• 2007 Beer Hunt featuring the O.B.E.R. Christmas Beer Festival in Essen, Belgium;
• 2007 Beer Hunt featuring the Bruxellensis Beer Festival, in Brussels, Belgium;
• 2007 Ghent-based Beer Hunt, featuring the Zythos Beer Festival & Three Breweries;
• 2006 Beer Hunt, featuring the O.B.E.R. Christmas Beer Festival, in Essen, Antwerp Province;
• 2006 Beer Hunt, featuring the Bruxellensis Beer Festival, in Brussels;
• 2006 Bruges- and Aalst-based Beer Hunt, featuring the Third Zythos Beer Festival;
• 2005 Beer Hunt featuring the O.B.E.R. Christmas Beer Festival, in Essen, Antwerp Province;
• 2005 Antwerp-based Beer Hunt, featuring the Second Zythos Beer Festival;
• 2004 Beer Hunt featuring the O.B.E.R. Christmas Beer Festival, in Essen, Antwerp Province;
• 2004 Antwerp-based Beer Hunt, featuring the First Zythos Beer Festival;
• 2003 Ostend-based with Coach Trips to Breweries and Bars (inc. the world-class Kroegske, in Emelgem);
• 2002 Brussels, Antwerp, Cantillon Anderlecht, Hanssens Dworp, 3 (Drie) Fonteinen Beersel, Streekproductencentrum Halle, Antwerp 24-Hour Beer Festival;
• 2001 Ghent, Namur, Louvain-la-Neuve, Dinant, KaHo, Caracole, Du Bocq, Beer Museums, De Heeren van Liederkercke;
• 2000 Bruges, Rotterdam, Poperinge, Westvleteren, PINT Beer Festival, De Ryck, Van Honsebrouck;
• 1999 Liège, Paris, France, Aachen, Germany, European Beer Museum, Henry, Val-Dieu, Achel;
• 1998 Antwerp, Lille, in France, Middelburg, in The Netherlands, Halve Maan, Scheldebrouwerij, Thiriez, De Mug, Het Blauwershof;
• 1997 Tournai, La Roche-en-Ardenne, Orval, Achouffe, Au Baron (France), Abbaye des Rocs, Vapeur;
• 1995 Ghent, Antwerp, Cantillon, Boon, 3 Fonteinen, In de Rare Vos, 't Brouwershuys, De Koninck, Liefmans;
• 1993 Bruges - Rodenbach, De Dolle Brouwers, De Gouden Boom & Van Eecke Breweries - In de Vrede (St.-Sixtus Trappist Brewery tap, Westvleteren).

2006: Beer Hunt based in Ghent, featuring
the O.B.E.R. Christmas Beer Festival,
in Essen, Antwerp Province, and visits to two breweries: Dubuisson & Cantillon

The above photos were taken by John White during this December, 2006 Beer Hunt, which was based in Ghent (Gent) (www.gent.be), the capital of the Province of Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders). Ghent is covered by a fifty-one page White Beer Travels guide, which can be obtained from the Downloads page, along with equivalent guides to places also visited on this Beer Hunt: Brussels and Antwerp. The photo on the left was taken in 't Vosken (www.tvosken.be), in Ghent. In it, my Rodenbach Foederbier is being delivered by a very unusual form of dispense for Belgium, a genuine handpump, the symbol of Real Ale (unfiltered cask beer) in the UK. Rodenbach Foederbier (€2.50) comes direct from the Rodenbach brewery's famous oak vessels. There are further taps for draught beers behind the server, including one for Rodenbach Grand Cru (€3.20), which is very rare in draught form. Further details of these Rodenbach beers can be found in a White Beer Travels Web page, which can be reached by clicking here.

