Beer Tour of Belgium – Day 7: Dinant, Rochefort November 23, 2009
Posted by pinchaque in 101 Things, Adventures in Beer, Beer Tour of Belgium.Tags: beer, belgium, citadel, dinant, grimbergen, rochefort
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Thursday, September 17, 2009
Dinant
We began our morning in Rochefort at a local boulangerie, enjoying some rich espresso and croissants and struggling to understand the nice girl behind the counter as she tried to converse with us in French. Our original plan for the day was to drive down to Orval abbey to visit another of the six trappist breweries. But, after having spent a couple solid days in the car, we decided to take it easy and do some local sightseeing.
Happy cows come from Rochefort
Our first destination of the day was Dinant. Having already driven through the city at river level, we decided to return by way of the citadel, perched hundreds of feet above the river. It was just a short drive from Rochefort so we got there a few minutes before it opened and had a chance to walk among the gravestones of a local military cemetery.
Military gravemarkers near Dinant citadel
Dinant church and citadel steps (which we did not climb)
The citadel itself contained several displays capturing the military history of the region. It was an interesting mix of pre- and post-gunpowder warfare, with howitzers displayed next to spears.
Rusted machine gun at the citadel
View of Dinant through citadel slit
Most of the displays bordered on the cheesy end of the spectrum, especially the WWII bunker walkthrough complete with amplified bomb sound effects. A particularly amusing one (for us at least…) told the story of people who were bound two-by-two and tossed into the river. There was a portion of the citadel that had been hit by a bomb, which subsequently caused the floor to sink and become tilted. That was fun to walk through, and I almost steped in a pond of water.
Wild Boar. It's What's For Dinner.
Room with tilted floor
However the view from the citadel was impressive, and it was enjoyable to walk through such an ancient structure that had seen battles in multiple eras. The aforementioned military graveyard outside helped drive the point home that this was an area truly affected by recent wars, and whose culture bears those scars.
Rental boats on the Meuse River
Anchors from original bridge that spanned the Meuse River
Chateau de Veves
Our next stop was the Chateau de Veves, a nearby fairy-tale-style castle that was (surprise!) undergoing renovation. The castle itself is owned by some member of the Belgian oligarchy, and it was amusing to see pictures of him sprinkled through the chambers.
Chateau de Veves
Castle courtyard
The castle itself was built in a few phases over several hundred years. These architectural styles were apparent as you walked through the structure; there was a somewhat Frankenstein inconsistency from room to room.
Hall of arms
The historical displays with family trees and coats of arms were intriguing, as were the period furniture. I also really liked the rockwork throughout, including the main hall with it’s zen-like rock floor.
Castle grounds with our car near the gatehouse
Rochefort
We returned to Rochefort hungry for lunch, and decided on the Relais St. Remy restaurant closest to the Rochefort abbey in hopes that it had the freshest Rochefort beer. I tried to order the ostrich but the server informed me that the ostrich man hadn’t delivered yet that day, so I went with the sea bass in lemon sauce. This was paired with Rochefort 10, their strongest beer, because there’s nothing quite like having an 11.3% alcohol beer for lunch.
Rochefort 10 close to the source
Amanda started with a beer that was new to us: Brugs Witbier.This was a solid albeit mild beer.
Brugs Witbier
This was followed up by an Orval, in honor of our original destination for the day. Similar to what I had remembered from the states, it was lighter in body, spicier, and a little more sour than the other trappist ales.
One thing that was interesting throughout our trip was the glassware used to serve the beers. Most every brewery has commissioned a special shape of glass meant to perfectly enhance their products. Many have wide mouths to enable you to breathe in the yeasty and spicy aroma. What was equally impressive was how diligently the bars stocked these different glasses. At the restaurant with 500+ beers in Bruges you could see one whole wall where they had several copies of each brewery’s glass. You might call this craziness, but it was also a demonstration of the pride they take in their beer.
Orval trappist beer
Our lunchtime ended with another opportunity to learn about the differences between Belgium and the U.S.. My credit card didn’t work and the proprietor thought it was because the card didn’t have a microchip in it. This is one area where Europe is ahead of the U.S.: credit card security. Few credit card transactions are done there via signature anymore; nearly all are done using a secure chip on the card, which makes it a “smart card.” Pay-at-the-pump gas stations there all operate this way, so I had to go in to sign the receipt the old fashioned way. Anyway, we were able to get Amanda’s credit card to work at this restaurant and headed on out.
