Brussels

On Saturday we caught the train the 28 miles from Antwerp to Brussels.  It was a cold February day but the sun was shining, the sky was blue and we found ourselves whizzing around on the metro and trams taking in some of the sights of the city.  

By late afternoon it was definitely time to find some good beer.  A quick search online earlier had thrown up a new place for me, Nanobrasserie de l'Ermitage Taproom (28 Rue Lambert Cricks).  Located south of the centre, nearby Cantillon, the bar was at the rear of the brewery in a single room.  It has wooden pallets converted to seating, more pallets recycled as light fittings with filament bulbs hanging from them, a bit of street art and some hip background music playing.  The great reviews it's getting have brought out the crowds and there's a decent number of folks here today enjoying the ales.
We tried a West Coast pale ale, Jasmin IPA and stout from the five brews on offer and all rated highly and got the thumbs of approval.

We hop on a tram and travel a short distance to Porte de Flandre, which is close to my next bar, Brussels Beer Project (188 Rue Antoine Dansaert).  This is also thriving with a large Saturday teatime crowd, but we manage to bag a couple of seats towards the back of the bar.  It's a T-shaped place with a bustling bar in the narrow front part, opening up at the back where you find the brewing kit and racks of wooden casks.
They have a great beer list - I can't resist one of the numbered Experimental brews, but it is my second choice, 'Night Drift' a 9% Imperial Stout which was a real winner.  I proclaimed that "you'll never get a better stout than that", then scored it 4.5 out of 5.  Leaving that 0.5, just in case I'm wrong.

Beer Geek at the Brussels Beer Project

Right back in the heart of Brussels we visited Delirium Cafe (Impasse De La Fidelite 4).
Delirium have created something of an empire, with the alleyway they're located in containing a number of bars for various tastes and labelled the 'Delirium Village'.  
It's well known, popular, and super-busy this evening.  The bar is long with plenty of staff behind it, so it's not too much of a chore to get served, but it's standing room only.
There is a great choice of interesting beers on tap and, despite visiting several times, I've never delved into the mammoth bottle beer list.  And it is mammoth - the cafe was entered into the Guinness Book of Records some years ago for stocking the greatest number of beers, counted at 2,004.
In future I'd happily hit the Delirium again, although on a weekday or earlier on - it's too crowded and stiflingly hot tonight for a second beer, so we move on.

Entering the world of the pink elephant

My final choice of the evening was Moeder Lambic (Place Fontainas 8).  This is another revisit to somewhere that I loved on my previous trip to Belgium.  It's busy, but cooler and much more relaxed than Delirium and we manage to grab stools at the bar.
I stick to local breweries, selecting a very hoppy 'Psycho Table Beer' by No Science, followed by 'Tanteke' from En Stoemelings,  both Brussels breweries who have set up in the past few years.

This Belgian trip was over far too fast, but we had a great weekend ticking off a variety of different bars, a few sightseeing hot spots and one evening of live music.  It's probably time to dust off the Belgian beer guide and plan a return trip to explore some new towns and bars with a bit more time on our hands.

The Mannekin Pis was very crowded, so I figured this alternative in the Boris Boy shop
window nearby seemed a fine alternative.

Antwerp

A Whistle-Stop Visit

Mrs PropUpTheBar asked me if I wanted to....told me we had to go and see her favourite band Imagine Dragons on their 2018 tour.  Instead of a trip to Birmingham or the O2, we opted to jump on the Eurostar and sample some great Belgian beer at the same time.  
I remembered from a visit years ago that Antwerp was a lovely city, although it wasn't so pretty on first impressions....

Extreme Roadworks.

The trouble is, there's a lot of good beer to be drunk in Antwerp and we had just a few hours in which to explore.  To scupper us further still, Antwerp public transport had picked this Friday to go on strike, which meant we'd have to walk around the town.  And it turns out to be quite a big place to walk around.

We arrived in the mid-afternoon, checked into our hotel, then headed first for Kulminator (Vleminckveld 32, 2000 Antwerp).  This was somewhere that was closed last time I was in this neck of the woods.

