De Garre – Bruges

To find this place you either stumble across it, or have to purposely search for it, for us thanks to the “Around Bruges in 80 Beers” guide book and the map reading skills of “pathfinder Rachie” (the wife), it was the latter.

Although centrally located on the main tourist trail and only 100 yards from the main Bruges Markt square, De Garre remains discretely hidden from the less discerning beer tourist, tucked away down a tiny cobbled alley (De Garre) off Breidelstraat. Clientele ranged from the obviously regular local folk each having what seemed to be their own favourite chair, to beer enthusiasts and folk that were very probably lost…

The main room itself is quite small in cafe/bar terms, probably 18 feet by 18, with a small apertured high bar facing you as you venture up the ancient worn stone steps, a tiny winding staircase aside the bar leading to the upper drinking gallery.
Once inside the feeling is like stepping back in time. Being a fan of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it reminded me of the scene in The Prancing Pony where the hobbits first met Strider, huge gnarled oak beams, stone floor, simple wooden tables clustered together all baring glasses of foaming ales.

Dating back to the 1700’s, De Garre is one of those places where the gentle atmosphere and ambience has your mind wondering how many people have sat here before you. What joys, tragedies, laughter, crimes or drunken buffoonery have these tine four walls witnessed in their lifetime?

Garre Tripel – 11%

Although they have a reasonable beer menu at De Garre, I was only after one in particular at the recommendation of Mark, co author of “real ale reviews” blog. This was the leg weakening De Garre house “Garre Tripel”, I was not alone as almost every table had at least one.

The Tripel arrived in two large goldfish bowl like glasses, with the thick white creamy head massively outweighing the liquid content by about three parts to one, there being only approximately three quarters of an inch of beer sitting at the base. Either by sensing our unconscious looks of disappointment or by the daily experiences of newcomers to his bar, the barman softly whispered “wait, it will come”.

Each tray of beer is served with a small portion of chopped cheese, which I’m led to believe is a compatible match for most Belgian beer, it was soft, creamy and when finally, patience rewarded we got to taste the Garre Tripel went perfectly with the beer

The beer itself has aromas of yeast and biscuits with slightly grassy hoppy notes. Once through that thick long lingering head, the first thing that hits you is the smooth malty flavour that disguises the alcoholic strength better than some half the same ABV. Garre is quite sweet for a Tripel which I suspect is due to the heavy alcohol, it has a smooth full bodied creaminess in the mouth which perfectly compliments the peach and light citrus flavours. The finish is easy going with evidence of hop bitterness but lightly so.

Garre Tripel is only available on the premises so you really need to make an effort and find it if ever you visit Bruges, all in all a fantastic experience and one we repeated whilst in the city. The beer can be purchased in 1.5 litre bottles to take away but  we refrained from buying one preferring to keep the memory of the visit alive.

A final word of warning, at De Garre I’m told they will only ever serve you three house Tripel beers in one sitting, I didn’t test the theory but probably suggest that it’s a wise move..

 

@Filrd fab fab pub. But to be honest one of many in Brugge! Hope you went T'Beertje Brugge 😉

— wiltshirewench (@historynvintage) May 7, 2011

https://www.otterstears.beer/shop/

 

Onward to Brugge

Day three and we are leaving the Poperinge for Bruges and an altogether different experience in the hustle & bustle of Bruges.

Although the journey driving direct from Calais to Bruges only takes roughly an hour and twenty minutes, because of the dog leg route via Ypres (Leper) it’s still an hour from Poperinge, still it’s nice to see a different side of Belgium as you are driving off the motorway, the hour passing quickly.

We arrived at our digs for the next two days where we had opted for a completely different type of accommodation, this was to be a let room in a large house in Bruges belonging to an artist by the name of Rita Riemaker. The house is decorated in art deco style including the let rooms, which although a little dated, were spacious, clean and comfortable (with a very attractive price).

Rita our host was very welcoming and provided a lovely continental breakfast on both days, however the only downside was the location which was a bit of a yomp into town. Not too bad (about 10-15 minutes walk), but doing it at least twice a day there and back became a chore after walking all day.

Making our way down the canal side and through tight cobbled streets, we finally emerged into the Markt Square which was packed with locals and tourists sampling local produce and hot food, exactly what we needed along with a good beer. As guides we took along the great little hand book “Around Bruges In 80 Beers” which has details of many great bars, beer shops and places to eat (which also sell beers), also a great set of notes kindly provided by Mark from Real Ale Reviews both of which proved really useful.

Consulting the map Cambrinus was in the next street and started our beer tour.

Cambrinus

Brasserie Cambrinus despite it’s outside appearance is a relatively new opening sometime in 2006 and once inside you could be forgiven for making a sharp exit if you prefer something traditionally Belgian, taking aside the stained glass, pictures and advertising adorning the walls it’s interior is quite British in style, dark panelled walls and lots of brass lights give it an almost Wetherspoons, Harvester air.

The place was packed though, with people queuing just to get a table, the food as it passed looked and smelled wonderful, oh and I forgot to mention the 400 varieties of beer available on their menu…

The menu itself is awesome, there’s something special (and daunting) when being presented with a large heavy wooden bound tome from which to choose your beer, but I spotted a couple of untried items from Forestinne, the Ambrosia and Mysteria.

