2 pints in Bruxelles

It's not the best area (in a number of ways!). The station itself is okay to wait for train, but the immediate area is a bit grotty, and the bars I've found have also been pretty grotty and/or since been demolished.

There have been some suggestions in the misc.transport.rail.europe newsgroup in the past, but many are along the lines of "first take a tram to...".

This area really is dire for 'decent' beer. From the main circulating area, the tunnel under the whole complex, at the Eurostar end - so in fact where you hit the tunnel when exiting Eurostar, exit the station and directly opposite are several fairly modern cafes. Most will offer one or two Trappist beers, perhaps one other beer of interest, but they really don't have much to recommend them if interested in quality beer.

I presume you may have luggage in tow, so hopping to Brussels Central is probably impractical, but there are number of fine cafes within striking distance of that station.

David

In article , Ken Ward writes

The Cantillon Brewery is located at 56 rue Gheude 1070 Brussels, about 5 minutes walk from the Gare du Midi. Apparently this also houses the Brussels Museum of the Gueuze, where your admission fee also gets you a glass of beer. Have a look at .

I must confess that when we stayed near the Midi station some years ago I never took the opportunity to visit the brewery.

Roy.

I had a couple of beers at one of these cafes waiting to board Eurostar home two weeks ago - it was a hot day and the beers I had went down rather too well. Even basic Belgium lager like Jupiler isn't that bad compared with English lager (well, isn't anything...).

E.

Thanks for all the info, I now have a good idea of the area.... and... my chance's of getting a decent beer. May have to get a "bag of chips" instead :-).

Ken Ward (next time I'll go for a longer stay!)

Roy Bailey wrote, On 07/27/2009 03:54 AM:

Cantillon is about 1km from Gare du Midi, so a five-minute walk would be a pretty rapid clip. More like ten to fifteen minutes.

The most worthwhile cafe near Gare du Midi was Au Laboreur, but it shut down (most unfortunately). Drinking possibilities in the area within a short walk are not great. You're better off catching one of many "free" trains up to Gare Centrale and walking to, say, A La Mort Subite, which is, in fact, about a five minute walk.

If you are there after dark, you might well get offered lots of entertainment possibilities just outside the station - or least the chance to learn the French for "business, gents?"...

It might be worth mentioning that a Eurostar is ticket is valid for free travel onwards from Midi to Central station (or any other Belgian station).

Indeed - I used my ticket recently to travel to Leyven (about 30 mins away) for a business meeting. Leuven, I'm told, is a Belgium beer mecca but sadly I didn't have time to sample any.

E.

In article , dgs

Thanks for the "tips" arthur but, I'll be away from Midi at 19:59, hopefully in daylight. I will be using my "self printed" Eurostar ticket from Charleroi to Midi. Hope it works :-).

It seems to be a drink and something to eat in Midi and on the Eurostar home.. must stay longer next time, especially after practicing with some lovely "Saltaire Blackberry Cascade" yesterday in Bolton Spoons.

Ken Ward.

I've had no problems using Eurostar tickets on SNCB. However I once had problems buying a normal SNCB ticket from Liege to Charleroi, because the ticket clerk refused to believe anyone from abroad would want to go there and so tried to persuade me to go to Brussels instead. :)

From what I saw of Charleroi while I ticked off the tram lines, she did have a point...

But, they always know what's best............

Ken Ward

On 27-Jul-09 20:02:41, eastender said

I like some of those dark brown beers they do.

"Leffe" is it?

All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM)

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Not necessarily. Leffe Blonde is £2.50 a bottle in Lidl in the UK. Leffe Brune (and Blonde) can be had from Tesco at 2 for a Fiver. (750ml bottles). Might be the genuine import, with the euro being so strong to the pound, or maybe it's brewed in Magor.

Trappist beers are far superior to biere d'abbaye. (It'll be the holy water that they use)

(no sig separator)

To Leffe and Grimbergen anyway. The smaller Abbey breweries can be pretty good.

Leffe is Interbrew stuff isn't it? It's certainly mass produced these days. The trappit brews are more artisanal in charchter. For a "brown" trappist beer try the common (as in readily available) Chimay rouge at

The best brown ale that I have come across in Belgium is Liefmans. That comes as Oud Bruin 5% or a more matured version as Goudenband at

The best beers in Belgium come not from a tap on the bar but in bottles because they have a strong living tradition of bottle conditioning. Some beers spend months conditioning at the brewery before they are let out.

Is it just me who has a real job persuading the staff of Belgian bars that, even though I'm clearly British, I really do want a bottle of something interesting rather than Stella?

If I seem to be asking for St Fred's Trappist-brew XXX at ye olde specialist beer place, it /isn't/ because my phrase book has mangled the phrase for "Wifebeater s.v.p."

OTOH, when barmaids in German-speaking lands spot I'm British, they tend to tell me about interesting beers they have on, just in case I'd not spotted them.