a coffee shop than a beer bar or brewpub. Bucharest has quite a few other venues with craft brews from Romania and other locales, including Mikkeller Bucharest, Beer O’Clock (although closed during our visit), La 100 de Beri, and Bere şi Bere Pub. For info on these and others, click here https://beerologique.org/bucharest/ and here https://www.ratebeer.com/places/city/bucharest/0/167/.

Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar

When making plans to visit Inle Lake in Myanmar, I debated whether to stay on an over-water bungalow on Inle Lake or in the town of Nyaung Shwe near the lake. Both had their appeal, and town is definitely cheaper. In the end, I opted for two nights at each. In retrospect, I’d skip Nyaung Shwe and spend three nights on the lake. Most tourists stay in Nyaung Shwe simply as a more economical base for exploring Inle Lake. Still, we enjoyed our time in Nyaung Shwe (except for some noise issues), and it was an interesting short stay, although lacking in any big must-sees other than Inle Lake.

Our regular boatman took us from Ann Heritage Lodge to Nyaung Shwe. We wondered when he docked at what appeared to be an empty building, but we were let in to wait for a tuk tuk that arrived to take us to Inle Cottage Boutique Hotel. I had asked the desk clerk at Ann Heritage Lodge to coordinate with Inle Cottage Boutique Hotel, so they arranged this hand-off. I knew the hotel was only blocks from the boat docks, but the streets in Nyaung Shwe are often unpaved and confusing to navigate. Besides, we definitely didn’t want to be rolling our suitcases on dirt roads in the heat.

Bustling Nyaung Shwe street in front of Inle Cottage Boutique Hotel

I chose Inle Cottage Boutique Hotel for our stay and the restaurant, garden and our bungalow room were all stylishly decorated with local goods, comfortable, and clean. The bungalows clustered around a lush central garden. The hotel had the added bonus of being run entirely by young women as part of a program to educate women and encourage them in business. The staff did a great job. Their attentiveness bordered on the excessive as, each time we crossed from the garden door through the small lobby to the main door or vice versa, a young woman would leap up from behind the counter and race to hold open the doors for us.

Inle Cottage Boutique Hotel and the Minthamee Bar & Bistro

My choice was a big hit with David when we realized signs pointing to a craft beer bar were directing us to the restaurant located above the lobby in our hotel. The beer on offer was from Burbrit, the first microbrewery in Myanmar. We’d been wanting to try it, and we were in luck!

On our first evening in Nyaung Shwe, we decided to walk to the nearby night market. Set up on one end of a large open square, the event consisted of some food trucks and souvenir stalls. The market was popular with locals and we enjoyed wandering through, but opted for dinner back at our hotel.

Our first night was not the tranquil stay I’d hoped for. A rooster or two at the house next door to our wooden-walled bungalow crowed all night, sounding as if he were in our bathroom. Then around 5am, someone began the sinus-clearing hacking so popular in this part of the world. Music began blaring next door at an insane hour. Then around 8:30am, a van drove slowly past our hotel, blasting Burmese over a loudspeaker. We learned later that the music and van were part of a wedding celebration happening next door. I hoped fervently that rooster would be on the wedding feast menu. Oh well, noise just seems to be a part of Burmese life so it was on me to adjust.

After a night of little sleep–Not my finest moment

Our second night was quieter and I recommend Inle Cottage Boutique Hotel. Just in case, though, I’d ask for one of the bungalows to the right as you exit the lobby into the central garden. Those cottages are on the opposite side from the neighbors with the rooster, and fellow guests in those units heard none of the crowing.

We retraced our path past the night market venue the next day, then turned off to visit a temple en route to the Mingalar Market (see top photo). This last is a real market, full of local goods and shoppers wearing clothes representing the many tribes in the area. Small shops around the covered, open air market, teemed with daily life. It’s definitely not something to miss when in Nyaung Shwe.

Leaving the market, we walked to Tharzi Pond by the closest entrance to the town. We’d seen a golden pagoda near there and were curious. The Shwe Baww Di Pagoda turned out to be new construction so we shucked our shoes and made the circuit of its interior before heading to a nearby café, Mann Mann, for a cold beer on a cute rooftop seating area overlooking the pagoda.