Another unusual beer is featured in the photo, above right, which was taken in a renowned brewery in the French-speaking Province of Hainaut (Henegouwen): Dubuisson (www.br-dubuisson.com or www.bush-beer.com). Dubuisson brew the famous Bush range of beers in Pipaix. Their most exclusive and expensive beer is featured in the photo: Bush Prestige (13%), a version of the "regular" Bush Ambrée (12%), which is matured in oak. It is available to take home in elaborate, screen-printed, Dom Pérignon-shaped bottles at the brewery tap, these costing €15.90 (75cl), which compares, for example to the following prices for 25cl of draught beer on the premises: Bush Ambrée at €2.60; La Cuvée des Trolls (7%) at €2.10; Bush de Noël at €2.70; and L'Ambrasse Temps (5.5%) at €1.80. The latter beer is brewed at the Dubuisson Brew Pub, Le Brasse-Temps, in Louvain-la-Neuve (click here for a White Beer Travels Web page covering a visit there). Note that the beer delivered from the barrel is flat, and thus quite a different drinking experience (an old versus young thing), to the highly carbonated bottled version, indeed my December, 2006 purchase gushed profusely on opening, to the extent that it churned up the yeast in the bottom, making the beer very cloudy in the glass, although it tasted OK. Clearly, a little to much sugar/yeast had been added at the bottling stage to produce the secondary fermentation in the bottle.

The above photos featuring Trolls, were taken by John White, in December, 2006. The one on the left was taken inside the Dubuisson brewery, whilst the one next to it was taken in a bar in Ghent that is renowned for its large and well chosen selection of interesting beers, Den Trollekelder (The Troll's Cellar), Bij Sint-Jacobs 17 (www.trollekelder.be). The Trollekelder has much breweriana, such as brewery plaques and crates, such as those from the three Trappist Breweries that can be seen in the photo on the right: Westmalle, Westvleteren and Rochefort. Apparently the idea behind the Trolls is that they attract young people; if it gets them drinking quality Specialty Beer, then long live the Trolls!

The above two photos were taken during the December, 2006 visit to Dubuisson by John White. In the one on the left, the Beer Hunters are entering the brewery's marvellously traditional Brew House, which, as can be seen through the window, has splendid copper vessels in the classic shape. Note the malt sacks from Castle Malting (Malterie du Château) (www.castlemalting.com), in Beloeil (between Mons and Tournai, and thus near to the brewery) through the window of the upper floor. As can be seen, the mash tun's temperature gauge in the photo on the right, has the wording "Usine Meura, Tournai". The renowned Meura company (www.meura.be) were based in Tournai from 1845 to 2003, when they moved a few miles/kilometres to the SE, i.e. to Péruwelz. Tournai is on the river Escaut, which is the Schelde in Dutch and the Scheldt in English, but in Latin, it is Scaldis, and this is the name that Dubuisson use for their beer names in certain other countries, particularly the USA, because of the justly infamous Anheuser-Busch, who manufacture alcoholic drinks made from rice in the USA (on the badness scale, they compete with that load of Bankers, InBev). Thus, in the USA, there are Dubuisson beers such Scaldis Ambrée, Scaldis Prestige, etc. Dubuisson is the family mane of the people owning the brewery; it means Bush in English.

There are two main options for visiting the Dubuisson brewery, one ending with a tasting of Bush Prestige straight from its oak maturation vessel; visits without and with Bush Prestige cost respectively €5 and €6.50. These take place every Saturday at 3pm, and, by arrangement, at other times, for groups, who can also have group discounted meals. In the photo, the brewery's Fabrice Geurts is filing a jug with Bush Prestige for such a tasting. What a truly exceptional beer it turned out to be. The oak barrels in which the Bush Prestige was maturing were new ones supplied by a French Maître Tonnelier (Master Cooper), Tonnellerie Radoux (Radoux Cooperage), www.radoux.fr. Across from them, there was also a Bush beer maturing in a barrel made of Merisier (Wild Cherry) that once held a prestigious French red wine from Burgundy (Bourgogne), a Premier Cru Nuits-Saint-Georges: Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges, Les Boudots, Cuvée Mesny de Boisseaux (www.nuits-saint-georges.com).