Forestinne Ambrosia – Amber coloured beer with light sents of hops, fruits and malts. Soft taste with notes of plums and hazelnuts. 7,5% alc (Brewery Notes)

Forestinne Mysteria – Blond beer with sents of hops and exotic fruits. Soft taste with slightly bitter notes at the end. 7% alc (Brewery Notes)

Apologies for the lack of actual beer notes anywhere in the post, there were simply too many and in all sorts of circumstance to keep track at times. What was interesting was the back label for the Mystique though, which sort of intimates that it could be either blonde, amber or dark..translation anyone??

Driuds Cellar

From the outside this was a bar that you could walk right by either by passing it unnoticed, or by purposely avoiding because of it’s location and signage. Situated in a cellar below a Chinese restaurant and advertising UK football on big screens conjures images of a rowdy holiday pub and whilst establishments like that have there place they’re not always the sort of pub for a quiet drink in Belgium. I’m not sure about match days but mid afternoon on a Wednesday it was fine, whilst the beer menu wasn’t massive it was adequate and the atmosphere and welcome were great.  Well worth a look.

Bretoen Pannenkoeker

Bruges is full of wonderful places to eat on all budgets, but eating in tends to be quite expensive, cue Bretoen Pannenkoeker. It’s a little traditional cafe bar not far from the Markt square, 5 mins at most, inside they have a small menu of beer, sandwiches and the main events pancakes and omelettes. I had the best bacon omelette ever which came with four slices of rye bread and salad, Mrs H had a caramelised apple pancake which was enormous with both dishes combined coming in at under ten Euros.

It was full of locals when we visited late afternoon, which is a testament itself, all the pancakes are cooked in front of you as in the picture. Lovely traditional food at bargain basement prices.

Strijderhuis

At first glance this open plan modern cafe we thought was a bit of a mistake it had to be said, the staff weren’t particularly attentive and the overall atmosphere wasn’t brilliant, feeling a bit like a city businessman’s lunch venue.

What changed our minds was the beer, the house beers were really good quality and a refreshing and worth paying a visit for even if it’s only a flyer…

De Republiek

Described as an American Diner meets Student Union, we had no idea what to expect when we made our way to De Repbliek. On entering it’s a large open plan room with small raised alcoved areas and a wooden floor, a large bar with details of cocktails, food and upcoming events dominate one side. This though was where I made my personal best beer discovery of the week (Westveleren aside), it was the Viven Imperial IPA… It’s a really outstanding beer, pouring a reddish amber colour with punch you in the face fruity American hops. 

Now for a beer that I rate so highly you may be thinking that’s a pretty piss poor review and you’d be quite right, however this has to go in my top beers list so I plan to revisit again to revel in it’s full glory…

Day one in Bruges then is done, there were many beers and many bars that have not been listed here, some because they are not really worth a specific mention, others because they deserve special attention, De Garre, Brugs Beertje and De Halve Maan being some of the latter. They should follow in the next few days.

To close I can’t stress how useful some local knowledge is, Mark’s notes and the “Around Bruges in 80 Beers” book were of immense value, not to be led as such more-so a great source of information to help you get off the beaten track and find those hidden gems.. Happy hunting!

BeerRitz Bounces Back

For everyone who read this before, or is reading it for the first time now, here’s an update from Zac Avery:

Beerboy BeerRitz update

 

On a day when the Chancellor did the absolute bare minimum to help the struggling beer industry, it was great to actually hear some good news yesterday.

BeerRitz who quote on their website that they are “the longest established online beer shop in the UK” was again open for business!

You may think I am being a little vague by quoting the line above and you’d be right, the reason being that I have never been to the store in Headingley, Leeds, nor have I ordered from their on-line facility as yet and as such I know very little about them other than what I have read. So why, you may ask do I think that is good news?

Well since starting this beer blog I have made (largely through Twitter), many new friends, acquaintances, contacts or even just connections to people I follow out of interest. When the news broke last week that BeerRitz was closing it’s doors, the Twittersphere was alive with chatter universally expressing sadness, regret even grief on hearing the news. The absolute reverse was the case yesterday when it was announced that the doors were again open and BeerRitz was saved, come down and fill your boots! All of these people can’t be wrong, there’s no smoke without fire as they say.

BeerRtz is also the home of Zav Avery, one of the UK’s most respected beer writers and specialist retailers, Zac, from what I can gather was instrumental in the dramatic turnaround (circumstances yet to be disclosed) and I for one salute him and everyone else involved.

I wish BeerRitz the very best of luck and thank them for giving a good two fingered salute to the folks responsible for sticking an extra 10p on my pint yet again.

Give them a try or at least your support by spreading the word, I know I plan to in both ways, as without establishments like these and the people who run them your fridge would be full of cheap supermarket gnats piss…

http://www.beerritz.co.uk/default.asp

Check these links too:

http://hopzine.com/?p=2508http://thebeerboy.blogspot.com/

http://ghostdrinker.blogspot.com/2011/03/were-back.html

http://twitter.com/#!/realalereviews