Shwe Baww Di Pagoda with Mann Mann Café on the left

Despite mixed reviews, we really enjoyed a visit to the Nyaung Shwe Cultural Museum, housed in the former haw (palace) of the last saopha (sky prince) of Nyaungshwe, Sao Shwe Thaike, who also served as the first president of independent Burma. The palace is an elegant if somewhat dilapidated brick and teak mansion with a multi-tiered pagoda-style roof and spacious, mostly empty rooms.

After paying 2000 kyats apiece (appx. $1.32) for our tickets, we headed upstairs to begin a self-guided wander through dusty rooms housing wooden “thrones,” beds, photographs, clothes and other items of varying interest. An old photo of a western looking (princess) caught my eye and I snapped a photo for later research and so learned about the Austrian-American woman, Inge Sargent, who lived through Nazi occupation as a child, then married a Burmese prince, the last Saopha of Hsipaw. Her husband was killed in prison and she was lucky to escape Burma following a coup. I later bought her Kindle book, Twilight over Burma, My Life as a Shan Princess. What a fascinating, and sometimes tragic, life story! The basement of the museum houses the old treasury and government offices, now in ruins.

Photo of the western woman (a “devi” or Burmese princess) that caught my eye

We ate dinner both nights at the restaurant in our hotel, Minthamee, finding the food to be very good and reasonably priced. Plus, there was the Burbrit beer. Ingredients are imported, but it’s always fun to see craft beer spreading to a new country. We found the Burbrit beersto be tasty and worth the above-normal-for-the-area prices (4500 kyats or about $3 for 330 ml).

Burbrit Beer at Minthamee Bar & Bistro, Inle Cottage Boutique Hotel

For those staying in Nyaung Shwe as opposed to the lake, there are lots of options for boat tours around the lake. The town does not sit directly on the lake, but rather down a long canal, so the lake is not visible from town. Group boats are very cheap, running about $6pp for a day tour. There are also bike tours to surrounding areas and a local winery. The local wine is decent, but we just weren’t interested in another excursion having thoroughly enjoyed our private boat tour around the lake and its villages while staying at Ann Heritage Lodge.

Edmonds, Washington: A Pacific Northwest Charmer

Downtown Edmonds in the Bowl: corner of 5th Avenue and Main Street

As I mentioned in my last post, we’re spending five weeks cat and housesitting in Edmonds, Washington, a beautiful little town on Puget Sound just north of Seattle. Since our arrival in Seattle in late September, we’ve been blessed with one of the most spectacular autumns imaginable. The trees are on fire in shades ranging from bright yellow to deep burgundy and the skies have been unseasonably clear. We’ve been told Edmonds can get crowded in the summer–and no wonder, it’s got lots to offer in the way of charm, but it’s been delightfully crowd-free during our stay save for a blow-out, family-friendly Halloween street party.

The condo we’re in is in a lovely, well-secured building, although it’s hard to imagine needing security in this picture-perfect slice of Americana. The building opens onto one of the two main streets in “the Bowl” of Edmonds that dips down to the waterfront. Tree-lined, with a fountain in the middle of the intersection, pretty old-style buildings, this part of Edmonds reminds us of some idealized Mayberry. We’ve spent our days exploring the many boutiques, restaurants and coffee shops lining the blocks around us and walking to the water where we like to plant ourselves on a long, L-shaped concrete pier to watch the ubiquitous fishermen and people crabbing off the pier and the ferries shuttling between Edmonds and Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula. We take binoculars to scan the water for harbor seals, waterfowl and a bald eagle that has staked out a perch atop the mast of a particular sailboat in the yacht club marina, sometimes with a fish fresh-plucked from the Sound. Yesterday, we joined a small group at the end of the pier watching orcas swimming across the Sound, some so close to the ferry leaving Kingston that it was stopped for a while to let the orcas pass. I saw these magnificent sea mammals breach four times, leaping out of the water to fall back with a huge splash. What an unexpected treat! (See why we’re never without binoculars around here?) The Olympic Mountains provide the purple-blue backdrop to the peninsula and Mt. Baker looms off to the right up the coast. Gorgeous!

