Hey everyone, I'm making the pilgrimage with my brother and friend a week from tuesday from the kansas via los angeles area. The normal trips to St. Sixtus (four hours of non stop calling didn't produce a reservation on the 12, sadly), staying at t' Brouwerhuis. We'll have rented a car, but I'm hoping to try and stick to mostly bikes and the Watou/Poperinge area. I'm looking for advice of bars/resturaunts to stop at, but largely interested in the best place to stock up on beers that are hard-to-come back in the states. I'm planning on just exploring the villages and stopping at Noel Cuvelier , but I've heard they don't carry de Struisse. It'll be on a tuesday so the old school won't be open, and I'm not sure we have the time to drive (and likely get lost on the way to!) bruges to visit the beer store. Any other recommendations?
Cafe in de Vrede is open on tuesday but the best thing is always to check the site: http://www.indevrede.be/languagee/index.htm You can actually go inside the abbey and join the monks in prayers. You don't have to pray with them but it is very special to see how this goes. You can walk trough the abbey to the chapel and after that you can walk back. These are the times they pray: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethmasoch/5818182686/in/set-72157625974747146 The best time to go there is the sext at 12.15 and the noon at 14.15 hours. What you must do is go to the entrance about ten minutes before the paryers start. This is the entrance: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethmasoch/5689812417/in/set-72157625974747146 Just ring the bell there and tell the monk who opens the door you want to go to the prayers. They will ask you to put out all cellphones. It is not allowed to make film or photo's. It is not possible to visit the brewery but here are the pictures i made when i was invited there: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethmasoch/sets/72157625974747146/ Here are the pictures i made from my visits to the Struise, they are closed but if you mail Urbain or Carlo they might have some time for you: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethmasoch/sets/72157625974660722/ If not you can buy their beers at Deca in the Place called Woesten, about five minutes from the abbey and Struise. They sell Struise beers Thijs
And don't forget to buy some threepacks at the beerpickuppoint, You can buy two each. With a bit of luck they will also sell sixpacks at the Cafe in de Vrede. Last week they sold the 8. Thijs
hey! i'll be making the trip there in a few weeks. i've been emailing carlo but can't seem to get a straight answer out of him on this, is there a place there to drink beer, outside of the seminars? Or is it just a store and seminar rooms? He said they'd be open from 1400 to 1800. I gotta do it with the belbus, so i need to plan this ahead of time. Thanks!!!
You could cycle to Noels from your accomodation, but you'll need a satnav and a truck to stock up at Brasserie Vanuxeem, even though it is fairly close to where you'll be: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4500/?view=beerfly&ba=BlackHaddock Don't remember seeing any Struisse but there selection is just huge with a capital H. <*))))))><
Singles. My stash was almost all single bottles to store or drink soonest: really impressive set up they have.
Last I was there, there was not really a bar or traditional place to drink, but they let us open beers and just kind of hang out, walk around, and drink a few beers. YMMV.
I was just there two weeks ago. The cafe is an old school so one of the classrooms serves as the drinking area. You'll open the main door of the school and be in a hallway which will likely be stocked with 8-10 varieties of their stuff. You pick one out, head into the classroom and take a seat at a table. Repeat as often as you'd like. It isn't big, maybe 10 tables seating 30-40 but you could certainly spend the entire four hours with all the varieties they offer and you can purchase them to go as well. Better to do it at the school then in Bruges because its much cheaper, though in Bruges there may be one or two they don't have at the school (i.e. Kabert, Black Damnations). The time I spent there with Carlo, Urban, and Jay is one of my greatest days of beer. Very good people.
Deca in Woesten is a good stop, stop by a supemarket while you ride around too. Sometimes there's some nice gems there
