As our departure from the hotel was only scheduled at 11AM, most of us walked around in the beautiful morning sun and shopped for some souvenirs. Our bus took us through the industrial outskirts of Brussels to the Drie Fonteinen Restaurant & Brewery in Beersel. That’s only a 30 minutes drive. Armand De Belder, owner of the brewery, took us first to his new warehouses to show us the aging kegs of Lambic, and to tell us about his passion for Lambic.

He is an original! We saw the many casks, holding Lambic from three different sources, and now, since about a year, also from his own little brewery. Indeed, Gueuze is a blend of Lambic. And a Gueuze blender is an artist of taste, blending Lambic from different sources and different casks together to get a well-balanced Gueuze, which can compete with the best champagnes of the world.
Armand took us then to his tiny brewery, before he let us taste several of his creations: a kriek right out of the aging keg, and several gueuzes. After that we went upstairs to the restaurant for a typical country lunch, where Armand offered us his new BEERSEL organic ale, brewed with the same malts as his Lambic.

It was here that we started losing Dennis, who became quit ill. He might have brought the bug from the USA, since he said he already started to feel not a 100 % on Sunday afternoon. Dirk, who had spent a couple of days with Dennis in and around Dinant in Wallonia just before the tour, suggested that the bug might have come from the spring water Dennis drank in Wallonia. Important lesson: never drink water on a beer-tour!

After saying goodbye to Armand and his family, we jumped on the bus for an hour driving to the Van Steenberge brewery in Ertvelde, North of Gent, close to the border with the Netherlands.

As always, we were very welcome at the brewery, and started with a beer in the authentic brewery bar, after which we were guided by Geert De Smedt, master brewer, through the entire brewery. The fully computer-steered brewhouse, and the two year old fully automated bottling system were very impressive. Warm rooms full of bottles and kegs going through their second fermentation.

We even saw Karmeliet, Tongerloo and Corsendonck sitting there, all brewed here for other brewers. Lots of pictures taken, lots of questions asked, but then it was time to taste some more of the delicious Van Steenberge beers: Augustijn, Gulden Draak, Piraat, Sparta Pils and many more.

Andre Van de Velde, our host, invited Paul Van Steenberge, owner, to the party, and gave us a taste of some of the new beers they are brewing for others.
Of course we tasted the Mongozo African beer, but also a new beer brewed with Sorghum for the African community in France. And a Saint Paulsken, a beer brewed by the new assistant brewer Koen De Cock. We could not leave before tasting the Celis White and the Celis Pale Bock, both brewed and marketed by Van Steenberge for Europe.

Around 6: 30 PM we walked from the brewery to the Gouden Kroon Restaurant near the church in Ertvelde for our second beer-dinner. This is a very nice restaurant where lots of weddings and other family feasts are organized.

The chef made us a wonderful meal, and to finish, Andre Van de Velde had a surprise for all of us: we tasted a 30-year old Cantillon Kriek, and loved it.

Menu Celis White beer Mushrooms filled with Nordsea Grey Shrimps, in Celis White beer. Bruegel Amber Ale Marinated pork tenderloin in Bruegel Ale Flamed Pine-apple in Saffron sauce with Kriek sorbet. Coffee or tea

A visit to the Van Steenberge brewery is incomplete without a visit to the famous Roste Muus pub in the middle of nowhere in no-mans-land between Belgium and the Netherlands. For the first time we could admire the Roste Muus neon sign on top of the pub. This sign can be seen from far. The ‘adult’ history of the Roste Muus was appreciated with lots of laughs, and the whole interior was photographed by all of us many times over. So much antiques to see. Danielle couldn’t resist and had to wake up the animals in the petting gardens outside in the dark. Others followed her pretty soon. But, after a few "Roste Muus triples" it was time to go, sadly enough.

We had about one hour to drive to Brugge, where the Aragon Hotel was waiting for us. When we arrived in Brugge, the street leading towards our hotel in the center of town was blocked due to road works. Well, take the next road. Also blocked for the same reason. So we continued circling the city, which is luckily not too large, to find other entry ways to the center. All of them had a big sign prohibiting busses to enter! We called the hotel, who called the Police, who gave us permission to enter with the bus. In the mean time we had circled 1.5 times the city, admired the four wind mills and had a ‘preview’ of the inner-city by night. The next morning we learned that some of us had the courage to hunt for more beers in the local pubs, and that after midnight on a Monday evening!

Day III