Euro Christmas Trip 2010 (part 1)

Christine and I spent this Christmas in Europe. Originally we had planned to spend most of our time in Belgium, but we made a last minute change when Christine was potentially allergic to beer. If you're going to Belgium in the winter, you're going to be drinking some beer. So here's how it went down.

Europe got hit with some massive snowfalls in the days leading up to our trip, but we were still able to get into Brussels without much trouble. We picked up our car, mentioned that we'd probably be going through Switzerland and Germany, and we found out that it's against the law now to drive there without snow tires. Our car didn't have snow tires. Hmmm. The Hertz guy was super helpful though and found out they were expecting a properly equipped car to be coming back later that afternoon and he'd call us when it came in. That gave us an excuse to hang around Brussels for the afternoon.

Our first stop was the Atomium, a structure built for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair that represents a iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. The drive there through a snowy park area was really nice. The structure is impressive as you drive up. You can go up in some of the spheres and there are exhibits inside. I must say, though, that you're better of just looking at it from the outside. The exhibits inside aren't very interesting. On a clear day, it's probably a nice view from inside.

From the Atomium, we drove around the city to the village of Beersel to visit Drie Fonteinen. They make some of the best Geuzes in the world. Aside from the cafe owner and her friend, we were the only two people there and we sat down to enjoy some of their finest. A short while later, the brewer, Armond, came into the cafe with another couple Americans who were visiting and offered to take us to his barrel aging warehouse down the street. It's one of those moments where you happen to be in the right place at the right time I guess.

We walked to his warehouse and he showed us around the small space. He had just gotten some unfermented wort and his assistant was pumping it into barrels. He mentioned that he doesn't usually do tours, because he prefers to just do the work. But it was the holidays. :) We were thankful that he spent so much time talking with us both at the cafe and at the barrel room. We learned some interesting things about his past and the potential future of the brewery (or lack there of due to a big fire in 2009).

We had brought over some beers from the US for just an occasion like this. What better way to say thanks than to give someone the gift of a special brew from the US? We went back to the car, grabbed the bottle, and headed back to the warehouse. We brought him an Avery Depuceleuse - one of their wild fermented barrel aged projects. We were just going to give it to him and leave, but he insisted on opening it up right away and sharing it with his assistant. I was nervous that he wouldn't like it, but he was genuinely surprised that it was good. He said it was "One of the better ones" and went on to say how several other similar beers he's tried from the US were too vinegary.

After he finished the beer, he said "I'm going to open something special." He disappeared to another room and came back with a dusty old unlabeled bottle. Based on the information stamped on the cork, he knew it was something he bottled about 10 years ago. We couldn't believe that he was opening a 10 year old Geuze for us. (Geuze, like many wines, ages really well and finding an old one is a nice treat.) Oh man, it was delicious. So smooth and dry with a slight bitterness. What a special treat. Then he rinsed out our glasses and poured something right out from one of the stainless steel vessels in the room. It was a kriek that still had the cherries seeping in it. Whoa, was it good. They were local wild cherries, and the tart cherry flavor was great. I would love to taste that same beer in a few years.

By the end of that amazing experience, it was time to go pick up our snow-tire'd car and head to our B&B in Brugge. It was a really nice place. Really close to the main square downtown and our room overlooked the street. After we settled in, we went to a beer cafe called Brugs Beertje. It was here, apparently, that the New Belgium founder had his epiphany to create his company. It's a cozy place with a great beer list and a must for any beer fan visiting Brugge.

On our way out, we met a couple other Americans, Garrett and Sue. They live in Naples, Italy where Garrett plays trombone for the Navy band. They were traveling the area drinking beer too, and we'd run into them later.