Salmon wind vane art on the jetty by the main pier with Mt. Baker in the distance

Edmonds hosts all sorts of events throughout the year. There’s a free monthly art walk every third Thursday, 5-8pm with local artists displaying their works in various shops and cafes. We just missed an annual writers’ conference the first weekend in October that I would have loved to have attended. The Halloween bash I mentioned was tons of fun with over-the-top costumes on children and adults and music playing on the main circle. Nearly every establishment on the two closed-off streets handed out candy. The local theater had a free “haunted theater” and distributed bags of popcorn afterwards. The bakery handed out donut holes. A local church offered free coffee and hot chocolate. The local history museum hosted a for-pay haunted house. There’s a holiday market scheduled to open and more throughout the year. Find a calendar of events on the Visit Edmonds website.

In addition to all the above, the Edmonds beer scene is pretty impressive for such a small town. There are two local breweries, Salish Sea Brewing Company (downtown and offering food as well) and American Brewing Company (a taproom), Brigid’s a great bottle shop offering local craft beer, and Gallaghers’ Where-U-Brew, a spot where you can brew your own beer or sample the house brews. I’ll see if I can’t get David to do a post on those soon. A local husband and wife own a craft spirits distillery by Brigid’s called Scratch Distillery that offers tastings and workshops where you can blend and take home custom spirits. Gin is their thing, but they’ve branched into vodka and whiskey as well.

Sunset view from Anthony’s Homeport in Edmonds

We haven’t found a bad restaurant in town, but can particularly recommend classic Anthony’s Homeport which faces the yacht marina and gets a great view of sunset over Puget Sound. We hesitated to try Mexican restaurant Las Brisas because we get plenty of that in Texas…but we don’t get halibut ceviche or halibut fajitas. Awesome! For cocktails, it’s hard to beat tiny, Paris-inspired Daphne’s. A single bartender mixes classic drinks while maintaining a constant banter with patrons perched around the bar, the only seating save for two small tables. Daphne’s seems to host a never-ending party. We hear chatter and laughter from Daphne’s whenever we walk by, day or night. Although we’d stuck our heads in a couple of times, we didn’t give it a try until last night. I loved the sidecar, a 1918 Ritz Hotel in Paris concoction of brandy, Cointreau, lemon juice and a twist. David opted for a “corpse reviver” from the Savoy Cocktail Handbook circa 1930: Gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, absinthe, lemon juice and a cherry. Delish!

There’s an extensive scuba diving park just off Bracket’s Landing Park beach by the ferry dock offering walk-in dives. There is also an excellent whale watching company, Puget Sound Express, that offers year-round boat excursions. We had an incredible day with them watching humpbacks (including a nature-documentary-worthy lunge feeding episode) just 10 minutes out into the Sound and orcas in the Salish Sea. I’ll post about that separately.

Oh yeah, travel guru Rick Steves calls Edmonds home, too. His headquarters is on 4th Avenue North where visitors can book tours, borrow travel books, view videos and do a little shopping for travel gear. He’s a popular native son, philanthropist and vocal proponent of legalizing marijuana.

Our sole criticism of Edmonds is the noise. Between trains, the ferries, seaplanes, trash and recycling pick-up, and amazingly frequent lawn care involving leaf blowers and hedge trimmers, this town needs to do something about the noise pollution. It’s really out-of-keeping with the clear care taken to keep the town immaculate and inviting. Nevertheless, Edmonds is more than worth a visit if you’re in the area and an easy drive from Seattle. It’s also a good base to visit the Kitsap Peninsula by ferry, take Boeing’s impressive Future of Flight tour in nearby Everett, take the ferry from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island, and many other local attractions. There’s only one hotel in the Bowl, the Best Western Edmonds Harbor Inn, and a few AirBnB apartments, but the Bowl is undoubtedly the charming heart of Edmonds.

Het Anker: Touring one of the oldest breweries in Belgium

Het Anker (“The Anchor”) Brewery in Mechelen, Belgium, makes the highly-rated Gouden Carolus beers along with several other varieties. David and I had been to their café before and knew we liked their beers, but hadn’t had the chance to tour the brewery. So, when we called on a recent Sunday and heard there were two open spots for the 1pm tour–and none others for the rest of the day–, we dropped everything and headed to the train station and the 10-minute ride from Antwerpen-Berchem to Mechelen. A quick walk, and we arrived just in time for the €8pp tour.

