The Achel Trappist brewery is certainly one. We use cookies to ensure you get the best user experience. (Breakfast). Here well learn about WWI and the brave soldiers, who helped liberate Belgium. I'd like to have it again. The visit includes two drinks and a small gift. In Beersel you can sleep, eat well and choose from among 150 beers at the Hotel Centrum. But the most famous brewery here is the Trappist Orval, whose popular namesake pale ale is known for its a funky, hoppy character, the product of wild brettanomyces yeasts and dry-hopping. The Rodenbach brewery in Roeselare has Belgiums benchmark Flanders red ales, aged in 300 huge oak barrels. Although beer is what were here for, you cant skip a visit to the Aulne abbey. The Southern Tier 19.2oz Juice IPA malt liquor thing is even worse than the one from New Belgium. Brasserie La Rulless Gregory Verhelst also produces a superb lineup of beers, like the Blonde, Estivale and Triple, at the roadside brewery. All Belgian Trappist Breweries on the map 2020 - Belgian Beers UK You'll even visit the "longest bar in Europe" in Leuven, which's made of more than 34 actual bars and sells something called the "meter of beer", which'll probably have you off your feet. And in Ghent, Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant is a much-loved city caf, situated near the center of old Ghent right beside a canal. You can extend your stay in Brussels, hop on a return flight home, or easily take a train wherever your next adventure lies! This was our second time partnering with Celebrator Beer News on a tour of Belgium. THE TRAPPIST BEERS AND BREWERIES By Philip Rowlands - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 Every Trappist brewery is as unique as the community of monks living in the monasteries that run them. The brewer and owner, Dirk Naudts, used to teach brewing science before moving on to create beers like the Brewmasters Collection for SBS Imports. Scourmont Abbey is the home of the trappist monks of Chimay, who have lived there since 1850. Professional and courteous BBM! The brewery is only open to visitors on special Open Door days. At 10 a.m., well meet to visit a brewery. It is possible to visit the abbey (the church and gardens) all year long. I searched the forum but wasn't able to find much discussion on this topic. Driving through town in a vintage delivery van and exploring the brewery hall with your very own Bolleke glass are just a couple of the things youll get to experience. Yes, thats how important beer is in Belgian culture! Dany Prignon, the eccentric head of Brasserie Fantome, creates some eclectic brews in the town of Soy. Everything in the Chimay Brewery is shiny and modern. Youll then have a chance to walk through the fairy tale streets of Diest, one of our favorite hidden gems, and enjoy lunch on your own. Trappist Westvleteren - our beers It is aged for at least two years in a monastery following the 1862 recipe, and it is brewed according to the original 1862 recipe. 10 Best Hidden Gem Beer Bars in Flanders, Belgium, Know Before You Go: The Dos and Donts of a Beer Tour, Take private, custom brewery tours with our local brewer and beer guide, Yannick, Experience Belgian cuisine, including locally-made Golden Carolus Cheese, Visit breweries such as Duvel and Brasserie dAchouffe and brewing abbeys, Visit the Bastogne War Museum for animmersive experience, Stay in unique and comfortable accommodations, Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy Rochefort, Breakfasts and dinners, except one dinner on Day 4, All Scheduled Activities and Brewery Visits. Heading into central Brussels, the Delirium Caf features 2,000-plus beers, including 500 from Belgium, the largest selection anywhere according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Its 175 beers, several of which are offered on draft, are all well-chosen. Contreras, south of Ghent, still uses some beautiful old brewing equipment, and it crafts a number of fine beers, like Especial Mars. Working for a supplier now one of my bigger wholesalers has a big bar in the back end of their large conference room and they keep my flagship and most recent seasonal stocked in the cooler (same for most other large suppliers they have). De Struise Brouwers, with great brews like Aardmonnik and Pannepot, is also in the area and recently completed work on a new facility. Flemish Brabant Province surrounds Brussels, and it is packed with superb breweries, cafs and restaurants. Know Before You Go: The Dos and Donts of