This Beer Hunt featured a Christmas Beer Festival (Kerstbierfestival) (www.kerstbierfestival.be) run by the O.B.E.R. (www.ober.be) branch of Belgium's premier beer consumers' organisation, Zythos (www.zythos.be). Essen has its own dedicated White Beer Travels Web page, which features its Christmas Beer Festival; it can be reached by clicking here. The superbly organised festival gets better and better each year; it is very difficult to fault; there is a wonderful selection of warming Winter Beers, in a venue which is smoke-free. Roll on the next festival, and the one after that and the one after ...

On one day, we joined Podge's Beer Hunters for a coach trip featuring the previously mentioned Brasserie Dubuisson in Pipaix (28, Chaussée de Mons (N50), GPS: 50.576897^o N, 3.556705^o E) (On the right, after the turn off the N7, from where it is signed "Brasserie Dubuisson"). Before and after the brewery visit, we sampled a range of Bush beers, in addition to the Bush Prestige. We also had a very good meal in the brewery's marvellous bar/restaurant, Le Trolls et Bush, which is open every day except Monday, from 11am to 11pm.

2006: Brussels-based Beer Hunt featuring
the Bruxellensis Beer Festival

This September, 2006 Beer Hunt, based in Florenville and Brussels, featured the Bruxellensis Beer Festival (www.festivalbruxellensis.be, White Beer Travels Web page), which really is world-class. It is organised by Yvan De Baets and Bernard Leboucq, of the "Brasserie de la Senne" (De Zenne Brouwerij) (www.brasseriedelasenne.be). In 2007, the festival will be held in September, on Saturday, the 8th (from 11am to 11pm) and on Sunday, the 9th (from 11am to 9pm).

As is typical, with White Beer Travels Beer Hunts, there were brewery and bar visits included. One of the breweries visited was the one within the Orval Trappist Monastery/Brewery (www.orval.be, White Beer Travels Web page). We also paid a visit to: a brew pub, in Brussels, L'Imprimerie (www.limprimerie.be); and the Cantillon Brewery (www.cantillon.be), in Brussels, where we were definitely in the right place at the right time, as we were able to taste some Gueuze and Kriek, produced in 1975; click here to see a report on this. Excellent meals were had in three restaurants in Brussels, which also have decent beers on offer: Alain Fayt's Restobières, www.restobieres.be; Belga Queen, www.belgaqueen.be; and www.paonroyal.com. There was also truly excellent food to be had at the Bruxellensis Beer Festival. In Florenville, close to Orval, we stayed in the Hôtel de France, users.skynet.be/hoteldefrance, this having regional dishes, and Orval, of course, on its beer list.

During our meal at Restobières, we sampled a marvellous Ambrée beer brewed experimentally by Dirk De Kelder (www.brouwland.com, a major homebrew company) and Philippe Emmerechts of the Ordre du Faro de Bruxelles, which will be produced, as the Restobières House Beer, "Resto Bière" at De "Proef" Brouwerij (BVBA Andelot (www.proefbrouwerij.com), in Lochristi-Hijfte, near Ghent.

The trip participants were: Graham and Gladys Pearson; Lee Lawrence; Paul Wells; yours truly, John White; Mary Jane Lewis; Chris Marchbanks; David Mummery and Geoff Lowis. They are in this order, from left to right, in the photo to the left, which was taken by Orval's François de Harenne (his grandparents made possible the building of the present day monastery and brewery). Lee. the only newcomer, is from Sunbury, Pennsylvania, USA, where he is involved with the home brew club, the PA-Alers, www.pa-alers.com.

The itinerary for this Beer Hunt, which was one of a number of handouts given to trip participants, can be seen by clicking here.

