Lunch on Thursday was at 't Hommelhof (Watouplein 17 in Watou-Poperinge.)   Hommel is the Flemish word for hops, so Hommelhof would translate as "hops house."  The restaurant specializes in cooking with beer, and the Watou-Poperinge area is famous as a region where hops are grown.  There were masses of dried hops hanging over the bar area of the restaurant.  After our lack of sleep on the plane, we all opted for water and coffee with lunch. (I think that is the only meal other than breakfasts that we didn't drink beer!)  Some of our favorites at t'Hommelhof were:  the great Belgian coffee, fois gras, chicken with beer sauce, "frites" (french fries, these were present at most meals), warm vegetable plate with lots of herbs (maybe even some hops), toast with goat cheese over greens with framboise.

We walked back to put our beers in the van, then walked over to the Brewer's statue in Watou.  The statue shows an old-fashioned brewer raising a mug of beer and holding a mash fork.  In the spring and summer hops vines adorn the statue.  We stopped at a little convenience store to get some bottled water and found that they had great beer prices, so we picked up some more beers to bring home.  We set off in search of our next beers, and drove past many hop fields.  We could see the poles and strings set up for the hops, but of course the hops were not growing in February.

Our group then drove to Westvleteren and looked around the outside of the St. Sixtus Abbey (Donkerstraat 12), one of the few remaining trappist monasteries in Belgium that brew the famous trappist beers.  The monks sell the beers only at certain times from a drive-up window.  The pubs and shops have to come to the Abbey to buy the beer if they want to offer it for resale.  Across the street from St. Sixtus Abbey is In de Vrede (Donkerstraat 13).  This café is in a brand new building and serves the beers from the Abbey, as well as the delicious Paterskaas (the cheese made by the monks.)  Westvleteren 12:  spicy, peppery, herbal, fruity, explodes in your mouth, taste something different every sip you take.  (This beer was considered the best of all the beers we tasted by at least one member of our group.)  Westvleteren Blonde: bouquet of butter and honey, citrus aftertaste, lemony, nice flavor but tastes watery after drinking the 12.  There was a shop at the café where we could purchase the St. Sixtus beers, cheese, and the specialized glasses. We found that every brewery had special glasses for their beers, and every pub or restaurant we visited had a supply of glasses from each brewery whose beer they served.

We stayed at the Hotel President World Trade Center in Brussels and ate dinner Thursday night at the hotel.  We all had a nice salad bar.  There was steak and "frites" for the meat-eaters and a nice creamy asparagus or broccoli soup for the vegetarians, with fresh fruit salad dessert for all.  Chimay Grand Reserve: a Trappist beer with heavy alcohol presence, body of beer tasted of plum or currant, smooth with hops as an aftertaste.

Next we made our way south to the town of Beersel and toured the lambic brewery of Oud Beersel (Laarheidestraat 230).  We especially enjoyed the old-fashioned tools used in the brewing process.  We had to leave to eat lunch and planned to come back to Oud Beersel to taste some of their lambics, but we ran out of time that afternoon.
Our lunch was at Drei Fonteinen (Hermann Teirlinckplein 3 in Beersel), a brewery and restaurant in the Senne valley, just south of Brussels.   Some of the specialties of the restaurant included: bread with white cheese, green onions and radishes (delicious -- the cheese is similar to cream cheese but fresher and milder), mussels with geuze, rabbit in geuze sauce, salmon with geuze cream sauce, gouda cheese sauce on seafood casserole.  After lunch, we went on a tour of the brewery.  Armand, one of the proprietors, spoke with us but had to go to an appointment.  The brewer's apprentice showed us around their recently updated brewery.  Drei Fonteinen brews lambics and other styles of beer, although we tasted only the lambic style beers while we were there, since that is really their specialty.  Geuze '93: old, still rich, well-balanced, tarter due to age.  Geuze '95: less acid on the back of the tongue, excellent.  Kriekenlambik: fruit flavor of the cherries in the background.

We returned to Brussels and walked from the hotel to the Grand Place, where we saw the Brewer's Guild House and other important buildings.  The guild house has a small brewing museum that was closed when we came by.  About a block from the Grand Place we saw the Mannekin-Pis, a popular tourist attraction which is a fountain of a young boy urinating.  There were numerous "tourist-trap" shops nearby selling lots of tacky Mannekin-Pis souvenirs.  (We just couldn't resist the corkscrew!)  Across the street from the fountain was the Poechenellekelder -- a pub that is decorated with lots of puppets and has a fairly good beer selection.  The server poured the beer with a flourish, but failed to leave the last bit of yeast in the bottle, as is customary when drinking fine Belgian beers.  Rodenbach: fruity, quenching, somewhat sour, fine carbonation.  Rochefort Trappist Bier 10: strong alcohol (11.3%), chocolatey, flowery bouquet.  Gordon's Scotch Ale: not Belgian, but wonderful nonetheless.