The brewery sits on the edge of the historic center of Mechelen and actually occupies part of the red brick complex that formerly housed religious ladies known as beguines or begijns in Dutch. Like other beguinages/begijnhofs in Belgium, the Mechelen beguinage has been designated as a UNESCO world heritage. [Mechelen is a beautiful little town and free of the tourist hordes that plague other popular Belgian cities. You can read my raves about Mechelen here.]

Our tour (in both English and Dutch) took us through the main “tower” building which, although newer than the beguinhof, is a historical site itself. We went straight upstairs to the malt silos where a bar with barley malt, corriander, cumin, licorice and other items were on display and passed around to give an idea of the flavors that go into the various Het Anker beers. Our guide a rather opinionated and no-nonsense man, scolded a woman in the back for talking while he was talking, not realizing, I think, that she was translating. I understand both of their situations, but it made for an uncomfortable moment.

From there, we viewed gorgeous old copper tuns and a display of old bottles under a lineup of past and present Het Anker owners. Our guide was very critical of the previous owner (who wished to promote pils-style beers) and praised the current owner who wrested control of the business away from his relative to focus on craft-type beers of stronger and more unique flavors and character. I have to admit my own beer tastes side with the current owner (who lives in a red brick house in front of the brewery and next door to the café and tasting room).

A timeline of changing owners, beers and bottles

Our tour took us past an old copper “radiator” for cooling beer, a device no longer permitted under European Union regulations since it exposes the beer to the open air. According to our guide, only the lambic brewers who rely on wild ambient yeast are exempted from this rule.

Bottling methods were also on display via sample machinery and video.

A final stop brought us to a large open-air coolship (unused due to those pesky EU rules) perched on the roof of the tower and offering a view of the town.

Rooftop view of old Mechelen and St. Rumbold’s Cathedral bell tower

Descending back to ground level, our guide led us to the tasting room located upstairs in the café building. There, at a long table, we were given two 15cl beers: the Gouden Carolus Tripel and the Gouden Carolus Classic, a Belgian dark beer. David and I have enjoyed Gouden Carolus beers on many occasions. I’ll quote the brewery on these two beers as I have no disputes with their descriptions.

Het Anker offers the following about its Gouden Carolus Tripel: “Despite the technological advances, this beer is brewed according to ancient tradition and unites, as before, the best raw materials from our soil as ripe barley and fine hops, to preserve a maximum of pure flavor. This beer was originally brewed for the Knights of the Golden Fleece in 1491.

Full graceful tenderness, with a clean and neat taste, this beer will enchant you: matured in the bottle, exclusively obtained from pale malt, highly fermented and 100% natural. With a full-bodied flavor that still works thirst quenching, thanks to a balanced hopping. For ideal savouring, gently pour out in one fluent movement, at a temperature of 5-7° C (41-45°F). This pleasant golden blond beer is preferred by all who loves heavier, somewhat seasoned and refreshing beer.

This tripel is world-class.
Already in 2002 this beer won the Gold Award at the biennial World Beer Cup in the category ‘Tripel’. In 2010 this beer won gold at the European Beer Star in the category ‘Belgian Style Tripel’. In 2012, again followed the gold award for best Tripel beer in the world (“World’s Best Belgian-Style Tripel”).”

Het Anker describes the Gouden Carolus Classic as: “Dark, very balanced dosed caramel and aromatic malts provide, in combination with a traditional high fermentation, a unique beer that unites the warmth of wine and the freshness of beer. This makes it very suitable in combination with culinary specialties such as stews, wild, pates and even sabayon.

Following earlier prestigious awards, this beer was selected “Worlds’ Best Dark Ale” (WBA, 2012).”

Our fellow beer fans were from many countries: Turkey, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, U.S. and many more. We enjoyed chatting over our excellent beers, then David and I walked the few steps to snag a table at the café for a much-needed late lunch. Although we’d enjoyed a previous dinner at the café (of traditional Belgian beef-and-beer stew and a fish plate), I’m sorry to report that we found our lunchtime hamburgers truly awful. The bun was good and the side salad was fine, but the meat was an odd and unidentifiable tan mix fried in oil. Never again. (This wasn’t the first Belgian hamburger we’ve found to be off-putting. Maybe it’s just a case of “different strokes for different folks.”) Oh well, the beers we chose to accompany the food were excellent, so all was not lost.