2006 Beer Hunt based in Bruges and Aalst, featuring: the Third Zythos Beer Festival, in Sint-Niklaas; a Cantillon Brewery Open Brew Day, in Brussels; and In De Verzekering Tegen De Grote Dorst, in Lennik/Eizeringen, for a Special Event there

This White Beer Travels Beer Hunt took place in March, 2006, to coincide with a number of very special events, including the Zythos Beer Festival (www.zbf.be), which is, quite simply, one of the world's best beer festivals. Click here for a White Beer Travels Web page dedicated to Zythos and its Beer Festival. The equivalent Beer Hunt to this in 2005, is described on a White Beer Travels Web page that can be reached by clicking here. The 2006 Zythos beer festival took place in the same venue as the absolutely superb 2004 and 2005 ones, in St.-Niklaas, in the Province of East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen). On the Saturday of the beer festival weekend, there was an Open Brew Day at the Cantillon Brewery (www.cantillon.be), in Brussels; click here for a White Beer Travels Web page giving further details of these don't-miss days. This one could clearly be visited before proceeding to the Zythos Bier Festival. On the eve of the first day of the Zythos Beer Festival and the Cantillon Open Brew Day, there was another don't-miss event, The Night of Large Thirst (De Nacht van de Grote Dorst) (www.nachtvandegrotedorst.be), which is held in and around a pub called In De Verzekering Tegen De Grote Dorst (Insurance Against The Large Thirst) (www.dorst.be (relays to dorst.eizeringen.tripod.com), White Beer Travels Web page), in Lennik/Eizeringen. On this night, there was a superlative selection of Lambic derivatives available, as there were for the superb, and very special inaugural event, which is fully described on the White Beer Travels Web page just cited. A highlight was the truly marvellous "3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Vintage" (bottled on the 7th of July, 2002), at 9 tokens (€4.50).

The first night of the Beer Hunt was based in Bruges, in the Province of West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen), which is deservedly Belgium's premier tourist destination. The hotel chosen, the Ibis (Katelijnestraat 65A, tel 050 33 75 75), is extremely well situated for both its tourist attractions and world class Speciality Beer bars, such as 't Brugs Beertje (www.brugsbeertje.be, White Beer Travels Web page) and the bar in the Hotel/Restarant Erasmus (www.hotelerasmus.com). Interesting draught beers sampled in the Erasmus included: De Dolle Brouwers' Boskeun; La Forestinne (7.5%) (www.forestinne.be.tf), which is spiced with Pine Nuts; and "Proefbrouwsel" (Test Brew), which turned out to be a blend of Lefèbvre's Floreffe Blond and Triple, which was somehow much better than its individual components, an amazing synergy.

A new, 400+ beer bar, with eight draught/tap beers, the Bierbrasserie "Cambrinus" De Koning van Het Bier (Gambrinus, the King of Beer) (www.cambrinus.eu) opened in Bruges, in March, 2006, at Philipstockstraat 19, tel 050 33 23 28. It is open from 11am to 11pm (till "late" at weekends) (happy hour from 5pm to 7pm on Fridays). It has food from snacks up to full meals, including beer cuisine. The proprietor is Regnier De Muynck, who has a beer shop on the same street, De Biertempel, at Philipstockstraat 7. There is a fifty-six page downloadable White Beer Travels Guide to Bruges, which is obtainable from the Downloads page.

On this Beer Hunt, we bumped into quite a number of Specialty Beer enthusiasts and personalities from all over the world. These included members of the two foremost Internet message boards covering Belgian Beer: Filip Geert's Belgian Beer board (groups.yahoo.com/group/belgianbeer) and the US-based Burgundian Babble Belt (www.babblebelt.com). Members of the latter meet, "formally" (i.e. in a pre-arranged venue) at Babblefests; a number of these took place during the long weekend. There were also be lots of Belgian brewers/Lambic blenders in evidence, both at the Lambic event in Eizeringen, and at the Zythos Beer Festival.

One personality we were bound to come across on this Beer Hunt was Italy 's biggest supporter of Specialty Beer, especially from Belgium, Italy and the USA: the wonderful Lorenzo (Kuaska) Dabove (www.kuaska.be (English), www.kuaska.it (Italian)). So great is Kuaska's love of Lambic beer from Belgium, that he is called "The Prince of the Payottenland".