Dinner on Friday was at in t'Spinnekopke (1 Place du Jardin aux Fleurs, Brussels.)  Alan, our waiter, was very attentive and friendly.   Some of the food specialties included: mussels with abbey beer, salmon with white beer, scallops with abbey beer (rich with roe on them), nice cheese fritters with fried parsley and a good veggie plate.  The desserts were amazing!  The most appropriate and unique was the beer sorbet served with three sorbets - made from Kriek, white beer, and Maredsous (LeFebrvere brewery).  This sorbet was a real treat.  We didn't have anything like this anywhere else.  Other excellent desserts were the chocolate mousse and profitrolles.  Hommelbier: by Van Eecke, honey, hops, estery, fruity ale.  Cantillon Kriek: just as good as this morning.  Tripel Karmeliet: by Bosteels, excellent, rich mouth feel, sweet, flavorful, complex - the great surprise of the evening as Owen had never tasted this beer before.

After dinner we went to one more pub, Falstaff, in Brussels.  Falstaff is a pub from the 1920's with lots of stained glass and marble-topped tables.  Kasteel Beer: by Biere du Chateau, rich, sweet, overpoweringly malty, chocolatey, hint of Belgian spiciness, a rich barley wine.  Verboden Vrucht: by Hoeegarden, sour, very fruity, aroma is sweet.

From De Dolle we drove to Brugge.  We got stuck in a traffic jam on the way into Brugge and by the time we got there and parked we were starving and ready for lunch.  The restaurant where we were planning to eat was full, so we found another place.  We ate a very, very late lunch and then separated into a few small groups to do some shopping.  Most of us were under strict orders not to return home from Belgium without some chocolates and lace, others went in search of Cuban cigars, and of course we found some great beers at the shops.
When our group reunited, we checked out the Brugs Beertje (Kemelstraat 5 in Brugge.)  This pub is decorated with lots of beer signs, has a great atmosphere, and has an outstanding selection of beers.  The beer menu is almost as extensive as the Bier Circus in Brussels.  Brugs Tarwebier: by De Gouden Boom of Brugge, white beer, citrusy, refreshing.  Barbar: by Lefebvre of Quenast, wild woman on label, blond honey beer, spicy, honeyish, floral perfume, slight taste of orange/coriander/ginger.  De Koninck Cuvee: estery aftertaste, millennium beer, clear and pretty, like a pale ale with a bit of pepper, spicy with pepper undertones, a straight-forward beer.  Brugse Tripel: De Gouden Boom, spicy citrus flavor, and good head retention.

Even though we had such a late lunch, we were all still hungry, so we walked to La Civiere D'Or for dinner.   White asparagus, a local specialty, was in season.  It was served with Hollandaise sauce or in the Flemish style (with chopped eggs, garlic butter, nutmeg and parsley.)  The restaurant had photos of celebrities and autographs from when they visited.  Specialties included: mussels in white beer with curry sauce, served with the usual frites; Flemish beef stew; scallops au gratin; and raw oysters (these were very fresh, out of a salt water tank in the restaurant, and they were still squirming!)  The desserts were wonderful - Grand Marnier souffle, chocolate mousse, flan, etc.  We all drank the Brugge Tarwebier, which was light and refreshing with our dinner.

Saturday night, when we got back to Brussels from Brugge, four of us went out to two more pubs.  We felt we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to taste a few more marvelous Belgian beers.  The first was A la Becasse, which means something like "just because."  This pub serves lambics from traditional stoneware pitchers.  The waiters wore white aprons laced up with string in back.  We had some Fromage Blanc (white cheese) with radishes and onions, similar to what we ate at Drei Fonteinen.  Timmerman's Kriek Lambic: on draft, sweetened, not entirely authentic lambic, pleasant and drinkable, a little easier on the stomach than traditional lambics.  Then we walked a few blocks to Lunette.  This pub has some extra-large glasses in addition to the normal size in case patrons want to get crazy.  We suggest sitting upstairs for a more pleasant atmosphere, especially if you can sit by the picture window for a view of the plaza or "platz."  Westmalle Dubbel: dark colored, malty, fruity brown ale.  Rochefort 8: trappist ale, slightly lighter version of Rochefort.  Westmalle Tripel: peppery, spicy, hoppy, fruity, good head retention, white candy sugar, tasty, much better to our taste than their double.

Sunday morning after breakfast we had to load up the van.  Our luggage had doubled in size and probably weighed four times as much as it did on the way to Belgium.  We all had cases of beer carefully packed in our carry-on bags - some inside socks, some still in boxes, any way we could pack them safely.  The van was scraping the wheels and bottoming out as we turned corners and drove on the slopes in the parking garage to return it.  With all the beers we were carrying, there was only one beer casualty - Dan dropped and broke an Oerbier at the check-in counter when he had to rearrange his luggage.  After checking our luggage we had some lunch and drank our last beers in Belgium at the airport lounge.  Those of us unfortunate enough to have carry-on luggage without wheels got a workout as we carried our bags to the departure gate (near the far end of the terminal, of course.)
Despite the relatively small amount of area we covered, we tasted a remarkable variety of beers of incredible quality.  The amazing thing is that we have only scratched the surface - there are many more fine Belgian beers -- we just didn't have time to taste them all in three days.  We did make a valiant effort, though, and our fearless leader, Owen, ensured that our beer tasting opportunities were maximized on this trip.  A poster we saw at De Dolle sums it up: "The size of Belgium is in inverse ratio to the greatness of its beers."  We can't wait to go again!!!