Hello from Bruges, Belgium, where I’m sitting at a bar sipping on Ename Blond and listening to “Islands in the Stream.” After three days here, I finally found a quiet part of town and a quiet place to sit down and write this week’s newsletter. It came after I had developed a love-hate relationship with this town.
You see, Bruges is absolutely beautiful. It’s charming. The scenery and the architecture and the history are all breathtaking. The local beer is life-changing. The locals I’ve met have gone out of their way to offer me beer suggestions (amusingly, two bartenders first offered my favorite beer from Belgium, which suggests I might have good taste in beer).
But my god, the tourists. I’ll admit I’m one of them, but I’m not among the ones gathering in throngs led by a tour guide with little flags blocking this city’s narrow streets, I’m not lining up outside a McDonald’s to eat frites, I’m not taking a goddamn horse and carriage ride or canal boat tour full of plodding gawkers who think this is their version of Disney World. The most enjoyable part of my visit to Bruges up until now has been the walks through town back to my hotel in the dead of night, because save for a few drunk college kids from the UK, the tourists have finally left the streets and gone to bed.
A Belgian friend of mine asked, “does anyone actually live in Bruges anymore?” I started to question whether anyone did, but figured I’d find the locals who weren’t working if I strayed off the beaten path. Where do they drink? I imagine it’s places like Volkscafé Sint-Jakobs, the bar I’m seated at right now at midday. The menu makes it abundantly clear that I’m welcome here, but I’m a guest in their house:
This bar was recommended to me by friend, beer writer, world traveler, Blind Tiger regular, and Beer Drinker of the Year (no, really) Warren Monteiro, who gave me a trove of suggestions on where to drink in Bruges, but was most insistent about this one. I now understand why. It’s authentic, it’s friendly, it’s got fantastic beer, and it’s not overrun with tourists. I’m glad I made it here, but I wish I had made it here sooner in the week.
I dropped Warren’s name to Tom, the owner here, and his eyes lit up. “Oh, Warren! From New York,” he exclaimed. The regulars here at the bar, most with several decades on me, overheard Tom and said, “ah, yes! Warren!” Next thing I know, Tom is playing “New York, New York” on the sound system and I’m being offered a shot of apple brandy from the regulars because I’m from the Big Apple.
So much for getting some writing done in this quiet bar. I’ll save my thoughts on the evolution of Belgian beer through the lens of the very lovely BXL Beer Fest for next week’s newsletter.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,789
Total breweries visited in 2022: 259
Total breweries visited in Belgium: 8
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2784, Brasserie de la Senne, Brussels, Belgium (Visited 27-Aug-2022)
I mentioned earlier that two bartenders in Bruges recommended my favorite beer from Belgium. That beer is Brasserie de la Senne’s Taras Boulba, a hoppy Belgian Pale Ale that I occasionally drink in the U.S. whenever I can find it. But as many times as I’ve had it, it was very special to drink it at the source. This is two weeks in a row that I’ve gotten to drink two of my all-time favorite beers at the place where they’re made, and I feel truly blessed to have that opportunity.
The new De La Senne brewery shines like a beacon from across a vacant lot dotted with parking and tall grass. It’s a new-build in an industrial park called Tour & Taxis that’s being redeveloped on the north side of Brussels. The building’s facade currently has a colorful face to celebrate the anniversary of Zinnebir, the flagship Belgian Pale named for a popular biennial Brussels parade.
Indeed, for as much as de la Senne is an established part of Belgium’s beer culture, with its beer ubiquitous in Brussels pubs and restaurants, it’s relatively young — the brewery is just twenty years old. Taras Boulba was only brewed for the first time in 2006. It’s a new school brewery with old school techniques. The shiny, glassy taproom represents the new school. The beer brewed mainly in traditional styles represents the old school. De La Senne celebrates these in perfect harmony, and it was an absolute joy to drink here.
Social Post of the Week
I regret to inform you that Time Out New York is at it again.
Long Read of the Week
Please pause to read the words of some current and former beer industry folks who have chosen to go sober from a piece compiled by Jerard Fagerberg at Good Beer Hunting. From an outsider’s perspective, the beer industry can appear to be all fun and games, but for those struggling with their own relationship with alcohol, it can be extremely challenging.
One Last Thing
If you’re back stateside and looking for something to escape the city to do this holiday weekend, Drowned Lands is celebrating their second anniversary all weekend long with music, food, and beer releases. Speaking of anniversaries, the following weekend both KCBC and Interboro celebrate six years in business with simultaneous events that could make for a fun Saturday afternoon.
Cheers,
Chris