Sadly, this burger looks much better than it was.

Practical Stuff: Start to finish, our tour and tasting took about an hour and a half or a little more. Individual tours of the Het Anker Brewery are offered Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 11.00 am, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 11.00 am and 1.00 pm. The cost is € 8 per person, € 2 for children under 12 years old. Two 15 cl beers or one soft drink are included with the tour price. Advance booking is strongly advised. There’s a form (in Dutch) online to request a reservation. (The brewery will respond to confirm or not.) or call 0032 15 28 71 41. Group tours are available daily with reservation.

Beer post: Lier rhymes with beer!

Just 10-15 minutes by train from Antwerp, Lier is not only a picture-perfect Belgian town, but is also known for its beer. With a reputation like that, how could David and I resist going? Short answer: We couldn’t.

We chose a sunny Saturday for our day trip so we could check out the Saturday market in Lier’s main square and take a boat tour on the River Nete in addition to scouting out the local brews. [Check out my previous post for a travelogue of our day in Lier.] At casual market-side café ‘t Gomerke, I chose a Caves (pronounced, more or less, like “cah fess”) for my first beer of the day and David opted for a Sint Gummarus Tripel.

Caves (5.8% alc) is a high-fermentation beer brewed without artificial coloring or preservatives and without adding sugar. It was the most widely sold beer in Lier in the 1700’s. According to the Visit Lier website, beer has been brewed in the town since the 14th century and although there have been numerous breweries in the town over the years, the last one closed in 1967. This ended the production of Caves until 1976 when a guild called De Heren van Lier (“The Gentlemen of Lier”) arranged to have Caves brewed again using the original recipe.

My Caves poured a dark copper color with a white head that laced thickly and persistently. The smell was green apples and molasses with a hint of funk. My first sip was predominantly caramel and a sweet and sour cherry tartness that reminded me of a Rodenbach Grand Cru. I was surprised there was no added sugar because my initial impression was of too much sweetness. Drinking more, I got caramel and brown sugar, Granny Smith apples, dark bread and sour cherries. Medium body, soft carbonation. I really was afraid Caves was going to be too sweet for me, but the sweetness stopped just short of being a problem and I found myself enjoying this beer. Of course, it didn’t hurt that it was served nicely cold on a gorgeous October day overlooking the Saturday market in Lier’s historic Grote Markt (main square).

St. Gummarus is the patron saint of Lier and two beers–a dubbel and a tripel–bear his name. The Sint Gummarus tripel (8.3% alc) is a golden color with a long-lasting 1/4″ white head. The barnyard nose carries through to the flavor along with caramel, bread, a crisp-to-the-point-of-sharp spiciness, peach and coriander. David noted a slight bitter/metallic trace as well. All in all an enjoyable tripel and distinctive, if not the best we’ve had.

Check out that head on the Kempisch Vuur tripel!

Later in the afternoon at Den Moment yet another outdoor café on the main square (now emptied of the market stalls), I ordered a De liter van Pallieter or simply “Pallieter”, a local tripel. Since we found no Bierke Plezierke beers on offer (Lier beers we’ve sadly yet to try), David decided to venture a bit further afield and ordered a Kempisch Vuur tripel from the nearby town of Pirlot.

The Pallieter (8%) was my favorite beer of the day, a classic Belgian tripel with all the barny “banana” goodness that implies in both the nose and taste. The flavor also has a floral/herbal quality. The beer is a not-quite-clear gold with a white head and lacing that dissipates. Pallieter has a smooth, velvety mouthfeel that buffers the alcohol. This beer is a pleasure to drink.

The Kempisch Vuur tripel (7.5%) had, like David’s earlier Sint Gummarus tripel, a spicy sharpness. An opaque golden hue, it poured a large and sustained meringue-like head. (see photo above) The nose was barny and spicy, the taste coriander and spicy clove. It had a thin, effervescent mouthfeel.