Kulminator has been voted several times by RateBeer users as the best bar in the world.
It's quite unlike anywhere else I've been.  Small, insanely cluttered with beer paraphernalia, and run by an elderly couple who potter around at their own pace whilst gentle classical music plays in the background.
What was once a bar counter has been filled with a huge collection of empty bottles.  Tables have been sacrificed to precariously stack boxes on and another favoured for a shambolic office in the corner rather than customer seating.  
And it's got a cuckoo clock!  You don't get one those in Brewdog.

Little room at the bar beyond the Kulminator bottle collection

World-wide fame has come from the outstanding beer selection here.  They've squirrelled away beers in their cellar for years, releasing them for sale in vintage condition.  I confess: out-of-practice with those giant Belgian beer lists, I was a little overwhelmed here.  I'm led to believe that the beer list contains bottles from defunct breweries and ales dating back to the '90's.  I'd love to say we smartly picked something aged and rare, but we randomly pointed at the tap list and had a Rodenbach Vintage and a wicked 11% Kasteel Winter, both very different, both lovely.

A fifteen minute walk further south, I'd decided to take in a visit to the brew pub t'Parkhuis (Vlaamsekaai 76, 2000 Antwerp).   It's located in an old warehouse in the Southern Docks  area, with brewing having begun in 1996.  The brewery equipment is prominently on display at the front, whilst heading back it's dimly lit with exposed brickwork and a lot of seating. t'Parkhuis is huge but it's deadly quiet this evening with us being the 4th and 5th patrons. 
And still, with a ratio of 2 staff to 2 tables, I'm struggling to catch anyone's attention to pay the bill.

Brewery kit on display at t'Parkhuis

With just two brews on tap here I chose the 6% Bruin beer.  It's described on their website in quite an alarming way:  "At the start you can feel a strong attack of a strange mix".  I wouldn't say it attacked me as such....it didn't do much at all really...a pretty average beer.  Better, I think, was the bottle we had, 'Het Stalen Ros', a tasty 6.8% farmhouse ale.



Sadly no time in the town square to pop into Gollem or Billies beer bar, as it was obvious there was a long trek to get to the music venue and even more obvious that if we missed the start of the gig for the sake of another drink, I would be in big trouble.
I imaginatively managed to find a route to the Sports Palais which took in a giant loop of Antwerp's outer suburbs, even with the added excitement of walking in the wrong direction at one point.
But we made it.  Jupiler in plastic cups.  And some grumbling on my part that it was too loud, too dark, too hot....the kids these days... etc etc....

On the way back we found time to stop at the Beerlovers Bar (Rotterdamstraat 105, 2060 Antwerp).  This is a wonderful, bright modern bar for, um, lovers of beer.  It's busy, but comfortable late on a Friday evening with a crowd enjoying a great selection including stouts, saisons and sours from Belgium and beyond.  Knowing how good De Struise Brouwers generally are, I picked their 'Randolique' an 8% bourbon barrel aged Belgian triple.
I'd love to have tried more beers here, but it had been a helluva long day and my bed was calling.  I guess I'll have to come back another time and do Antwerp more justice.

A much better picture postcard shot of Antwerp.  No-one's digging up the Grote Markt, although they have managed to squeeze a crane into the top corner.

Banbury Pub Crawl

Situated in North Oxfordshire, 23 miles north of Oxford, is the market town of Banbury.  It's a well known town thanks in part to a nursery rhyme which poses the questions: what's a 'cock horse' and why would a fine lady be wearing bells on her toes?
Banbury also now has two micro pubs with the opening of the 2nd, The Old Town Ale & Cider house at the tail end of 2017.
So on a cold and wet winter Saturday we hopped on a train to check it out.
First destination was The White Horse (50-52 North Bar Street, OX16 0TH - web) where we knew we could grab a bite to eat and a decent pint. 
This Everard's pub has a lot going for it - log fires, good pub grub, quality real ales, a keen support of local music and a selection of free deodorant in the gents loos.  I'm not sure I've ever needed a dose of Right Guard on a pub visit - maybe I have? - but it seems a thoughtful touch. 
They also have collections of various bits'n'bobs around the walls and on the window ledges, in a nice way rather than a pub-co trying to create a 'theme' kinda way.  Silver tea pots, ceramic animals, pewter tankards and old books adorn the room.

