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.