We are back after more than a week of Belgian beers. On the internet search, my father and I found BBM Belgian Beer Me tours, run by Stu Stuart. He is very knowledgeable about Belgium and its beers. I have always loved Belgian beer, the first Belgian I fell in love with was Chimay Grand Reserve or Quadruple Ale. This was a group tour. Everyone was great. We went to four different cities, Gent, Bruges, Bastone, Malle, and Mechelen. We went to the Huyghe Brewery (Gent, Belgium) which brews Delirium and Guillotine. This is one of my favorite beers, Delirium.
They have a big brewery and brew beer that travels all over the world. During this BBM tour at no point did I feel like I’d had too much beer, sometimes you can’t have enough, and I didn’t feel overly tired by the end of each day. We saw one or two breweries/monasteries(Abby) and day with sometimes a ‘company lunch’. Then we had the late afternoon and evening free. We saw the Flanders American Cemetery, which was very moving and educational, not far from Bruges. Then we hit Trappist Westvleteren, Abby of the St Sixtus. They had a Blonde, a Dubbel, and a Quad which are only sold at the gift shop. I bought a six back of each. I only came home with four of each. Westvleteren 12 (Quad) is one of the most highly sought-after beers. The quad and the dubbel were excellent and the blond was just as tasty. They had an ice cream sundae made with their quad beer, which was delicious. While in Bruges, which is lovely, we walked to Brewery De Halve Maan. We had a tour of the brewery. It was a lot of climbing, and backward down some ladders. The pipe beer from there to the bottling plant through pipes under Bruges. I highly recommend eating and drinking here. They had a fabulous Wit and Wild Tripple. These two were my favorite on the tour. We also went to Chimay, near Bastogne. The beers were good, but I was a little underwhelmed. The gift shop is a place not to be missed. Lots of good barrel-aged beer and other goodies. Bastogne is small and historic due to the Battle of the Bulge. Then we saw Trappiest Abby of Rocheford. That was a bathroom stop to see their tiny display of a gift shop. We drank Rocheford outside in the parking lot. Their Tripple, Dubbel, and Quad were delicious.
Then we went to Orval and toured the Abby. We were able to sit in on the Monk’s prayer. We had lunch at Guardian Angle Taproom. Now Ovral has a really fabulous beer, one not to be missed. Then we toured the brewery. Excellent tour! Then on to Trilburg, Netherlands for Achel Brewery, where they have a bottle shop. We had lunch there and they had amazing beer. I recommend the Superior Blond and Superior Dark. You can share these with the table. Still, in Trilburg, we went to La Trappe Brewery, where I had their classic flight and thought these were okay compared to others. But they were better than most American offerings. Then the next day was Mechelen and Trappist Zundert, only ten years old. Their Quad is so good, that I bought their tenth anniversary Quad. Then one to Trappist Westmalle for lunch. I had a flight (monks beer, trippel, quad) They have the best mustard there. Don’t leave without a jar or two. I really loved the monk’s beer. The hotel in Mechelen was at the Het Anker brewery where Goulden Carouls and other beer. These beers are awesome, especially their Christmas Ale. That one is sold year-round. We had a walking tour the next day and a bottle share, which was epic. Overall Stu does a fabulous job with the tour. I can’t find anything wrong. I would say that you should bring a water bottle. Got to stay hydrated. I didn’t find it easy to get a bottle of water. But I would highly recommend BBM tours, Stu Stuart does a fabulous job! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly!
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