On the way back to town we also did a drive-by of the Rochefort abbey St. Remy. Similar to Chimay and Westvleteren, it was simple from the outside and utterly closed to visitors. They are very secretive about their process for making beer, so we resigned ourselves to a quick drive-by and headed back to town.
Church in Rochefort
Upon returning to the hotel we felt mostly lazy, so we headed down to the veranda to read a bit and enjoy the final beers we had puhased at the B2 store in Bruges: Grottenbier and Malheur.
Grottenbier
Malheur 12
We concluded this relaxing day with another excellent meal at a Rochefort restaurant. I went with the ribeye and peppercorn sauce again, which was a poor pairing with the slightly-sour Rodenbach Grand Cru but tasty nonetheless.
Westmalle Triple
Rodenback Grand Cru
Another strangeness of eating in Belgium was the lack of tipping. Our guidebook said that tipping was not expected but every once in a while the receipt would have the place for you to add a tip, and I’d feel bad not doing it. But for the most part the service was slow and aloof. They really just left you alone to eat until you flagged them down and asked for something else. We got in the habit of ordering our next round of drinks or food whenever we had their attention. We ended up with a lot of beer and food that way, but that’s better than none at all, right?
Grimbergen Dubbel
Espresso with a side of whipped cream
Refreshed from a fairly relaxing day of local touring, we turned in for the night in preparation for the drive up to Liege the following day.
Beers Tasted
Today I tasted:
- Brugs Witbier
- Orval
- Rochefort 10
- Grottenbier
- Malheur 12
- Westmalle Triple
- Rodenback Grand Cru
- Grimbergen Dubbel
Total to date for the trip: 47 beers
Beer Tour of Belgium – Day 6: Chimay, Maredsous, Rochefort November 19, 2009
Posted by pinchaque in 101 Things, Adventures in Beer, Beer Tour of Belgium.Tags: beer, belgium, chimay, maredsous, rochefort
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Chimay
After a tough day on Tuesday we set off first thing to drive to Chimay, near the French border. This is probably the best known of the Trappist beers so I felt we had to make the trek down there even though it was a 60+ minute drive towards an abbey I was pretty sure we couldn’t tour. Needless to say, my hopes were not high.
Flowers outside Chimay Abbey
It was a a little gray and rainy as we made our way southwest amidst green fields and trees. Heading the other direction on one of the highways was a protest procession of large trucks. You hear about all the disgruntled workers in Europe and it was interesting to see them in action!
Chimay abbey driveway
Welcome to Chimay!
The Scourmont Abbey of Chimay was a simple building that frowned upon tourists. The real gem, however, was the Auberge de Poteaupre located just a mile away. We passed this humble building on the way to the abbey and noted its Chimay signage. I had personally discounted it as a bad souvenir shop but Amanda fortunately forced us to stop.
Auberge de Poteaupre
We didn’t know it at the time, but the Auberge was the official tasting room for the abbey. The inside was elegantly furnished with wooden booths, antique beer memorabilia, and large bottles of Chimay. The tasting room looked out upon a beautiful green field that even had a swingset for the kids.
View outside at Auberge de Poteaupre
Chimay memorabilia
We got there right at opening time so we had the place to ourselves. Chimay is known around the world for their three beers: Rouge, Bleue, and Blanche. However, at the auberge, they also serve a special beer that’s typically only available for the monks themselves: Chimay Doree. This is a lighter beer of only 4.8% alcohol but has a wonderful spiciness and crispness similar to a saison.
Chimay beer at Auberge Poteaupre
I ordered a Chimay Blanche (their triple-style) on draft, and it was richer and more luscious than any time I’d had it in the U.S.. Along with these beers we ordered a tasting plate of abbey cheese. They were all a little on the pungent side, but absolutely delicious. It was great to be able to try all the abbey products in one place, which definitely made the trip there worthwhile.
Fighter jet in middle of traffic circle
Maredsous
Our next stop was the Maredsous abbey, also well known in the U.S.. This was an interesting stop because of the contrast to the other abbeys we had visited: it was touristy. There were tour buses parked outside, a large visitor center, and hundreds of German tourists inside. There were shops selling cheap souvenirs, cheap cafeteria food, and pay-per-use toilets. We got a taster of the three Maredsous beers, which of course were delicious.