This year, at this time, Lorenzo led a group of some of the finest brewers from the USA; they could be spotted at the Lambic/Gueuze Festival (press conference), the Cantillon Open Brew Day (tasting), and the Zythos Beer Festival. The trip was organised jointly by Lorenzo and one of the brewers, Sam Caglione. They were also present at high profile events, in which each featured two of their truly superb beers, these have been inspired by Belgian Beers. The brewers were (with their two beers in brackets): Sam Calagione, of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (www.dogfish.com), in Milton, Delaware (Festina Lente (7% neo-Lambic) and Fort (18%, Raspberry)); Tomme Arthur, of Pizza Port Brewing Company (www.pizzaport.com), in San Diego, California (Cuvee de Tomme (11% Sour Ale) and SPF 45 Saison) (6.7%)); Vinnie Cilurzo, of Russian River Brewing Company (RRBC) (www.russianriverbrewing.com), in Santa Rosa, California (Damnation (7%) and Supplication (9%, wood-aged with wild yeast (Brettanomyces or Dekkera))); Rob Tod, of Allagash Brewing Company (www.allagash.com), in Portland, Maine (White (5%) and Interlude (9.5%, Brett)); and Adam Avery, of Avery Brewing Company (www.averybrewing.com), in Boulder, Colorado (The Beast Grand Cru (14.9%) and Salvation (9%)). The tour was organised by Kuaska and Sam Calagione; it features in a chapter of Sam's book Extreme Brewing. The brewers were accompanied by a renowned photographer, Kevin Fleming (www.kevinfleming.com), who worked for the prestigious National Geographic for over ten years, before branching out into producing books.

The White Beer Travels group joined a couple of the events featuring the US brewers: the tasting at Cantillon of US Craft Beers (many of which are "Extreme" examples of them: very strong, very hoppy, very fruity, etc), which were accompanied by Cantillon "Fromage à la Gueuze" (Gueuze Cheese), see the Cantillon White Beer Travels Web page; and the press conference at the Lambic/Gueuze Festival, in Eizeringen.

The above three photos were taken during the tasting of the US Beers at Cantillon. In the one on the left, Sam Caglione, of Dogfish Head is being introduced by Lorenzo, and in the photo on the right, Sam is pouring me a glass of his magnificent Fort, which, at 18% ABV, is the strongest Fruit Beer in the world, well Fort does mean Strong in French. This photo was taken by Joyce White, the other two by myself, as were the three just below.

In the photo, above left, which was also taken at the Cantillon tasting, from left to right, are: Lorenzo; Cantillon's brewer, Jean Van Roy, and his father, Jean-Pierre Van Roy; and Adam Avery, with his two beers (each brewer presented his beers in turn). The other two photos were taken during the In De Verzekering Tegen De Grote Dorst press conference, which for those close enough to get photos such as these also turned out to be a tasting! What truly magnificent beers they turned out to be. In the photo in the middle, Allagash's Rob Tod has a bottle of his marvellous Lambic-inspired Interlude in his hand, with Russian River's Vinnie Cilurzo by his side. In the photo on the right, Pizza Port's Tomme Arthur is talking out his wonderful Rodenbach-inspired Cuvee de Tomme.

Other events with the US brewers such as brewery visits and meals in some very special places, to which beer lovers were invited to join Kuaska, included: Boon Brewery, in Lembeek (www.boon.be); 3 Fonteinen Brewery, in Beersel (www.3fonteinen.be); Restobières beer cuisine restaurant, in Brussels (www.restobieres.be); De Heeren van Liedekercke bar/restaurant, in Denderleeuw (www.come.to/heerenvanliedekercke, White Beer Travels Web page); St.-Sixtus Trappist monastery's tap, in Westvleteren, In de Vrede (www.indevrede.be, www.sintsixtus.be (monastery), White Beer Travels Web page); De Regenboog Brewery, in Assebroek-Bruges; the Hotel/Restarant Erasmus, in Bruges (www.hotelerasmus.com); and De Dolle Brouwers Brewery (www.dedollebrouwers.be), in Esen, near Diksmuide. Further information on the US brewers and their beers, along with the places that they visited in Belgium, can be reached by clicking here.

