Selfie photo: Les M with L to R: Les, Mark, David, Tim, Simon & Graham |
Martin's Pale Ale
a previous version of Martin's Pale Ale 2018 |
Radio Minerva Tripel
ABC Taproom and Brewery
Keith Moore
Heiko Müller & Keith Moore (photo: HM) |
A blog about travels to European destinations and visits to beer festivals, pubs, bars and breweries.
Selfie photo: Les M with L to R: Les, Mark, David, Tim, Simon & Graham |
a previous version of Martin's Pale Ale 2018 |
Heiko Müller & Keith Moore (photo: HM) |
Arriving in Antwerp on Thursday 29 June, after travelling from London to Brussels by Eurostar, the first bar we visited, with our luggage, was De Kroon van Hopland located between the impressive Antwerpen Centraal station and Hostel Pulcinella.
Arriving slightly before the 16:00 hrs opening time, we could watch Thomas perform the daily set up routine involving placement of the outdoor furniture followed by moving the chairs and stools off the marble table tops and onto the hard floor inside the corner bar.As always, the first beer in Antwerp has to be a locally brewed Bolleke De Koninck. The complimentary nibbles were appreciated by David, Mark and Tim (photographer).Before we left there was a chance for Tim Thomas to present Thomas T with West Berkshire CAMRA Ullage magazine and appreciate the coincidence of our shared initials.The bar has lots of interesting features including a steel sculpture over the entrance and the front of a Volvo car with illuminated headlamps hanging inside. A Threads post by @timofnewbury has more photos from our visit.
On Friday 30 June 2023, after a tram ride to 'Dublin' stop and a look at one of the tram 'traction' buildings (Brabo 2) designed by Van Belle & Medina architects, our group walked to Gaarkeuken 110 at Vosseschijnstraat 21.There is a spacious and light interior that features oak beams, a colourful bar and real plants. There are large and smaller tables and distinctive flat cushions for the chairs.
Mark, David and Graham arrived later and in time to miss a heavy downpour after which the weather improved. Tim provided our helpful part time barman Dries with Ullage magazines and persuaded him to pose for a photo. On this occasion, we didn't get to meet Jeroen Peeters, the proprietor of Dr Beer, remembered by David from his December 2019 visit.Find more photos of Dr Beer in Tim's Threads post: https://www.threads.net/t/CuktGTwtbD-
Inside the tavern is a bar that looks as though it was made from a wooden lifeboat. Draught and bottled beers including the nearby Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie range are available at the bar. After our beers, we were kindly invited to view the chapel in stern of the ship and appreciate the thickness of it's concrete hull. The ship's church is only open for the Sunday service.
For more photos see Tim's post on Threads: https://www.threads.net/t/Cuo7dlxMrer
After a visit to the estimable Cafe Kulminator on Thursday 29 June, we headed to Dansing Chocola for an evening meal of Stoofvlees, witloof slaw and frites. Dansing Chocola is situated at 159 Kloosterstraat, at one corner of Willem Lepelstraat with Heilig Huisken on the other corner. We hadn't booked but were greeted and shown to a table inside near the bar and provided with a basket of bread and butter.
There are large windows on two sides of the room and plenty of unusual decor to provide interest while we waited for beers to arrive from the bar. Thanks to David for suggesting a visit to Dansing Chocola as we enjoyed good food, beer, service and value in a relaxing atmosphere.Only 50 metres away from Dansing Chocola as the crow flies, but about 150 metres away on foot, we met up with Paul and Jennie at Cafe de Vischmijn on a street corner at Riemstraat 20. They had arrived in Antwerp on a later train and dined at Bier Central before this rendezvous.The interior looked interesting especially the ceiling but we sat outside in a sheltered area and enjoyed glasses of cold tank fresh Duvel 666.The owner found time to chat with our group. Yves Van Roy introduced tank beer at Cafe de Vischmijn in 2016 and his customers tell him that he serves the best Stella Artois and Bolleke De Koninck in Antwerp.
On Friday 30 June, after a second visit to Cafe Kulminator on this trip, and a meal at Paters Vaetje, we moved on to The Northerner, which Simon rates highly but this would be Tim's first visit.Saison Dupont was our beer of choice here. Previously, Tim had asked Yves Van Roy if Cafe de Vischmijn stocked a Saison like Dupont but he was not aware of it. After checking he explained that Antwerp is a long way from Tourpes which is only 50 km from Lille and he prefers to stock locally brewed beers.Enjoying his first visit to The Northerner, Tim chatted to Joachim who had served our beers. As a souvenir of our visit he accepted a copy of West Berkshire CAMRA Ullage magazine. Traditionally, our group would be in Antwerp for the Beer Passion Weekend festival in Groenplaats. The festival date was a week earlier in 2023 so another first for this group was to see Groenplaats (above) without the usual barriers enclosing the festival site. On Saturday 1 July, after a meal at a small Syrian cafe on Hoogstraat, our group headed to Cafe Ernst by the river Scheldt at Ernest Van Dijckkai 18. Cafe Ernst specialises in 'Craft Beer and Natural Wine' and has a contemporary style. We found a large table at the rear, near a spiral staircase. The draught beer list is on a blackboard and the full beer menu is on the pub's Untappd page. After a draught Zinnebir from Brasserie de la Senne, Tim enjoyed a fruity bottle of Viven Master IPA while sitting across from Jennie and Paul.Simon's plan was to visit nearby Cafe Pardaf but as it was closing we continued past Brabo's Monument in the Grote Markt to Den Engel.Writing about Den Engel in Belgian Cafe Culture, Regula Ysewijn mentions 'Den Engel is the only cafe in Antwerp to have a traditional Geuze corkscrew (geuzestoppentrekker)'. A daytime visit might be a better time to have a close look at the bar and interior of this popular cafe. One more reason to return to Antwerp!
Petra's Cafe was included in Regular Ysewijn's book as 'an institution in the port of Antwerp ... the cafe is the living room of the dockworkers waiting for work'. However things have changed, there are new exterior signs, new furniture and music with a North African sound. The beer range is minimal but Les and Tim enjoyed a morning coffee, served with a complimentary Belgian chocolate, before heading to MAS on Saturday 1 July. A panel on the end wall shows Petra's cafe as it was when frequented by dockworkers.On Sunday 2nd July, their last day in Antwerp, heading for De Duifkens, Tim and David chanced upon the bronze sculpture of Den Deugniet (the rascal / naughty boy) on a concrete plinth. The rascal's cheeky image also appears on the Den Deugniet beer bottle label. The 7.5% ABV Blonde is brewed by Brasserie du Bocq, near Dinant. The small sculpture is on Korte Gasthuisstraat, a pedestrian street that runs north from the eastern end of Oudaan passing Frites Atelier. The original sculpture was by Luc Verlee (1976). Apparently often stolen, the current sculpture may be more recent. At De Duifkens, David chose an outside table with a pleasant view of tree-lined Graanmarkt and the sound of birds from a market stall with caged birds for sale.Bierpassie Weekend at Groenplaats - looking south + looking north |
Groenplaats and the streets to the north like Melkmarkt and Wolstraat include the site of the annual Bierpassie Weekend festival with access to several good beer cafes, food outlets and coffee shops.
Entrance to the Bierapassie Weekend costs 10 euros and includes a programme, tasting glass and two beer tokens (each with 3 euro value for a a 20 cl serving).Richard, Simon and Dave choosing their next beers from the programme |
Andrew, Simon, Keith & Richard (Saturday evening) |
Cafe Pelikaan (rear courtyard), Friday 2 July |