Novelty tea pot collection at the White Horse

A plate of food and a pint of Derby Brewing Co mild later and we're on our way. 

Just around the corner on a narrow pedestrianised shopping street isThe Old Town Ale & Cider House (Church Lane, OX16 5LR). 
It's been converted from something called a 'health food shop'.  It has hop decorations, a mis-match of furniture, a corner full of clutter and a solitary toilet which doubles up as the I.T room. 
Of the four casks on offer here, there is a 75% 'tap takeover' by nearby Northamptonshire brewer Silverstone.  I've only had their beer once before, so this was a good chance to try a couple of these.
The man-in-charge, John Bellinger, is a thoroughly friendly chap keen to chat to us about running a micro pub and the beers he has on offer.

Short pub name

We stroll to the end of Church Lane and decide to call in to 4 (4 Butchers Row, OX16 5JH). 
We visited here about a year ago when it was called the Coach & Horses, but as it's had a re-brand I thought we should pop our heads in again.
'4'?  It's certainly a minimalist name.  And a minimalist crowd on a Saturday afternoon.  It would probably be quite a different place when busy, which could be a good or bad thing, but as it was we enjoyed a quiet pint in the corner.
This is a Hook Norton pub and it's only right that you have at least one Hooky ale when visiting this part of the world.

Almost a next-door is another pub, The Banbury Cross (7 Butchers Row, OX16 5JH), so to save long walks in the rain I figured it may be a good idea to visit.  Or not, perhaps.  It's a little busier than '4', although it's clientele is made up of older blokes hanging out at the bar and watching Final Score on TV. 
Ale choice is minimal here and I end up with a very average best bitter, which I order a pint of as it seems the kind of pub where halves may be frowned upon.  A few dubious comments in a brief bit of conversation with the punters watching the Arsenal match are enough for me to determine that, tonight, this isn't the friendliest of pubs and it's time to move on to nicer pastures.

The first of the two micro's in the town to open was the Bailiffs Tap (4 Southam Road, OX16 2ED - facebook).  There's a warm welcome from the owners, keen to recommend from their choice of ales and ciders that greet you on arrival in the front room. 
Back in the seating area to the rear a sign on the wall points out that there is "no wifi - we talk to each other".  Hmmmm...I do like my wifi and after sport overload in the Cross where I was trying to follow rugby and football on two screens at the same time, I do feel a lack of distractions here. 
Perhaps I'll have to resort to talking after all.
As is often a micro-pub feature here, just the one toilet.
But the beers are undeniably great.

Any pub crawl of Banbury should really include Ye Olde Reine Deer, a cracking historical Hook Norton pub.  Having made a number of trips there in the past I skipped it on this occasion, otherwise it would have been an essential stop.
I understand some people have mixed feelings about micro pubs, but I'll be back to drink in both these establishments in the future based on the good choice of well-kept beer on offer and the friendly enthusiastic owners.

Les Deux Alpes

Craft Beer in the French Alps?

I wasn't sure what to expect beer-wise from our January trip to the mountains of France.  Wall-to-wall Kronenberg and Stella?  Thankfully not, as craft beer, or 'artisanal ales', are thriving in this region.

Bad Start

It didn't start so well.  Bad weather saw us diverted from Chambery to Lyon and our itinerary was unexpectedly updated to allow us 4 hours of 'leisure-time' in a dull hall in the airport.  The small Replay shop, unprepared for several plane-loads of Brit winter holidaymakers, promptly ran out of beer.  I got there just in time to make canned Kellegen 8 my first ale of the trip.  The giant 8 on the can does stand for 8%, but surprisingly for something that looked like a Park Bench Special, it was reasonably drinkable.

