The heart of Europe
Charles D Cook discovers the beers and bars of the Belgian capital
Brussels: the capital of Belgium and also of the European Union, the city is home to many a fine restaurant, museum, and historic site. More importantly, however, from the standpoint of beer lovers like you and I, are the excellent beer cafés, breweries and beery restaurants which inhabit the city.
Brussels is well served by rail, bus, metro and tram; you can get to most of the beery spots with no more than a 10 or 15- minute walk from the nearest public transport locale, often much less. See www.b-rail.be for Belgian train info, and www.stib.irisnet.be for bus, metro, and tram info and pricing. Both sites have Englishlanguage versions.
The website of the Belgian Tourist Office, www.visitbelgium.com, has heaps of essential information about the city as well. One important note is that Brussels is a bilingual city, and most of the street signs are in both French and Dutch. Generally, most of the residents of the city speak French as a first language, and therefore knowing French street addresses is more helpful when trying to locate a place.
If arriving at the Eurostar terminal (also known as Brussels South/Midi/Zuid in English/French/Dutch) then you are already within walking distance of one of the world’s great breweries, Brasserie Cantillon. Here, brewer Jean Van Roy crafts some of the most highly respected and sought after lambic brews, with the help of much of his extended family.
Jean recently took over after the retirement of his father, Jean-Pierre.
The lambic, gu.....
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By Charles D Cook
Section : Beer Journeys
Page number : 58