Maredsous beer sampler
Maredsous tour busses and dog poop signs
We started a self-guided walking tour of the grounds, reading about the abbey history, and it started to dawn on us: the abbeys are a great scam. The original idea was for them to sell beer locally to support their priestly efforts. But somewhere down the road they realized they could make some serious money doing this. The abbey was beautiful, magnificent, modern, and spotless. They must be rolling in money from the tourism: this was the waning days of their season and the place was still packed.
Maredsous grounds
Maredsous building
Then there’s the beer. It’s not even brewed by the abbey anymore we learned; it is outsourced to Duvel Moortgat. Yes the beer is delicious and Duvel makes other good beers as well (namely, Duvel) but for me at least it pierced the magic to realize that having an “abbey beer” is partly a marketing ploy just to earn money. This was my Wizard of Oz moment.
Fallen leaves at Maredsous
Maredsous church exterior
Maredsous church interior
Disillusionment aside, the Maredsous abbey premises were beautiful and the church impressive. It seemed very modern compare to others we would see on the trip, and allowed access to most of the interior. After snapping pictures we headed off for nearby Floreffe abbey.
Maredsous corridor
Mossy Maredsous arches
Floreffe
Floreffe was another abbey beer that is no longer brewed at the abbey (it is brewed by Lefebvre, whose tavern we had tried to visit the previous day), but it had an entirely different feel from Maredsous.
Floreffe abbey grounds
The abbey itself is tightly integrated into the community. It houses a school, hosts yearly events, and even has an attached tavern where locals drink.
Floreffe abbey from street level
Floreffe abbey grounds
We took a short self-guided tour through the grounds, snapping pictures of the flowers and decrepit buildings in the back.
Decrepit building behind Floreffe
Old building in back of Floreffe abbey
Old building at Floreffe + peacock
The abbey is perched above a river, and we watched barges creep along the water. We had missed the tour of the church, so we headed right for the tavern and quaffed a Floreffe Blonde and Kriek.
Floreffe abbey beers
Both were awesome, and inspired us to buy a Tripel and Brune to take back to the U.S. with us. They also sold goat cheese there, so we bought a chunk of that to eat for breakfast the next day. Overall the Floreffe abbey was a rewarding stop with cool buildings, tasty beer, and a friendly vibe.
Floreffe tavern
River barge near Floreffe
Rochefort
Our final destination for the day was Rochefort, home to another well-known Trappist monastery. On the way we passed through Dinant, with its arabesque church and impressive citadel. Being pressed for time, we pushed on and decided to return the next day for more exploration.
Dinant citadel and church from river level
The roads in to Rochefort were verdant and rolling, with a myriad of cows, corn, and trees. The town itself is rather small but kept up well; I got the impression they get a fair share of tourists over the summer. We stayed at the elegant Hotel La Malle Poste right in the center of town, within easy walking distance to restaurants.
On the road to Rochefort
Carriage house at Hotel La Malle Poste
Dinner that night was, in a word, incredible. I learned that “a la volcan,” while literally translating as “at the volcano,” really means that your steak will be served on a searing-hot piece of slate. It also helped that my steak was topped with a slab of shallot butter nearly as big as the meat itself.
Steak with shallot butter and Rochefort 8
The real winner, however, was Amanda’s steak “a la Trappiste.” In this instance that meant a sauce of beer and cheese made at the local abbey. It was rich and had such amazing depth of flavor that we couldn’t help dipping our fries in it and ended up licking the plate clean.
Saint Monon Au Miel
Rochefort 6
With dinner I had a couple of local brews–Rochefort 6 and 8–and Amanda tried two Saint Monon beers. These had a very unique flavor profile and were new to both of us.
Saint Monon Brune
A triumphant day full of drinking behind us, we rewarded ourselves with some gelato and crashed in our hotel.
I heart gelato
Beers Tasted
Today was a busy day! I tasted:
- Chimay Blanche
- Chimay Doree
- Maredsous 6 Blonde
- Maredsous 8 Brune
- Maredsous 10 Triple
- Floreffe Blonde
- Floreffe Kriek
- Saint Monon Au Miel
- Saint Monon Brune
- Rochefort 6
- Rochefort 8
Total to date for the trip: 39 beers
Beer Tour of Belgium – Day 5: Tournai and Namur November 1, 2009
Posted by pinchaque in 101 Things, Adventures in Beer, Beer Tour of Belgium.Tags: beer, belgium, beloeil, namur, tournai
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
After another delicious breakfast at Hotel Salvators, we departed Brugge on an inauspiciously rainy day. This was going to be another big travel day, with some interesting stops along the way, as we made our way to the Southern part of Belgium.