Sint Gummarus dubbel and the Zimmertoren

Our final drink opportunity came with a light dinner at Café Refuge where we sat outside just in front of the icon astronomical clock in Lier’s Zimmer Tower. Once again thwarted in our search for Bierke Plezierke beers, I ordered the Sint Gummarus dubbel. This beer poured a cola brown with a 3/4″ head that quickly receded. Classic prunes and dark bread nose. The taste was also prunes, dark bread, figs, caramel, and smooth spice. Medium body. A tasty dubbel.

In sum, we enjoyed all the Lier beers we tried even if they didn’t make our All-Time Favorites list. I’ve seen some mixed reviews online of some of these beers. The most negative seem so off as to make we wonder at the portability of these beers. Some criticisms were so far removed from what we tasted–and even described very different colors than what we saw–that I have to think these reviews simply got a bad and/or poorly stored bottle of beer. We’d definitely visit Lier again, both for its absolutely stunning architecture and setting and for its beer. Besides, we still need to track down Den Strooien Hoed and Den Blèèèter (yes, I got all those è’s right) from Bierke Plezierke.

Picturesque Lier, Belgium

A Koninklijke Moedige Bootvissers tour boat on the River Nete in Lier

Pretty Lier, Belgium, is only a 10-minute train ride from our local Antwerpen-Berchem station and it was top on my day trip wish list for our current cat- and house-sitting stay in Antwerp. (The trip is another 5 minutes or so if you leave from Antwerpen-Centraal, the architectural gem that is the only other train station in Antwerp.) With our sights on weekend-only boat tours of Lier, we took advantage of our first gorgeous October Saturday to make the short trip. Our Belgian Rail weekend fare tickets cost €4.40 apiece, round trip. (Choose the “weekend ticket internet” option when given a choice for the half-price weekend fare. Print your ticket and show it to the agent on board the train when asked.)

It’s about a 10-minute walk from the train station to Lier’s lovely Grote Markt (main square) dominated by the stadhuis (city hall) and it’s attached UNESCO-designated belfry dating to 1369. On this sunny Saturday, the square was filled with market stalls selling everything from clothing to cheese, produce, meats and more.

Lier’s Saturday market with the 1369 UNESCO-designated belfry and stathuis in the background

As always, high on our list of to-dos in a new Belgium town is to try the local beer. Lier, which rhymes with “beer,” is known for beer and has 6 such brews. We ordered two with our light lunch at ‘t Goemerke, a market-side café on the main square with a simple menu. I opted for the unique Caves (pronounced more or less like “cah fess”) and found it to be an enjoyable if somewhat sweet sour along the lines of a Rodenbach Grand Cru. David chose the Sint Gummarus Tripel, a crisp version of the Belgian classic. We’ll do a separate write-up on Lier beers in an upcoming post, so I won’t go into more detail here.

With an hour between the end of lunch at the boat tour, we figured we had time to take in the Breugelland exhibit at the modestly-sized Stedelijk Museum Wuyts-Van Campen en Baron. These paintings are on loan from the long-closed-for-rennovations Koninklijk Museum Voor Schone Kunsten (Fine Arts Museum) in Antwerp so we were glad for the chance to see them. This is apparently the seventh and last such collaboration between the two museums (although the Antwerp Fine Arts Museum is not set to reopen until 2019).

We finished up the art museum with just enough time to walk to the riverside starting point for the boat tours put on by Koninklijke Moedige Bootvissers (Royal Brave Boat Fishermen). We spent 45 minutes gliding through Lier in a converted eel-fishing boat (with a non-stop Dutch commentary that our companions–all Dutch-speaking–found very amusing). While we would have liked to have learned more/anything from our guide, we really enjoyed the boat ride and the perspective of Lier from the River Nete. Boat tours are offered Saturdays, Sundays and holidays April 1 – October 31, 2-6 p.m. Prices are €3.50 for adults, €2 for children.

Old lock house, end of the river for the tour boats

After our boat ride, we wandered charming cobbled streets of the adjacent begijnhof (“beguinage” in French). There are begijnhofs in many Belgian towns and I think all of them are UNESCO-listed. I like to describe beguines as “almost-nuns.” They were religious ladies who lived in these communities and took vows, but these vows did not include forsaking marriage or vows of poverty. The Lier begijnhof is particularly picturesque and the begijnhof church is really spectacular (and a far cry from the tiny chapel in the Antwerp begijnhof). We had the church to ourselves save for an older man playing magical music on the organ. Lovely!

