Antwerp Forum: Beer tasting.....Antwerp or Brussels?

I don't think you can go too far wrong for great beer tasting in any town in Belgium! :-)

I've not yet been to Brussels, so I can't compare the two cities directly, however Antwerp has some fantastic bars. The Kulminator is one of our favourites; the bar itself was smaller than expected but we found that we never had problems getting a table there - for some reason, Antwerp never seems to be that busy when we visit! - and they have a "bible" of a menu featuring 100's of beers, including "vintage" beers.

I found this website quite useful for finding good beer bars: http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/antwpubs.htm

Yes, Kulminator in Antwerp must have the largest selection of beers, but it's not the coziest place to be. A better one in terms of atmosphere is Quinten Matsijs at Moriaanstraat. You will find a lot of cafés around the Cathedral in the historical centre of Antwerp.

Delirium in Brussels has a menu of 2000 beers, not 1000. I was unaware of "MANY small breweries around the city" but you can easily visit the Cantillon brewery (http://www.cantillon.be/br/3_1) near Gare du Midi and the brewing museum in the Grand' Place (entrance price includes a beer at the end of the tour).

See trabel.com/brussel/brussels-cityofbeer.htm which also covers "historic bars" - Delirium is hardly historic, but the bar of the Toone puppet theatre off petite rue des Bouchers would qualify. It would be difficult to get out to any of the abbeys (whose buildings are often less historic than you might expect) without driving, but they have abbey beers at e.g. Beermania, www.beermania.be.

While there are a FEW other breweries in Brussels, such as Belle-Vue, you can usually only visit on certain days and with a bigger group than 7, see …angloinfo.com/af/506/brussels-vineyards-and…

2000 is "surely more than a 1000", but they never have that many beers on the house anyway. You can view their collection here: http://www.deliriumcafe.be/

Links to some other breweries in Brussels:

http://www.3fonteinen.be/

http://www.oudbeersel.com/

http://www.les-brasseurs.com/

Antwerp, every time.

Kulminator, Paters Vaetje, Waagstuk, Antwaerpse Bierhuis, Bier Centrale, Elfde Gebod, Oude Arsenaal and may, many more.

If you do end up in Brussels, I'm certain you won't be disappointed!

Have a good birthday!

Antwerp, every time.

Kulminator, Paters Vaetje, Waagstuk, Antwaerpse Bierhuis, Bier Centrale, Elfde Gebod, Oude Arsenaal and many, many more.

If you do end up in Brussels, I'm certain you won't be disappointed!

Have a good birthday!