Belgian Beer Tour - Part III, Westvleteren, St. Bernardus (B&B), Struise

"Life is a pilgrimage. The wise man does not rest by the roadside inns. He marches direct to the illimitable domain of eternal bliss, his ultimate destination"

 - Swami Sivananda                     

My modification to the Buddhist quote is the following:

"Life is a pilgrimage. The wise man does not rest by the roadside inns. He marches direct to the (abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren), his ultimate destination"

                                                                               - Lou

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"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us."

- Henry David Thoreau

Bow Wow's modification to Mr. Thoreau would be the following:

"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within that field of delicious hops."

                                                                                  - Dr. Bauer

The time has arrived; the off-track portion of our program where we pave new paths to new, rare beers. Yes its true, where we are going, not even Rick Steves could recommend a local restaurant.

Following our time in Bruges, we picked up our rental car, taking a quick hour drive to West Flanders, also home to some of the best breweries in the world, including, but surely not limited to De Dolle, De Struise Brouwers, Westvleteren and St. Bernardus. We were able to visit the last three and even stay at the last one on our excursion (entrance to St. Bernie's B&B pictured above).

We had agreed to meet Jacky at 3pm and as we had made it to the area much quicker than we expected, we stopped in Oostvleteren (just east of Westvleteren, naturally), to pay homage to De Struise Brouwers, whose beers I (ignorantly) knew little about before researching for this trip. Their secret is not safe with me!

The Brewery is an old schoolhouse and while Carlo, one of the owners of the brewery, wasn't around, the office manager was friendly and able to sell us a few beers to try out (p.s. the beer is awesome - not sure how readily available it is in the US).

Following this, we had an hour to go 10 km and between St. Bernardus and Struise was St. Sixtus. I will explain the story more below, but Saint Sixtus thankfully have opened a brewery cafe in the last several years that allows Pilgrim's to stop and sample the best rated beer in the world, Westvleteren 12.

Following the second pitstop we made it to the St. Bernardus B&B, which if not connected to the brewery would still be amazing as the bedrooms and common rooms are very carefully done. Debatably the best feature of the house however, is that guests have free reign to two fridges stocked with Bernie's, which we of course made quick use of (but not quick work of - Belgian's are strong)! Dat's a lotta Tripel's Bernie!

Following our welcome drink to wait out the rain, we grabbed the bikes that guests can use and biked to Watou, the nearby village, for dinner. Erin's bike didn't last long so she got a Dutch taxi ride (as I just now coined).

We arrived in Watou to witness a local version of lawnbowling, patanques or bocce ball. This variation involves rolling these rubber disks down the street. I gathered the objective is the same where you have to get closest to the little ball tossed first.

Paterstafel, our restaurant for the evening, was just opposite the game in the village square. Bauer and I went for steak for two marinated in a sauce whose primary ingredient was the Prior 8.

Following dinner, we meandered our way back along Trappistweg, taking the first left after the brewery. We stayed up for a few games of cards and drank a Bernie in its proper glass, emulating the monks who started the brewery. The history of the brewery and cheese production plant is found here and here. You can read that the beers of Westvleteren used to be brewed here and in 1992 when the Trappist beers all moved production to within the Monasteries, the beer's name was changed to St. Bernardus, after the Refuge established there following the anti clergy movement in France (during the French Revolution). Its good to see I have more hair and less belly than the Saint - for now :-)

The following morning after breakfast, the other unique feature of the B&B was unveiled. In the laundry room connected to the B&B kitchen was a door...but not just any door, a door leading directly to the bottling facility of the brewery, beginning the brewery!! TOTALLY COOL!!!

Jacky gave us a nice tour of the facility, which was during the full production process (only the second time I had a tour during production - Summit). I almost got plucked by a forklift when I was posing for a pic!

Following the tour, we took another bike ride through the country and its fields of hops, sadly returning the bikes to leave. We all agreed another night on Trappistenweg would have been wonderful.

We had a couple hours before our beer date with the monks, so we went to Ieper or Ypres. A beautiful town was subject massive destruction during world war one. The church was the only building resembling more than a pile of rubble, but following the war, nearly the entire town was rebuilt to its pre-war character.

The time had arrived, just an hour before our scheduled pick up and time for another lunch at the Westvleteren cafe In De Vrede, and two more 12's for me along with some of the Monk's famous cheese.

Upon leaving the cafe, we headed to the Monastery gates to see where and how we get our beer. Thankfully I have dealt with my fair share of Monk's at Saint John's, so this guy and I seemed to click. I have a suspicion he likes beer too. The length's we go to get our beer!

The background behind St. Sixtus and getting the highly rated and commercially untouchable beers of Westvletern is that you need to be able to interpret their beer schedule, you need luck to get through on the phone and you need to be able to visit Belgium the week after you reserve. As I mentioned, the beer is not available commercially anywhere except the cafe (legally), so you have to call the reservation line if you want to get beer. I called the reservation line, not knowing the pick up dates on the website correspond with the call in dates listed on the call in column (generally a week or so earlier). I was able to get through to reserve a case of the Westy 12s, but had to then retract as I was not going to be there during the schedule pick up dates (only two days available for pick up of this batch - and you though the soup Nazi was strict;-). Knowing that the call in dates correspond with the pick up dates, I was luckily able to get through the following week and reserved a crate of Westy 8's, not a bad consolation.

The pick up area, attached to the monastery, is ran by one of the monks. It is exactly like a bank drive through, except you leave with beer instead of a deposit slip. We were also lucky as they were selling mixed three packs for €8 each that allowed a sixer for each passenger in the car. Naturally we maxed out our order and ended up with two cases of Westies! We actually had two crates lined up for our reservation, but it was too much to haul back on the train through the chunnel.

What an amazing and truly unique beer experience that we will all never forget. And to top it off, the beer was as good as advertised, one of the best!

Now how do we get it back to the US?????

Hi Ho Bauer take 7 - Belgian Beer Tour - Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium

The keen observer (who must also be a beer Pilgrim) would quickly identify the beers in focus and perhaps the setting depicted in the blurry background, as that is how most remember it, blurry. The Kulminator was the second famous beer bar visited in one day....after visiting the Delirium Cafe earlier in the day. What is so monumental about this you ask? While one is in Brussels and one in Antwerp of course...

...and that my friends and family, sums up our whirlwind derby across Belgium over the late May bank holiday weekend. Admittedly, that is how far I am on these posts. Actually typing this after a long Friday nights' work....in Malta. The bad part about this is the workload lately; the nice part about this is that I am sitting on the balcony of my Maltese hotel (Hilton), catching a beautiful pinkish-orange sunset glistening off the still blue waters of the Mediterranean. Yes, there are worse places to be subjected to work.

The trip started on the last Friday of May in London. It started with a bang and a sad note alike, as it was our last meal with Stu and Kate before they returned home. A quite emotional meal as our time with them in London was terrific and we will be visiting them during the ski season in the Rockies! Kate and Stu were nice enough to share a huge credit at Redhook in Clerkenwell, which was amazing!! Us and the Bauer's are thankful for being fed so well! Did I mention that before the meal we tried my order of Abstrakt 6 Black IPA produced by Brewdog, one of my favorite UK breweries?

As the title suggests, Dr. Bauer and his counterpart, Drs. Bauer, have joined us once again. A historic 7th time. Not sure if they wanted to visit or if they saw that Betch had visited again and were determined to retain sole possession of top visitor of our 7.5 year adventure...that's once a year for those not counting (Borgie).

The next morning it was to the Eurostar, which departs from St. Pancras station and takes about 2.5 hours to make it to Brussels midi. Note when taking the Eurostar, it pays serious dividends to book well in advance as you can get to Paris or Brussels from London for about £150 return, and saving all the check-in and transportation to the airport time gives you extra time to do things like see one of the most overrated sites in the world, Manikin Pis.

Following a quick breakfast and a walk around the Grand Place, we were due to embark on a journey of epic proportions; (pro)portions of beer.

The natural first stop was the Delirium Cafe, which is one of the world's most revered bar, housing over 2000 beers on its menu that resembles the Saint John's bible. Delirium is well known in many circles, it was my third time there personally. But if you haven't heard of it, here's an intro...a three sheets salute to the Delirium Cafe!

I will summarise our beer selections at each bar in part II of the Belgian Beer tour. Let's just say it included the heaviest hitters in Belgium and a pilgrimage to taste (and pick up our order of:-) the highest rated beer in the world.

Following the Delirium Cafe it was off to Antwerp, an underdog of Belgium, but for those that appreciate the lords brew, Antwerp is no secret at all. Its a quick 40 minute train ride between the two so a day trip to one or the other is easily doable.

Antwerp has a beautiful city center, definitely outdoing Brussels in terms of charm, at least in my opinion. We arrived with a long walk by the Yiddish diamond shops and away from the center(re) to Rue de Plantin to the Plantin Hotel. Not central, but to our delight just a 2 minute walk from Cogels Osylei, perhaps the prettiest street in Belgium. We would save that for the following morning hangover stroll and breakfast. First, strolling the centre and pit stops at beer bars.

First stop Paeters Vaetje, an old pub with a big heart and a local following. It truly fit the bill as a classic Belgian beer bar and the selection of taps is great. Its on the same street as the cathedral so its a great touring pit stop. Check out the beer list yourself, but make sure you have a Kleenex for the drool, or at least have your Rochefort 10 catch it.

The next stop was Afspanning t' Waagstuk, another not-to-be-missed spot just north of the city center (5 minutes walk). This pub, also a winner and highly recommend, oozes with character and has a smaller, but well regarded beer list. The one downfall about this place was there was a German tour group here, but in another room so it was fine sitting at the bar. The worst part was that they all (maybe 35 of them) left over 1/2 their beer to the spoils. What a tragedy. If I was an employee there I would've finished 'em myself (although we almost did as customers:).

Third stop was to re-fuel with a nice dinner (preceded by a Leffe at a pub to watch the second half of the Champions League final). The educated scholar knows that Belgian beers with no food is a no-no if you want to remember the night and wake up with a clear head. We grabbed a really nice meal at a restaurant I don't remember - it's only my job to remember the pubs! The food was amazing though, and no it wasn't the booze that caused the memory loss (its my old age:).

Next bar was the Kulmination of our Antwerp beer tour (which was actually hijacked from a kind man at ratebeer - thanks!), the Kulminator bar. This bar is regarded by many as the best beer bar in the world.

Ask yourself, have you ever been to a bar with a bible-menu comparable to Delirium? The answer may be yes, but the follow up would be....does that menu list your favorite beers listed by year??!?!?!??

I encourage you to expand the above pic for a true appreciation of the beer menu, complete with years next to beers. You may be like, "what is this gimmicky bull-s*^t". Don't tell the owners or the patrons that, as this is a serious beer drinkers bar. I have never experienced anything like it and I consider myself a well traveled beer snob. We of course had a couple variations of De Struise that aren't readily available anywhere, let alone the 2004! It was an amazing and unique experience, Doc and I felt like kids in a massive candy store!

In hindsight we should've came here early, not last. I encourage all to do the same as the charm of the couple who own the bar can be much more appreciated with a thinner and more sober crowd.

The next morning was to get a nice breakfast along Cogels Osylei with a big cappuccino before a long walk along the beautiful street before making our way to the train to Bruges, where we would continue tackling the best beer Belgium has to offer!!!

Working in Malta

This post has been in draft format for six weeks now, as work has been consuming all my time - I am travelling a lot and even when I travel, don't have the capacity to update the blog. I am forcing this one out now to get back on track!

I recently have been working quite often in Malta, assiting an local EY team on one of our clients. This is what my home away from home has looked like from the inside for the past several months. While it seems glamorous, being away from the wife more painful than anything and having dinners alone gets pretty lonely.

I started working here in May and am now on my fifth trip here. But I am finally getting some company as some of my colleagues are joining now. I have had one weekend day off during my time here and in the day I had off, I got to experience a little taste of Malta by taking a hop on hop off bus.

I primarily stay at the Hilton, which is a great hotel for both business and pleasure and has about 410 rooms, 400 more than the hotels we usually like to stay in. The bay below is St. Julian's, where there are lots of old boats, restaurants and of course, beautiful waters.

The first stop of the hop on hop off bus was Valetta, the capital of the country. With amazing history and architecture, you could easily spend a whole day here wandering the alleys, walking through gardens to arrive at beautiful views of the harbor, and lots and lots of churches (as Malta is one of the most religious countries in the world). Malta has a really varied history and has been occupied by the Arabs, Napolean, Britian, Sicily and even Germany.

Its most famous protectors were the Knights of St. John, who fought for years to keep the Ottoman empire from conquering the city - successfully. Their fortress is across the harbor from Valetta, you can see it in the pic below.

Following Valetta, I took the bus to Mdina and explored around the picturesque medieval capital of Malta. You don't need more than an hour or two wandering around, but there are plenty of lunch spots and you can walk along the walls that used to protect the city.

Following my city tours, which builds up some sweat in the Maltese heat, it was off to the beach. Ghajn Tuffieha and Golden Bay were the beaches I choose, which has crystal clear waters and are off the beaten track, yet accessible by the hop on hop off bus.

The best of the two was Ghajn Tuffieha, as it had a little pizza cafe and is otherwise unspolit by development.

Again, as beautiful as the scenery is, my buddy was missing in the photo below, could've used another towel, some snokerling gear and a little wife!

Provence, Part 3 - Arles to Cassis

Just when we thought we couldn't see any more amazing villages, enter St. Remy and Arles. Two jewels of Provence, these are two great cities to combine together for a day trip from Avingnon. We began the day in St. Remy, which has a much smaller Saturday market than I was expecting. Regardless, it was nice to wander around the town where Van Gogh lived for a summer and got a morning espresso (or as the french say, cafe).

Following St. Remy, we took about 20 minutes of beautiful, windy roads past Les Baux (not recommended as it isn't really a village but more of a tourist trap) and to Arles. We caught the tail end of one of the largest Saturday markets in all of France, even buying a few goodies to go along with the photos.

After the market, we had lunch at A Cote, the little sister to the famous Michelin-starred L'Atelier that shares the same chef's and kitchen. I splurged for the grilled lobster, which was of course amazing.

Following lunch we did the tours of Roman Arles, checking out the amazing colliseum and Roman Ampitheatre. The colliseum is surreal and really relaxing to get lost in. And for €6 for the two sites, not a bad value either. It is really well preserved and worth a separate visit to the city just to see this site.

Following our tour of Roman Arles, including checking out Cafe La Nuit, which was immortalized by Van Gogh in one of his famous paintings, we wandered around the tiny streets of the town before heading back towards Avignon.

Once back to Avignon, Erin and I took the opportunity to see the sunset over Avignon across the Rhone from the city itself. It is really peaceful with lots of benches and grass to enjoy the views from.

We then made it back to our Domaine for one last night of home cooked Provencial food ala Erin. Below is the Domaine, a 16th century manor house converted B&B.

The following morning, our last in France, we made it back to the coast to Cassis, another amazing village that I had visited when studying abroad. Aimlessly strolling along the boats and promanade of the village is a great way to begin a relaxing day.

The weather was also amazing this time and we were able to take a Calanques tour. The tour itself was €20 for two and takes about 90 minutes to do all the Calanques. We would've liked to stop at the beach below but time didn't really permit, and the water was still on the chilly side.

Following the tour and a marginal dinner, we decided it was time to head home and get back to reality in London. It was a great return to where my passion for traveling began and was equally great to share all of it with Erin.

Provence, Part 2 - Chateauneuf to Avignon

After a nice lunch in Orange, it was back to try Beaucastel a second time. We made sure we arrived 15 minutes early so we didn't miss the second consecutive tour. We had several friends recommend Beaucastel as a great place to take a tour and do a tasting, and not just because they are perhaps the most well regarded estate in Chateauneuf de Pape. Also, with their top (currently for sale) wines selling at $550 a bottle, the fact that you aren't obligated to buy such a bottle as part of the tour is nice too. The tour itself was very comprehensive, and was (potentially) made more personal given the vineyard owner who took the tour with us has indirect business relationships with Beaucastels JV in the US.  

The estate itself was incredibly beautiful and as one of the most historic vineyards in the world, definitely lived up to its promise. We tried several wines in the old cellar, including the 2008, 2007 and 2001, all very good. It was interesting to try the three of those as well as some other wines in the region, and be able to tell just how much more complex and flavorful the aged Beaucastle was then all the others.

One of the other things they do is always keep a decent (but perpetually dwindling) stock of older vinetages on hand if some of their more important customers are looking to replenish their stock. And surprisingly, being such a historic vineyard, they haven't rested in place and have established stat of the art wine making  techniques.

Following Beaucastel, we did some more of the region wine experience in Gigondas, stopping first at the village just north of Gigondas called Siguret, which is only a few minutes out of the way but worth stopping for the view of the nearby vineyards if the Plus Beaux Village title doesn't convince you.

We then stopped at Gigondas on the way home. We didn't eat here, but there is a great restaurant in the village that is owned by the Perrin family, who own and operate the Beaucastel estate.

From Gigondas (after a tasting at the local wine "coop" and picking up a couple bottles, we made it to Isle sur La Sourge, which is home to some canals and argubaly the best antique stores and markets in Provence. The real reason we went there was for dinner at Le Vivier an affordable but amazing one star michelin restaurant.

The four course menu is only €40 or so and provides amazing value for the quality of food served here. I had perhaps the best steak I have ever eaten and Erin had a lamb trio that was amazing.

The following day we had a morning tour at Domaine de Giraud. While not quite as intimidating as the Beaucastel empire, the brother and sister run vineyard in creates some amazing wine. Marie was a great host, letting us try some 2010 directly from the barrels. It was interesting to try the Mouverde from the same year, but grown in different soil. Amazing how the type of soil (rock v. clay in our case) can completely dictate the taste of the wine.

That afternoon we walked around Avignon and took a tour into the Palais des Papes, which was as amazing as I remember it longggg ago. It was a great day and all necessary for a complete holiday in Provence.