a Beer Tour Le Vaudree III in Jupille also makes for a fine stop, serving adventurous food and a 400 beers, including 24 on draft. Other breweries we will visit include Halve Maan and De Struise Taproom/bottle shop. Required fields are marked *. It is common for breweries to employ secular workers who do not live on site. Theres plenty to do and see here: the stunning 18th-century ruins, where nature and history meet in a perfect combination, the medicinal herb garden, where you can admire lots of plants used by the monks for centuries for medicinal purposes a history museum, where the neoclassical buildings will transport visitors back to the past. The most popular Trappist beers in the United States are Westmalle Tripel, Westvleteren 12 and Rochefort 10. On a recent trip to Belgium my brother and I wanted to go on a Trappist beer tour. Then we head south back into Belgium to visit the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle brewery tap Caf Trappisten and have lunch. Dinner is on your own in Bastogne (Breakfast ), Day 6 Bastogne Today is a big day as we head through the Ardennes Mountains to Trappist Orval for a guided tour of the modern Abbey, the Brewery Museum and Abbey ruins and the brewery tour at 10 a.m., and lunch at 1 p.m.. After lunch, well walk down to the pond, see the famous Orval swans and the exterior of the chateau. Beer Tours/Stu Stuart, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Our next stop is a solemn but powerful visit to sites of great importance memorializing the regions WWII history and the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne. 3930 Hamont-Achel. Namur Check the latest rates and the reviews on Booking.com, The next brewery on our tour is Duvel Moortgat: this family-owned brewery was founded in 1871 by Jan-Leonard Moortgat, who descended from a family of brewers from Steenhuffel., Ever since then, the Moortgats have been brewing their famous golden ale and many more varieties of beer., Have a guided visit and discover more about the brewing process of the renowned devil beer. The terms enkel, dubbel, tripel, and quadrupel are frequently used interchangeably to refer to the amount of malt with fermentable sugars and the original gravity of the wort prior to fermentation. But the special thing about Westmalle is that this was the very first Tripel beer in the world. Due to strict criteria and regulation, there are only 11 Trappist breweries in the worldsix are in Belgium, with three in the Ardennes region. Top tips for a budget-friendly trip to Belgium. The tour includes a movie (in English), a first-class tour, food, and of course, beer! Upon our return to Bastogne, well visit the Bastogne WWII Museum. *Note: Sometimes we may rotate in other breweries on this day in Gent instead of Huyghe or Van Steenberge. Well do a short walking tour of Gent, have a bottle share, then meet for our welcome dinner. Every day of our Belgian beer tour will allow you to discover Belgium's most grandiose abbeys, age-old breweries and most mythical tasting places - while spending your nights in carefully selected top-class hotels and enjoying fine gourmet dishes throughout the whole Tour. These are top fermentation beers with after-fermentation in the bottle. We require a minimum number of guests for each tour to be guaranteed to go, so its important to sign up ASAP, as opposed to waiting until the deadline. A second location should be open by now in central Brussels, at 8 Place Fontainas. If you'd like to join us for more of our tasty global adventures, sign up here! One of the three brewing partners is Jef Van den Steen, who is well known as Belgiums premier beer writer. The designation of Trappist is a legal one and encompasses a range of styles rather than a single distinct one. The Best Damn Farmhouse Ale leg of the tour is eight days, seven nights, and starts in Antwerp at the Modeste Beer Festival -- which, considering it features more than 35 of Belgium's best breweries -- isn't really modest at all. We are proud to present the first circuit of discovery and tasting of the best Trappist beers in the world. The last Trappist for our final day: the historical Orval Trappist Brewery had to be a part of our itinerary. Beer Nature Coast History Culture Type Roundtrip Families Tours from one Hotel Challenging tours Linear cycle route About our trips Why Belgium? Were bringing you ALL the Christmas lights. This trendy restaurant offers a modern take on classic Belgian cuisine, using fresh and locally sourced