From Bruges, we travelled by coach, to the second base, the Malt and Hop town of Aalst (www.aalst.be), on the River Dender, in East Flanders. Aalst was once awash with breweries, but sadly none are left. However, Aalst has five entries in Tim Webb's 2005 Good Beer Guide Belgium (www.booksaboutbeer.com); Click here for more details of Tim's don't-enter-Belgium-without Guide, including how to get your hands on a copy. Our base in Aalst was the centrally situated Keizershof, at Korte Nieuwstraat 15, tel 053 77 44 11, www.keizershof-hotel.com; its street, "Short New Street", is, er, a short street between a square called Hopmarkt (Hop Market) and Keizersplein, the latter having one of Tim's entries, a real gem called 't Kastanjehof, at number 12.

Further information on Aalst can be found in a White Beer Travels Web page featuring the town, which can be reached by clicking here.

In addition to Cantillon, other breweries were visited: Van den Bossche (www.paterlieven.be), in Sint-Lievens-Esse, in East Flanders (St. Lievensplein 16 (N464), tel 054 50 04 11, GPS: 50.856463^o N, 3.884257^o E); the Brasserie de Silly (The Silly Brewery) (www.silly-beer.com, White Beer Travels Web page), in Silly, in Hainaut Province (2 Rue Ville Basse (on the corner of Rue de la Station, in Place Communale), tel 068 55 16 95, GPS: 50.649335^o N, 3.924175^o E); and the Brasserie à Vapeur (Steam Brewery) (www.vapeur.com), in Pipaix, in Hainaut Province (1 Rue du Maréchal, tel 069 66 20 47).

After a visit to the Brouwerij Van den Bossche, one can partake of the brewery's full range of domesticaly available beers in its excellent sampling room, which has both draught and bottled beers (beers for export to the USA include "Pierre Celis Memoirs Tripel Ale", which is covered in a White Beer Travels Web page, which can be reached by clicking here). It is nicely decorated, the walls being covered by old plaques, such as the one to the left for one of its oldest beers: Buffalo. The photo was taken by John White, in March, 2005. Group visits, with a generous tasting, are very reasonably priced at €5 per person (March, 2006).

The Brouwerij Van den Bossche, in St.-Lievens-Esse, in the "Flemish Ardennes" (Vlaamse-Ardennen), has been run by the Van den Bossche family in the same place in the village square since 1897. The brewery is on the site of a farm that was purchased by Arthuur Van den Bossche, in 1800. The brewery equipment is a mix of old and new, with lovely, copper brew house vessels in the classic shape, feeding modern, cylindro-conical fermenters. As you may guess from the name of the brewery's website, Van den Bossche puts most of its promotional efforts into its Pater Lieven range of "Abbey Beers", which were introduced in 1957. At one time. the brewery's most famous beer was Buffalo (5.7%), a top class dark beer, somewhat like a Stout, which was first brewed in 1907 (there was a Buffalo Bill Circus in the village square that year) Bruno Van den Bossche, who was our guide on the visit, said that the sales of this great beer were nothing like as high as the sweeter Pater Lieven beers; let us hope that it is not discontinued. Lamoral Degmont (8%) is the brewery's other beer that is readily available in Belgium. For export, a Wheat Beer is produced, and a Stout for Irish Pubs in France.

Lamoral Degmont is named after Lamoral (also written Lamoraal), the Count of Egmont (1512-68), who was executed in the main square in Brussels by the evil psychopath, the Duke of Alva (Alba) (1508-82), on the orders of Philip II (1527-98), in 1568. The Duke of Alva's actions had a major impact on the shaping of the borders of today's Belgium, however, it always amazes me that there are pubs named after this thoroughly bad person, in the present-day Low Countries, and that there is even a drink bearing his name: Gran Duque d'Alba Spanish Brandy, which has his portrait on the label. Lamoral Egmont is buried in the East Flanders town of Zottegem, which is known as the Egmontstede (Egmont Town), hence the name of the branch of Zythos, which is based in nearby Zottegem: BLES (Bierliefhebbers van de Egmontstede, Beer Lovers from the Egmont Town) (www.bles.be).

