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.