ingredients to create unique and flavorful dishes. Welcome to the Backroads of Belgium Tour where you'll travel the fabled Meuse River Valley and get personal with the cities of Tournai, Mons, Dinant, Namur, Huy and Liege. On my previous visits to the abbey, I was not able to get any further than the front gate of the monastery. If you require two or more spots please contact info@nulltastevacations.com. Youll have the afternoon to explore the cobblestoned streets of Bruges. You can buy beer and chocolates to go in the store next door, and theres even a hotel on site to accommodate weary travelers. $3675/per person + Air, $650 single supplement** Prices based on double room occupancy. Below is a fun video from the 2014 archives. One of the greats is Malheur, also called De Landtsheer. Belgi. This hotel is located in a 15th-century house in St Truiden, 100 meters from the Grote Markt. Plus, theres something special abouttrying these great beers straight from the source. These breweries are Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy, Abbey of Orval, Abbey of Rochefort, Abbey of Saint-Sixtus of Westvleteren, Abbey of Westmalle, and Abbey of Chimay. Beer is one of the few indulgences monks are permitted, and thus one of the reasons they know how to brew special beers so incredibly well. The five Trappist breweries in Belgium are Westmalle, Westvleteren, Orval, Chimay and Rochefort. Brouwerij Kerkom, in Bink, is another top destination. BBM! Belgian Beer Me! Tours Well visit either Brewery Van Steenberge, home of Gulden Draak and Piraat or Brewery Hughe, home Delirium Tremens and other fine beers. Beer Tours of Belgium, to produce this eventful tour. No worries, though, we will enjoy Rochefort beer as part of the tour. Trappist Beer Tour of Belgium & the Netherlands - YouTube Treat Yourself to a Taste Vacation! Ten days, nine nights. Also try local beers from Brouwerij Den Hopperd, like Kameleon and Ginseng, and t Hofbrouwerijkes Hofblues, Hoftrol and Bosprotter. Most of the sales revenues from the beers are pumped back into the brewery to be invested in good working conditions. May 19-28, 2024 Sept. 8-17, 2024 Oct. 13-22, 2024 Lonely Monks Trappist Tour from $400.00 Tour: Occupancy Option: The day is not over! Want to see all the stops and destinations planned out? Be sure to try their Brice and Joup beers. Flemish Brabant Sing along at the top of your lungs at Oktoberfest. Belgium. Mini Trappist Tour BBM! Belgian Beer Me! Tours You'll have the chance to discover amazing and vibrant cities, wander in old, full of history streets, enjoy splendid gourmet dishes and of course, taste the best Trappist beers in the world. This, by the way, is a modern-day monk. (Breakfast ), Day 10 Mechelen, Belgium Breakfast concludes this most memorable and satisfying Lonely Monks Trappist Tour. Those new to the Trappist name might wonder what it actually means and why should you care? We also visit Achel in Belgium, which lost its official Trappist designation in 2021, but continues to brew the same wonderful beer in the same beautiful abbey. We told Steven our goals for the trip and he planned an amazing day of traveling to three different monasteries. When I went to Belgium all too many years ago I focused on Brussels and Antwerp. It is an independent, self-reliant and proud family brewery that is never open to the public for tours, though you purchase its beers on-site in the sales office. With endless empty backroads, a serious lack of development, and plenty of hills to climb and subsequently bomb, the area tucked between Luxembourg and France made for the perfect two day trip for . This is the most accessible and user-friendly Trappist brewery and is set up for visitors. (Breakfast & lunch)Day 7 Tilburg, Netherlands We head north to the Achel Brewery at the St. Benedictus Abbey for lunch, beers and a tour. Also, tours can fill rapidly and suddenly, so signing up early ensures that you will go and not be disappointed. Luxembourg Province, in the far southeastern part of Belgium, is dominated mostly by countryside and rolling hills, but there are some real gems there. To conclude the evening, if youre not too tired, well take you on a tour of the vibrant Mechelen pub scene, providing a perfect opportunity to unwind and soak in the lively nightlife. Beginning to see a pattern here? Our adventure ends in Brussels mid afternoon on our final day. East Flanders is chock full of great beer cafes. Some of the most popular beers offered by Het Nest include the Kleveretien, a