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Author Topic: Weekend in Belgium area  (Read 2032 times)

Offline rjharper

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Weekend in Belgium area
« on: August 13, 2015, 02:31:59 pm »
Just landed a work trip to Belgium, and low and behold the flights are half the price if I come home Sunday instead of Friday so work is paying for my weekend! I finish up work Thursday in SW Belgium near the French border, then as long as I'm Brussels for Saturday night, the rest is open.

I'm thinking I can head down the French / Belgian border towards Luxembourg on Friday (Orval, Chimay and others), then back up to Brussels on Saturday via Rochefort & Fantome. The upside is I have a car. The downside is that means I'm driving.

Any thoughts or good suggestions for places to go / eat / drink?

Offline wissota

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Re: Weekend in Belgium area
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2015, 02:43:08 pm »
Go to Bruges. Find a small alleyway called De Garre the width of a "horses ass" as they say, go inside the bar and order their house tripel.  Then drink the 2 more that your allowed to drink. Words cant describe.  Also, wandering the Orval grounds is an awesome experience, definitely recommend that.

Offline rjharper

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Re: Weekend in Belgium area
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2015, 03:03:24 pm »
Go to Bruges. Find a small alleyway called De Garre the width of a "horses ass" as they say, go inside the bar and order their house tripel.  Then drink the 2 more that your allowed to drink. Words cant describe.  Also, wandering the Orval grounds is an awesome experience, definitely recommend that.

This is exactly the kind of intel I was looking for. Thanks!

Offline riceral

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Re: Weekend in Belgium area
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2015, 06:27:46 pm »
Go to Bruges. Find a small alleyway called De Garre the width of a "horses ass" as they say, go inside the bar and order their house tripel.  Then drink the 2 more that your allowed to drink. Words cant describe.

+1. Their dubbel isn't shabby either.

Ralph R.

Offline theoman

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Re: Weekend in Belgium area
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2015, 01:22:17 am »
Definitely pick up a copy of the Good Beer Guide Belgium.
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Beer-Guide-Belgium-Webb/dp/1852493119/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1439536573&sr=1-1&keywords=good+beer+guide+belgium

For a trip like that, it's perfect. Pick some random town along the way, grab the book and find the best place for a beer. You'll find some interesting places with excellent beer, completely void of tourists.

Offline unclebrazzie

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Re: Weekend in Belgium area
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2015, 01:46:29 am »
Whereabouts near the French border will you be? If Bruges is an option then may you can make it to West Flanders on Saturday afternoon. De Struise Brouwers will welcome you with beer and beer and more beer. Downside is their most impressive beers are on tap (but they sell growlers) and bottle stock is often limited but I can query ahead for you if you like.

Fantôme: get in touch with Dany to have at least the vaguest of ideas whether he'll be around and in fact open at all.
Also be warned that visiting actual trappist breweries isn't as straightforward as just stopping by. Sure, you'll get to see the abbey, but the monks are in retreat for a reason. Lookup the visiting hours and the facilities in the vicinity.

Brussels: Cantillon. Period.

All truth is fiction.
--Don Quichote

Offline MDixon

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Re: Weekend in Belgium area
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2015, 07:39:00 am »
I believe the BAC in Belgium is 0.5 grams of alcohol per liter of blood or 0.05, whereas in the US it is 0.08. Just keep that in the back of your mind. It would take much at Orval and Chimay to tip the scale. ;)
It's not a popularity contest, it's beer!

Offline unclebrazzie

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Re: Weekend in Belgium area
« Reply #7 on: August 19, 2015, 01:12:58 am »
.5 promille as they say down here. Or 0.05%.
Which is roughly .22 mg of ethanol per liter of blood.

Calculators indicate that 4 standard units (meaning two glasses of 8%ABV beer) for a man of 80kg would lead to .63 promille, an hour after consumption.
An hour later, you'd be good to go.

Of course, calculator don't realise most people don't sit down to quaff two Chimay Bleus and then wait for two hours for the effect to wear off :)

Beer and travel always brings the conundrum of transport and logistics. If you have a friend who doesn't like beer enough to drink but who likes you enough to drive you, then you're all set :)
All truth is fiction.
--Don Quichote