2007 will be a big year for Sint-Lievens-Esse and the brewery, since it will be the 1,200th anniversary of the founding of the village by the Irish Monk, St. Lieven, in 807, the hundedth anniversary of the introduction of Bufallo, the 50th anniversary of the first Pater Lieven beer, and the 110th anniversary of the opening of the brewery itself. Naturally, there will be a special brew. The brewery's beers are available in a pub across from it, 't Kelderken, Sint Lievensplein 8, tel 054 56 86 03. It is open on Friday and Saturday from 6pm, and on Sunday from 11am.

After the visit to the Brouwerij Van den Bossche, there was a lunch stop in 't Fonteintje, in Sint-Lievens-Esse (well officially in Herzele (Steenhuize-Wijnhuize)) (Gentweg 45 (N42), tel 054 50 03 77, GPS: 50.856463^o N, 3.862763^o E), a bar/restaurant with over 170 beers, including the full range from the Van den Bossche Brewery, which it is very close to. i.e. if going South of Zottegem, on the N42 in the direction of Geraardsbergen, in Wijnhuize, one passes 't Fonteintje, on the left, just before the left turn onto the N464, for the soon-reached St.-Lievens-Esse, in which the brewery cannot be missed. The photo, above left, of the impressive exterior of 't Fonteintje, was, along with the one to its right, taken by John White, in March, 2006. Its marvellous food includes Meat, Fish and Vegetarian Dishes, some cooked in beer, such as the Stoofvlees (Beef Stew), at €9.30 (March, 2006), which is prepared using Pater Lieven Bruin. Other dishes include: Tomaal Garnaal (Tomato stuffed with Shrimp) at €12.50; Entrecôte Steak at €15, and Brochette (Kebab) 't Fonteintje at €12. There are also Salads in the range €7.50 to €13.50, and snacks such as Croque Monsieur for €4. The place is very well suited to dealing with groups; all those who have pre-ordered Stoofvlees are put on one table, etc, this speeding up the serving. On the March, 2006 visit, there were seconds. An excellent rarity of a beer sampled in 't Fonteintje was Koekelaring (€2.30), the Blesbier 2004, an "original and experimental Brown Beer", according to its label, which was brewed by De Graal, in Brakel, in East Flanders (www.degraal.be), for BLES. The photo, above right features the beer and its bottle, after just being poured, in 't Fonteintje. Prices for some other example beers here include: draught 't Fonteintje (brewed by Roman, www.roman.be) at €2; draught Pater Lieven at €2.25; draught Ename from Roman at €2.25; and bottles of Orval at €2.50, Rochefort 10^o at €3.30, Roman's Adriaen Brouwer at €2.40, and Bourgogne de Flandre at €2. In the beer menu, the beers are listed by category: Trappist, Abbey, Streek (Regional), etc. This bar and the "other breweries" that we went to were visited on coach trips organised by fellow Beer Hunt organiser, Chris (Podge) Pollard. Click here for Podge's contact details. Podge's coach was also used to get to "The Night of Large Thirst" from our hotel in Aalst. After the visit to the Brasserie à Vapeur, where lunch was taken, Podge returned to England, dropping off the White Beer Travels Beer Hunters in the historic city of Tournai (which is very disappointing, quality beer-wise), from where we returned to Aalst by train, going through Silly on the way.