dark and complex Belgian ale with a rich and malty flavor, and the Schuppenboer Tripel, a strong and spicy Belgian tripel with a fruity and hoppy finish. Our all-inclusive epicurean beer Tour spreads over 9 days from Sunday to next week on Monday and includes a professional driver at your disposal during your whole trip. It is common practice for monasteries to not produce seasonal beers or to release new recipes every few years. If you click agree, you are accepting our, I want to receive the newsletter, and accept the. Our adventure starts at 1:00 PM, allowing you to arrive in Brussels this morning or the day before (which we highly recommend). This is a new addition to the tour for 2023. We learned a lot from Steven about beer and Belgium. The ' Trenches and Trappists ' tour runs on Sunday and explores the Northern Salient which stretches from Ypres to Diksmuide and incorporates visits to De Dolle Brouwers and the Trappist Brewery at the Abbey of Sint-Sixtus of Westvleteren. One of the first stops on the tour is Bruges, and while you're in Bruges, you'll hit the abbey of St. Sixtus to lunch at their taproom, take a history of Bruges canal boat ride, and have a tour/meal at a brewery and museum called "Halve Mann"; probably in reference to those who only took the first half of this trip. De ProefBrouwerij in Lochristi is an amazingly clean, technologically advanced brewery. The most well-known brewery in the rural province of Wallonian Brabant is Brasserie Lefebvre, also closed to the public. Alternatively, you can taste and buy the locally made cheese at the nearby fromagerie. Leave the driving to us! 2. Four departures a year. Afterwards, we'll have dinner in their taproom and spend one night in Tilburg. Exploring The Nutritional Content Of A Popular Low-Carb Beer, How Long Can Unopened Beer Last? This afternoon you have some more free time to take in the many sites of Bruges, rent a bike, take a carriage ride, visit museums, or just people watch, while savoring a Belgian beer in a sidewalk caf. Chimay beers are still made there today. Day One Gent This incredible tour begins in the afternoon in Gent as we meet at 2 p.m. in the lobby of the historic Hotel Monesterium PoortAckere, tastefully built in a former monastery and very fitting for this tour. It is said to stock 980 beers, with 42 on draft. At the bunker well have a guided tour and learn about how this little Belgian town became the base of operations for for Hitler for the invasion of France in WWII. What better way to start the morning and get your taste buds excited for the rest of the day? Luxembourg The beer is transported 8 kilometers away by tank truck from their distillery in Baileux to the bottling plant in Baileux. At 2 p.m., we continue on to Bruges (about 1 hour drive). There are many of them that are only a short drive away from other countries, such as France, Germany, or Luxembourg. Tours The Lonely Monks Trappist Beer Tour Of Belgium & the Netherlands! At Westmalle, have a draft Dubbel, bottled Tripel, or a mix of the two called a Trip-Trap. Here we will look at the Abbaye and pick up our bikes. The rest of the afternoon is free to explore Gent. Finally, well check into our hotel, drop off our luggage, and set out for dinner at Bardo Brasserie & Lounge Bar. Monasteries require a small amount of commercial products in order to survive. BEER TOURS OF BELGIUM. Beer and Cycling in Belgium - Belgian Bike Tours Included are all brewery visits, museum visits, hotels, canal boat tour (photo above in Bruges), ground transportation, all breakfasts, some snacks, three lunches and two dinners. It is just a 5-minute walk from the citys main train station, Midi, and is open for visits six days a week. Belgian Beer Me! Many Belgian beer lovers have heard of Bierhuis Kulminatorin the city of Antwerp, which is the worlds most famous caf for aged brews. By whichever name you call it, be it Dutch, French or English, Belgiumis the worlds best beer country. Put away the guidebook and pour yourself a brew. Wallonian Brabant Afterward, well visit Hitlers Bunker. I know there are seven of them in Belgium, and I've been to their association . A Beer Tour of Belgium | The Beer Connoisseur You will be among the first beer enthusiasts to enjoy these new brews. If theres something Belgium is famous for, thats beer., This small country has approximately 304 active breweries, and we want to take you beer lovers on a tour for you to discover some of them., The main character of our itinerary will be the Trappist.