At ten o’ clock we arrived in Poperinge, where Dirk dropped us off at the Hops museum. The visit was very interesting and we were offered a Hommelbier afterwards. Raindrops started to drop out of the sky but this was only temporarily. Soon, the sun was to regain its force and the weather remained lovely throughout the rest of the afternoon. Some of us who had remained at the entry of the museum, were treated to a rare show of a belly dancer, accompanied by a British set of violins. After the visit to the museum, we strolled into town and everyone met at “Café de la Paix”. They have a very nice beer list, and they serve excellent food. We were not the only ones to appreciate all this, since Patrick of the Biercircus in Brussels was sitting there too with Yvo Bosteels and his wife, of the brewery with the same name in Buggenhout, that makes the Kwak beer and the Triple Karmeliet. David , the owner of the Lucky Baldwin, addressed Yvos Bosteels and said to him : “ We have your beer on tap in Passadena.” Mr. Bosteels went crazy, ordered a drink ( Kwak or Tripel Karmeliet ) for everyone of us and we all stood up for a nice family picture.

Time for the Hopppestoet (the parade of the hops), the moment we had all been waiting for, and what was to become one of the highlights of the tour. We sat down on the grandstands and for nearly two hours watched the history of hops, including its friends and enemies, dressed up in beautiful colorful costumes.

David saw that everyone, including himself, was getting thirsty and took off to the nearest local pub to fetch us some beer. He came back (several times!!) with a tray full of glasses and bottles of Kapittel and we all sat down and enjoyed the parade, enjoying our beers! Obviously, the locals were not used to that in Poperinge, people usually wait to drink until after the parade, but everyone found this very funny and when David was invited and accepted to jump in a hops string in the pageant, everybody went crazy. Americans came to steal the show in a Belgian parade, this was great fun and we all had great laugh there! I wonder if David was featured in the local Newspaper the next day.

At 5 PM, Mr. Filip Leroy was waiting for us in the Van Eecke brewery in Watou. He showed us around the brewery, and explained us that the bottling facilities were in the other plant in Boezinge. We tasted all the beers of the Kapittel range, as well as the Hommelbier and the Watou’s wit in their pub, next to the brewery. These friendly people had opened up especially for us and this was highly appreciated.

After the visit, the bus driver took us to Abele, the next village to Watou, which is right on the border. Some of us had never been in France, so the bus made a halt and allowed Marvin and others to shoot some pictures

That same night we had lunch in the Hommelhof of Watou, at two steps from the brewery on the market square. Stefaan Coutteneye, the chef, is famous for his beer cuisine and has written some interesting books with recipes. He prepared a beer and cheese soup, a Sea-wolf crown with lard and green cabbage prepared in Rodenbach, ham with Kapittel Prior and seasonal vegetables, and for desert a tulip of vanilla ice and raspberry beer. Exquisite.

Menu Beer and cheese soup. Cuvee Hommelhof = half Watou's wit and half Kapittel Prior Seawolf crown with lard and green cabbage prepared in Rodenbach and seasonal vegetables. Rodenbach A tulip of vanilla ice and raspberry beer. Liefmans framboise

The bus took us back to De Panne, a resort on the belgian coast, where we stayed at the hotel “ Teirlinck”

Day V