The lunch at the Steam Brewery was an "eat as much as you want" (à volonté) buffet, consisting of excellent Meat and Fish dishes and a truly splendid Cheese Platter, comprised of over twenty Belgian Cheeses, as many as possible being local ones and made with Beer. The Cheeses are supplied by the renowned Jacquy Cange, who is based in Stambruges (Beloeil), which is not far from the Brewery, www.jacquycange.be. The buffet was accompanied by Bread made with Beer on this occasion (another option isBread made with the Spent Grain from a Brasserie à Vapeur Brew). This buffet is normally available on the last Saturday of the month, as the Buffet du Brassin (Brew Buffet), between 12.30pm and 3pm, at a cost of €20 (€8 for children), a price which includes "Bières au fût à volonté" (unlimited draught/tap Beer). This buffet is served after the monthly Open Brew Days (Brassin Public), which commence at 9am on this day. Click here to see a photo taken by my "Second Petal", Sylvia Clow, who is on this March, 2006 Beer Hunt, during a White Beer Travels visit to one of the Open Brew Days, in 1997. Note that on the 1997 White Beer Travels Beer Hunt that featured the Steam Brewery, we paid it two visits in one day: after the Open Brew Day and its Buffet, we went back to our base in Tournai, and then returned in the evening for a superb beer cuisine meal, accompanied, of course, by Vapeur beers. The meal was rounded off by a glass of Esprit de Vapeur Cochonne, which is produced by distilling Vapeur Cochonne to produce a 70% alcohol spirit (esprit) and then diluting it with the beer itself, rather than water, to a strength of 40%; of course, as the beer is unfiltered, this spirit is cloudy!

On the last day of the Beer Hunt, we had a truly excellent meal in a place called In 't Spinnekopke, in Brussels (www.spinnekopke.be), Jean Rodriguez's justifiably renowned beer cuisine restaurant. In the photo, above left, which was taken by White Beer Travels Beer Hunt regular, Dr Eric Clow, in March, 2006, I am with Jean. In my hand, I have the place's Beer Menu and a book that Jean co-wrote with Paul Herman, Cuisine facile à la bière (Easy Cooking with Beer) (Glénat, 1989, ISBN 2-87176-006-3). The place has an excellent selection of other beers. A new one for me on this visit, was Betchard (5.5%), a superb Blond Beer that is very hoppy. Betchard is a dialect word for Blagueur, which means Joker or Prankster. The label, a scan of which can be seen, above right, states that it is brewed by the "Brasserie de la Senne". This brewery did not exist at the time of this visit, but the label states that in a few months Betchard would be brewed in Tubize (www.tubize.be), in Wallonian Brabant (Brabant wallon, Waals-Brabant), which indeed, is on the river Senne, this being French for the famous Lambic river Zenne. There is a legend associated with a Betchard in Tubize. Note that events dictate that the Brasserie de la Senne (De Zenne Brouwerij) (www.brasseriedelasenne.be) will not now be located in Tubize. Its beers are currently brewed by Yvan De Baets and Bernard Leboucq, at De Ranke, these including a marvellous Stout, Stouterik (4.5%). On its label, this most hoppy of Stouts is declared to be "The Brussels Stout", so perhaps the brewery will end up in Brussels.

Until early 2007, In 't Spinnekopke was an exclusive outlet for draught/tap Cantillon Lambic and Faro (Lambic sweetened with Candy Sugar and Caramel), which were delivered by handpump. Thankfully, just as the handpumps were removed from In 't Spinnekopke, these two great beers appeared in this form in Chez Moeder Lambic, in the Sint-Gillis/Saint-Gilles suburb of Brussels. This is an initiative of Jean Hummler, who took over the running of this famous place in January, 2007. Great things are expected of Chez Moeder Lambic under Jean's stewardship.

Should you go on to in 't Spinnekopke's website, you will first see a video in French, but when one selects the language of your choice (EN is English), one hears a superb, atmospheric song, sung in French, called "Le Plat Pays" (The Flat Country), which is, of course, Belgium. The singer is the great Jacques Brel (1929-78), who was born in the Brussels suburb of Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek, which is famous for the classic cherries used to make certain Kriek beers. If you want to sing along, the lyrics can be seen by clicking here. The main navigation for In 't Spinnekopke's website are the figurines at the top of its pages.

After in 't Spinnekopke and a bar visit or two, the bulk of the group waited for their train back to London in an excellent locals' bar that is five minutes' walk or so from the station: Au Laboureur, 3, place de la Constitution (Grondwetsplaats). This has around sixty, very keenly priced beers, including the rare Mort Subite Oude Gueuze, which is much, much better than the majority of commercial Mort Subite beers.