Malnourished
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Well as soon as you get TW's Guide this thread will be redundant - it's brilliant - but I might as well throw in some self-indulgent travel tips/reminiscing/gloating too. 
As a general rule, I'd say that in Belgium you're better of focussing on on cafes than breweries themselves. There are a few notable exceptions (Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, De Dolle, Blaugies) but in general the cafes are the more interesting places to drink.
As far as visiting monasteries go - don't expect to see the breweries. Most have cafes attached (Rochefort doesn't, though) but you can get the beers anywhere. Even Westvleteren's aren't too hard to find, though they're sometimes really expensive in cafes. I think Achel has a couple of brewery-only beers you can't get elsewhere, but I didn't make it there. Cafe In De Vrede at Westvleteren is a nice place, but I wouldn't say it's really worth the trip if you've only got a week or less. You can get a BelBus (you have to ring and order it!) from Poperinge. Orval is supposed to be the best to visit, but getting there is a PITA if you don't have car.
The Payottenland was probably my favourite part of Belgium (though in fairness I am obsessed with lambics.) It's a pretty surreal mix of rural and suburban, but despite it being so small it's quite difficult to get around. LambikLand is a great resource, but its bus information is somewhat unreliable. There are awesome rural cafes dotted everywhere, but I'd say the best breweries to check out are De Cam and Drie Fonteinen because they have cafes on-site. Hanssens was probably my favourite of all, but there's no food there. Plenty of beer, though... And stop by the Streekproductencentrum in Halle on your way out to pick up the stuff you didn't get to try on your travels.
Ghent was my favourite city in Belgium, it's just like Bruges but without all the tourists (and it's got a few good cafes too.) The In Flanders Fields museum in Ypres is definitely worth doing too. The Bakery Museum in Veurne is not...
Things not to be missed, IMO:
Cantillon (Brussels)
Delerium (Brussels) Order a beer from one of the taps to drink whilst you read the menu!
't Brugs Beertje (Bruges) Apparently Daisy is sick at the moment though, so it might not be quite the same.
De Dolle Brouwers (Esen) Go on the weekend and get a tour with Kris Herteleer's 90-something year-old mother! She's awesome!
Heeren van Liederkerke (Denderleeuw) Awesome restaurant.
As a general rule, I'd say that in Belgium you're better of focussing on on cafes than breweries themselves. There are a few notable exceptions (Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, De Dolle, Blaugies) but in general the cafes are the more interesting places to drink.
As far as visiting monasteries go - don't expect to see the breweries. Most have cafes attached (Rochefort doesn't, though) but you can get the beers anywhere. Even Westvleteren's aren't too hard to find, though they're sometimes really expensive in cafes. I think Achel has a couple of brewery-only beers you can't get elsewhere, but I didn't make it there. Cafe In De Vrede at Westvleteren is a nice place, but I wouldn't say it's really worth the trip if you've only got a week or less. You can get a BelBus (you have to ring and order it!) from Poperinge. Orval is supposed to be the best to visit, but getting there is a PITA if you don't have car.
The Payottenland was probably my favourite part of Belgium (though in fairness I am obsessed with lambics.) It's a pretty surreal mix of rural and suburban, but despite it being so small it's quite difficult to get around. LambikLand is a great resource, but its bus information is somewhat unreliable. There are awesome rural cafes dotted everywhere, but I'd say the best breweries to check out are De Cam and Drie Fonteinen because they have cafes on-site. Hanssens was probably my favourite of all, but there's no food there. Plenty of beer, though... And stop by the Streekproductencentrum in Halle on your way out to pick up the stuff you didn't get to try on your travels.
Ghent was my favourite city in Belgium, it's just like Bruges but without all the tourists (and it's got a few good cafes too
.) The In Flanders Fields museum in Ypres is definitely worth doing too. The Bakery Museum in Veurne is not...Things not to be missed, IMO:
Cantillon (Brussels)
Delerium (Brussels) Order a beer from one of the taps to drink whilst you read the menu!
't Brugs Beertje (Bruges) Apparently Daisy is sick at the moment though, so it might not be quite the same.
De Dolle Brouwers (Esen) Go on the weekend and get a tour with Kris Herteleer's 90-something year-old mother! She's awesome!
Heeren van Liederkerke (Denderleeuw) Awesome restaurant.
Wait until about 6pm! When I was there everyone disappeared around dinner-time. It was quite surreal... it's a beautiful town when it's not full of obnoxious tourists.Guest Lurker said:
It's called A La Brocante, and yeah I really liked it too. And they have ancient video games! Just up the street off the market are Restobieres (beer restaurant) and Warm Water (cafe) too.nonicman said:
