Tag: beer blog

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Beer shops in Brussels: Malt Attacks

I started a new project. I will visit all the independent craft beer shops in Brussels and put them in the spotlight. Here is my first article: Malt Attacks

About Malt Attacks

Beer shop Malt Attacks was founded in 2014 by Antoine. He is very passionate about craft beer and decided to make his love for beer, his work. At that time there were not many beer specialised shops in Brussels yet, but over the past decade things have changed a lot, especially consumers interests. Hoppiness spoke with Antoine about his beautiful shop in Sint-Gilles, close to metro Porte de Namur.

What is your specialisation?

Antoine: ‘We have a very big selection of craft beers, not just from Belgium but from many different countries, mainly European (like France, Estonia and the UK) but also from America and Canada. We don’t have industrial beer, we only stock independent breweries. We have a lot of different beer styles, a huge gueze selection and a big alcohol-free craft beer section. Besides beers we also have natural wines, ciders, spirits and beer glassware. And we have our own beer advent calendar on sale at the moment’

How do you chose the breweries & beers that you will stock?

‘I am in contact with most breweries myself, through the years I discovered a lot. I often go to beer festivals to discover new beers and breweries. I also have a partnership with Dynamo Bar and Hops ‘n More in Leuven, we often order beers together to save costs. ‘

What else can be expected at Malt Attacks? Do you often have events?

‘This coming weekend we have a ‘meet the brewer’ event with the brewer of Babeleir. He will talk about the brewery and their beers will be for sale. I plan to do more of these kind of events in the near future. It’s always so nice! I am also working on a web shop for easy ordering and I can deliver in Brussels. I’m also hoping to repair our growler machine soon so that my customers can come here again for special beer from a fresh keg..’

And now a personal question: what is your favourite beer?

‘I love drinking gueze beer so there are many favourites there. If I have to name one brewery I will actually go with a brewery from the UK, Track Brewing in Manchester. They make a lot of hop forward ales and everything is so good!

Malt Attacks
Av. Jean Volders 18
1060 Saint-Gilles
Brussels

Website: https://www.maltattacks.com/

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Open Brewery days at Westmalle Trappist

Last week I visited the open brewery days at Westmalle Trappist. It was a well organised event with a parcourse throughout the whole place. Lots of info on the history, but also on the brewing method and the ingredients. For instance:

Did you know their beers are brewed with the whole hopflower and not with pellets?

The Art Deco copper brewing system from the twenties was amazing to see, as well as the huge new brewing room.

I also spotted some barrels of fresh yeast, ready to be picked up by the Trappist brothers of West-Vleteren. Did you know they pick up fresh yeast at Westmalle before every brew?

It was great to look around and see how it all works for them. At the end there was an enjoyable tasting with their homemade cheeses. Yum!

More pics and video on Insta or Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPMj6m3jA_b/?img_index=1

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Heritage Days at Hoppiness

Wow! What a weekend it was at Hoppiness Brussels!🤩

Last weekend the Heritage Days were taking place and especially for this year’s theme Hoppiness hosted eight workshops about the influence of the interwar years and Art Deco on Belgian Beer Culture. I prepared this workshop together with my colleague Helene from Hoppyz. She did the same workshop in French and English at her house, while I hosted in Dutch and English.

What a pleasure it was to dive into our history and taste three beer styles from those years with so many visitors on both Saturday and Sunday.

We tasted:

– Fresh 20 month old lambic straight from the barrel from Brasserie Cantillon, Brussels oldest brewery.

– Silly Scotch brewed for the first time in 1918 from Brasserie de Silly, who celebrated their 175th anniversary the same weekend.

– Palm Speciale brewed first in 1929 by Brouwerij Palm, in the speciale belge style that was brought to live by Belgian brewers at the beginning of the 20th century to compete with foreign ales.

A big thank you to Urban Brussels for organising this beautiful weekend and to all those lovely people that joined!

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Women’s International Trophy Mainz

Last week I was in Mainz for the Women’s International Trophy. The Women’s International Trophy is a unique event in Germany and a top-level tasting: wines, beers, and spirits from all over the world are tasted by an international jury made up entirely of women. All the tasters, sommeliers, oenologists, etc. are experts in the field. It was great to be part of this event again and taste so many excellent beers!

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Where to go in Brussels? Part 2 – Breweries and brewpubs

You love beer ! A beer tasting at Hoppiness is fantastic. But… of course you want more! Here are some ideas to explore.

Laken
• Brasserie La Source in the fantastic location Be-Here. Drink at the brewery and try all their innovative brews. Open from Wednesday till Sunday.
• Brasserie de la Senne at Tour and Taxis is worth a visit for sure. Enjoy the view, the breeze, the smell of the brewing and explore their lovely beers. Open from Tuesday till Sunday.

Continue reading “Where to go in Brussels? Part 2 – Breweries and brewpubs”
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Where to go in Brussels? Part 1 – cafés

You love beer ! A beer tasting at Hoppiness is great. But…of course you want more! Here are some ideas to explore.

City center:

  • Cafe Le Coq – great Flemish cafe very close to La Bourse. An immense beer menu, good beers on tap and there are always great new beers of the month to discover!
  • Cafe Roskam – Flemish cafe- close to place Saint-Catherine – Bollekes on draft, cheese for a bargain, local Flemish people, regular live music events .
  • 9 et Voisins – this is where you go for Belgian food- classic stoemp, ballekes or chicons farcies. Funny prices and great accompanying beers.
  • La Porte Noire-Close to Manneken Pis . A beer cafe in a 16th century cellar.
  • The famous café Goudblommeke in Papier where Rene Magritte used to come. Many lovely beers on tap and authentic Brussels cuisini. Stoemp!
  • Brussels Beer Project Dansaert – taproom, brewery cellar and event location in Dansaerstreet. Enjoy a flight of beers and taste some of the many new beers this innovative brewery brews. They recently started their own lambic brewery in the cellar.
  • Mazette in the Marolllen. Brewpub, cafe and restaurant.
  • Brewdog Brussels, next to central station
  • Brusses Beer Project Bailli, taproom
Continue reading “Where to go in Brussels? Part 1 – cafés”