Veddett Extra Ordinary IPA
in Bar le Bivouac

We eventually made it in the wee small hours of Sunday morning to Les Deux Alpes and enjoyed a first day on the slopes in fresh, soft snow.  The meeting point, late afternoon, was the Umbrella Bar, an apres-ski spot at the bottom of the slopes near the Jandri lifts.  In mild temps the snow had turned to rain at resort level and bizarrely the rain seemed a cue for the staff to take down the large umbrellas which folks sitting outside were sheltering under.  So ironically, in the rain, the umbrella bar had no umbrellas.  Inside though there was a good atmosphere with live music and quality beer on offer in the form of Goudale Ambree.  This was brewed by Las Brasseurs de Gayant from Douai in the north of France and was a decent amber ale which went down a treat.  With this coming in a €7 a pint, I realised I wasn't in line for bargain drinking on this trip.


Later that evening we headed to Pub Windsor (70 Avenue de la Muzelle).  Its British theme seems to involve filling every nook and cranny with pub-tat, much in the same way as 90's Olde English Ale Houses did.  I'm not complaining though - it's comfortable and welcoming with a decent soundtrack of indie rock and grunge music in the background.  I also like the collection of worldwide bank notes pinned to the ceiling as well - I'm easily pleased.  I stuck with a Warsteiner pilsner here, not realising that Pub Windsor had the best bottle fridge in town.  A group of lads in the corner are doing a good job of filling their table with empty glasses but moan that they've come to the "quietest resort in France".  

A couple of nights later we found ourselves in the Polar Bear Pub (104 Avenue de la Muzelle).  This is characterful timber-heavy alpine bar with a wood burning stove warming the room, sport on TV and wild-west saloon style doors to the loos.  Here a local Goodwin Brewery Pale Ale called Codswallop is available on tap and very tasty it is too.
By 10pm this is getting pretty busy and the music turned up a couple of notches louder.  The same group of lads from the Pub Windsor have squeezed themselves onto a table in the corner and seem happy - I don't think Les Deux Alpes is ever likely to qualify as a quiet resort with some thirty-plus bars to explore and the kind of party atmosphere and craziness that comes from quaffing pints of Hoegarden.

Goodwin beers in Smokey Joes

For the full line-up of Goodwin beers, Smokey Joes (9 Rue de Sagnes), close to the lift station ticket offices, is the place to be.  It's a mix of sports bar/Tex-mex diner and you do have to put up with the "will you be eating with us tonight?" query on arrival.  But we visited a couple of times for drinks only, grabbing a table by the TV screens to watch the mid-week football.  Goodwin beers come from Bourg d'Oissans, 12 miles away.

We made one visit to Smithy's Bar (7 Rue de Cairou) which pours a pint of St Austell Proper Job for anyone homesick for an English ale.  That's 927 miles away.  This is a spacious bar, advertising live bands and DJs and I'm sure it's a rockin' lively place, except we headed there when the crowd barely reached double-figures because I'm a light-weight and can't do this staying-out-late thing.

The Board Room, Les Deux Alpes

A final mention goes to The Board Room  (102 Avenue de la Muzelle).  This has a pretty regular beer choice, with La Chouffe being the best thing on offer for my taste.  But this small bar offers up a friendly atmosphere and dishes up free cheese and olive tapas.  It also has a giant TV screen, table football and a pair of brilliant  pub dogs.   Our tapas was replaced with several complimentary shots and this, mixed with the fact that I've just spotted on Ratebeer that the La Chouffe was 8% explains why I left the Board Room with a tipsy swagger.


There's also ample opportunity to grab a selection of good bottles from the regular supermarkets or specialist regional product shops in the town.  Beers from Brasserie du Mont Blanc and Brasserie du Dauphine from Grenoble found their way into my hotel room, with a couple of offerings from local micros popped into the suitcase as a take-home.
So, all in all, a pretty fine selection of beers to drink on this snowboarding trip, from a region that I reckon would have been the preserve of big-brewery lager ten years ago.  Craft beer is indeed finding its way everywhere.

Not a bad view from the far side of Les 2 Alpes