Tuesday morning started with a long drive to Chimay

As we arrived at the Trappist Brewery (the truth is: as a visitor you can only enter the bottling plant), it was almost noon. The friendly guide, Elena, was waiting for us and took us to the meeting room, where we were shown a film about the Trappist monks , the history of Chimay and the making of the beer.
We learned that Father Joseph isolated the yeast cells for the Chimay beer in the 19-forties and that they are still using that same yeast . After the film, Elena showed us the bottling plant and the warm re-fermentation rooms.

That was quite impressive. You have to know that the beer is still brewed inside the Abbey of Chimay. There are no visits of lay-people (and certainly no women) allowed there. The beer is taken to the bottling plant, in an industrial zone outside the city, by lorries and there it is bottled and kegged. Chimay exports to most beer drinking countries in the world and is the biggest and also the most commercial of the Trappist Abbeys.

After the visit we drove to the restaurant of the Abbey, called “Auberge de Potaupré.”

We had a great lunch there. The place was very crowded, so service was a bit slow, but the food was excellent and the beer also - of course!

Menu “Paté maison à la Chimay Rouge, avec confiture d’oignons” “Suprème de volatile, sirop à la Chimay Bleue” Chimay Rouge “Assiètte des fromages de Chimay” Chimay Blue

After lunch, we drove to Brewery Dubuisson in Pipaix, where they brew Bush and Cuvé des Trolls. As you may know, the Bush beers are sold under the name Scaldis in the US, because of the resemblance (only in name!) with Adolphe Bush. They have a brand new visitors’ centre and bar at Dubuisson, and we were shown around the brewery by someone who isn’t used to guide (he was the father of the man who runs the bar) but the man did a good job.

We sampled all their beers in the bar and then we left for Gent.

When we arrived in Gent, we checked in at the hotel Chamade, which is a bit outside the centre near the citadelpark, and immediately took off again, to the restaurant and pub called “bierhuis aan de waterkant”, one of the best in its kind in Gent, located right in the centre of old town Gent

We sat on the second floor, in a nice room that is reserved for larger groups, and we had fabulous Waterzooi , a local dish which is a sort of chicken stew with lots of fresh vegetables and a creamy sauce.

Menu Waterzooi Delirum, Hommel ........

After dinner we returned to the hotel, but some of us still managed to make it to the Hopduvel, a fantastic beer bar in Gent. We sampled some rare beers, including Drie Fonteinen and Dupont’s beers. Another great day!!

Day IV