A cobbled begijnhof street. The arch at the end of the lane leads to the tree-shaded riverside walk and park that circles the city.

We exited the beginjof onto the tree-shaded riverside walk and park that circles the city. We shared the path with other walkers, families and couples, bicycles and baby carriages. This area was part of a walk through town laid out by the nice man in the tourist office in the stadhuis. The downstairs of the stadhuis is open to the public and is worth a look just for the elegant architecture and painted walls and ceilings:

Lier Tourist Office in the stadhuis. Maps and lots of brochures (mostly in Dutch) are available along with friendly English-speaking help at the desk.

Back in town, we headed to Sint-Gummaruskerk, Lier’s main church. As we approached, the bells began ringing madly, an at-first-charming call to vespers that continued for 30 minutes, including our quick exploration of the church and our escape to the nearby Sint-Pieterskapel, an unremarkable old chapel save for its painted ceiling. Back outside the chapel, the clanging of the bells of Sint-Gummarus continued to echo off the surrounding buildings and the otherwise-quiet and immaculate residential neighborhoods, a racket that must get old if you live nearby. Enough already!

The bell tower of Sint-Gummaruskerk in the background

After wandering a further stretch of the riverside park circling the town, we strolled back to the Grote Markt, now empty of the market and glowing in the afternoon sun. Clearly, this was prime time for a couple more local beers at café het Moment. I opted for the Pallieter tripel (a true Lier beer) while David had the Kempisch Vuur (an abbey tripel from Brewery Pirlot in nearby Zandhoven). Again, we found both to be really good, and better than their Rate Beer reviews, especially mine. More details on the beers in a later post.

Somewhat full from the beer and accompanying snacks, we opted for a light dinner on Zimmersplein, a narrow plaza lined with restaurants and bracketed on one end by the town’s iconic astronomical clock tower, the Zimmertoren, and on the other by the “Prisoner’s Gate” an old jail and part of the long-gone medieval city wall.

We snagged another prime outdoor seat, this time just in front of the complicated clock tower in a restaurant aptly-named Café Refuge. We ordered a couple of beers and quiche and salad, not expecting anything remarkable from the food. Happily, both the quiches (one pumpkin and chevre, and one broccoli and nuts) and salads (made with mixed greens, herbs, raisins, grapes, apple, strawberries, cucumbers and tomatoes) were atypical and excellent. A just-right end to a delightful, low-key day!

Quiche and salad at Café Refuge by the Zimmertoren astronomical clock

Find out more about Lier (in English, Dutch, French and German) at the Visit Lier website.

Pärnu, Estonia: spas, beach…and snow!

Located on a sheltered bay with broad, beautiful beaches, Pärnu, Estonia, has been a popular spa town since the 1800’s with Estonians as well as visitors from nearby countries. Wanting to get into the spirit of things, I booked us into the seafront Rannahotell, a white nautically-inspired spa hotel dating to 1935-37. A “landmark of Estonian Functionalism,” the Rannahotell is listed as a cultural heritage site.

Completely remodeled since its early days as a “sanatorium” or place to restore health, our room was decorated with sleek modern furniture, light woods and neutral colors. Big windows looked onto an expansive stretch of beach.

The hotel offers attentive service along with an airy piano bar and truly extensive breakfast buffet in a window-lined room overlooking the beach. David and I both booked spa treatments at the hotel which nowadays offers traditional massage treatments rather than the local mud. We both thoroughly enjoyed our massages, but we were shocked to find that it had begun to snow while we were in the spa. Soon, the beach was blanketed in white!

The unseasonably cold spring was a topic of conversation everywhere we went in Parnu. Several people suggested we should come back for the bustle of summer and all the beach-y activities at that time of year, but we kind of liked the laid-back, uncrowded vibe of this chilly spring.

Beautiful Apostolic Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration In Pärnu

Driving the short distance into town, we enjoyed strolling in old Pärnu. As elsewhere, things were slow at this off-season time. Since we weren’t really interested in shopping or specific sight-seeing, we merely wandered.