Tournai
As we headed south on the freeway we kept seeing signs for “Dornik”, which we couldn’t find on our map. It wasn’t until we crossed over from the Flanders to the Walloon province that we realized this was just the Dutch translation of our first destination that day: Tournai.
Cathedral in Tournai
Statue on the outside of cathedral in Tournai
The cathedral there is supposed to be one of the more impressive we could see. Unfortunately it was closed for an extended renovation. The outside was covered in scaffolding and the inside had sheetrock up. I don’t know if it was bad luck or what, but it was starting to seem that every old building was undergoing renovation this year.
Water fountains in central Tournai
The central city area didn’t seem to have too much going on, so we bought some ham sandwiches for a picnic at our next destination.
Bell tower in Tournai
Raised drawbridge while leaving Tournai
Beloeil Castle
After a short drive through beautiful country roads we arrived at Beloeil Castle, also known as “the Versailles of Belgium” (although I’m not sure the castle owners would have appreciated that backhanded compliment).
Beloeil castle
We ate our sandwiches in the car while waiting for the castle to open. Then when we get we realized that we would need more than a sandwich: the castle wouldn’t open again until the weekend. Our tour book had conspired against us and said the castle was open daily through the end of September. We were able to walk around the grounds some and take pictures.
Water features of Beloeil Castle
Le Moulin d’Arenberg
After a couple disappointing stops we were ready for a beer! Like most Belgian breweries, Lefebvre brewery doesn’t offer its beers directly to the public. However, they suggest you can try a great selection of their brews at the nearby Moulin d’Arenberge tavern in Rebecq. We were especially looking forward to the Floreffe Abbey ales that they produce.
Footbridge in Rebecq
Unfortunately we were destined for disappointment yet again. The sign said the bar opened at 3pm until the end of September so we had about an hour to kill. We tried following a walking path (“the path of the 7 arches”) but failed to find more than 2 arches.
Waterway in Rebecq
Butcher in Rebecq - the animals are so happy they can fulfill their destinies!
There were some interesting buildings nearby so we snapped some pictures. But when it got to be 3:20 we decided that the Moulin would not, in fact, be opening that day. We still had a ways to drive so we left, beerless and dejected.
Mini waterfall in Rebecq
Burned-out building in Rebecq
Namur
Our first impression of Namur was the nightmarish snarl of traffic that clogged the limited number of roads through the city. It was rush hour, and apparently everyone lives outside of the city. Once we made it through we understood why: running South from the city is the beautiful Meuse River. It winds its way through a verdant valley, hillsides dotted with castles. Our bed & breakfast, La Mosane, had a great view of the valley and was well-appointed with an enormous bathroom and comfortable bed.
Amanda made me eat an olive
We headed back into Namur to find some dinner. Traffic was still packed getting into the city, but we found some parking near the city center and set out on foot. In one block they were starting to set up a stage for the Wallonie Festival. We would miss the fun here by just a day, but would run into a real party a few days later in Liege.
For dinner we ended up at a pizza place with a decent beer list. Of course pizza isn’t Belgian, but you’d think that since they are closer to Italy than the U.S. is then it should be better! Right?
Ciney Brune and Blonde
It actually was fairly good and definitely satisfied the cravings I get whenever I go more than a week without pizza. We tried a couple of Ciney beers (blonde and brune) and followed that with some old favorites: Duvel and Chimay Blue.
Perfect pizza beers!
There was nothing really remarkable about Namur as a city. It is known for its citadel, which we didn’t take time to visit. It had the normal shops, restaurants, churches, etc. but not as much of the touristy things. It would probably be a decent place to live if you didn’t have to drive around much.
Back at our B&B we capped off the night with another of the beers we had bought at the Be2 store: Kapittel Prior. It was a tasty brown abbey ale, and a delightful way to end an otherwise frustrating day.
Kapittel Prior
Beers Tasted
Today I tasted:
- Ciney Blonde
- Ciney Brune
- Duvel
- Chimay Bleu
- Kapittel Prior
Total to date for the trip: 28 beers