Tucked into a courtyard just inside the arch at 21 Rüütli Street, we came across this intriguing relic from the past, a granary from the 1600’s

Of course, David had to try local beer (not that I resisted) and we found a nice venue at Wirre Craft Beer Bar. Tucked in to a cozy cellar space, Wirre was empty when we got there early on a Tuesday evening and stayed nearly so until we left. This gave us time to visit with the knowledgeable young owner who tended bar. Wirre offers lots of Estonian beers along with many foreign beers. We particularly enjoyed the Óllenaut SimkoEil APA.

Ducking inside Wirre for a little local craft beer

Our post-beer dinner was pizza at Ephesus, located at one end of Rüütli. It was OK for a simple meal, but nothing to write about.

Another night, on the other hand, we opted for receptionist-recommended Pärnu Kalamajaka Kohvik for seafood and enjoyed an excellent dinner. Although unimpressive from the outside, the restaurant is pleasantly stylish inside.

In the dining room: another table joined us and our fellow diner before we finished our meal

The bar and café side of Pärnu Kalamajaka Kohvik

Apparently, Pärnu Kalamajaka Kohvik is also a seafood market and one of several Kalamajakas restaurants in Estonia, named among the best restaurants in Estonia in 2016. We enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner for €59, which included an appetizer, two entrees, crusty bread, 2 glasses of wine and a dessert .

Fresh seafood pasta and a generous salad

Kalamajaka Kohvik is proud of their desserts

Pärnu Kalamajaka Kohvik is located at Suur-Sepa 18 in Pärnu.

Beer Post: Koht Beer Bar and Põhjala Brewery’s Speakeasy in Tallinn, Estonia

We were in Tallinn for the Tallinn Craft Beer Weekend, but tickets had been sold out for months, so all we could do is borrow a list of breweries and beers that would be represented from the owner of Old Town beer bar Koht and wistfully pour over what we’d be missing. Fortunately, Koht, (which just means “place”) had a lot of great craft beers on offer, so it was easy to drown our disappointment. Koht is a tiny place located through an arch off Lai Street in Lower Old Town. Despite its size, it was the place most recommended to us for regional craft and specialty beers.

Through the arch: The front door of Koht (and our friendly bartender)

Koht bar with doorway leading to the attached beer shop

We visited Koht on a slow weekday afternoon and enjoyed visiting with the knowledgeable owner and bartender and sampling some of their recommendations of draft and bottled beers from Estonia and around the world. A poster for “Large Barn Oven” rye stout from Lehe Brewery caught my eye and we had to try it. A product of a small Estonian brewery, the beer is dark and semi-sweet, tasting of malt and black bread (9% alc., €3.50 for 25cl). Draft selections at Koht were interesting and good, but limited. The bottle collection, on the other hand, is extensive.

Find Koht at 10133, Lai 8, 10133 Tallinn, Estonia; Phone: +372 644 3302. Their hours are flexible. We were told they usually open around 5pm, but we found them open at 3 or 3:30pm.

Things were slow on a weekday afternoon, but we heard Koht gets packed on weekend evening. The interior space is cozy any time but would be great on a cold evening with the fireplace lit.

Because of the Tallinn Craft Beer Weekend, popular Estonian brewery Põhjala opened its Speakeasy bar on the “wrong” side of the tracks near the train station. The friendly young woman tending bar told us the bar opens in the summer and from time to time throughout the year, so it would be worth checking with the brewery or the Speakeasy Facebook page for opening days if, like us, you’re in Tallinn in off-season. The bar is spartan but had a good range of Põhjala beers in bottle and on tap and the neighborhood is not scenic, but it does offer some dirt-cheap Asian restaurants. A restaurant adjacent to the Põhjala bar, Burger Box, would take orders through a small window between their spaces and hand through dinner to be eaten at the bar. Põhjala’s Speakeasy is located at Kopli 4, 10412 Tallinn, Estonia.

We tried several Põhjala beers including their Pime ÖÖ Imperial Stout (13.6% alc.) and an interesting cassis-flavored porter, ÖÖ Cassis (10.5% alc.). The stout is rich, black and sweet, tasting of espresso and dark chocolate. The porter was interesting; also very rich and dark and coffee-bitter but with a touch of sweet-and-sour from the currants.