Podge’s Beer Tour has begun! After an early start and a trip through the Channel Tunnel, we found ourselves at the Mulenhof Café in Oostvleteren. The café is a beautiful old building with a giant windmill outside and beer-themed décor inside. I had a lovely meal of tajine with pork cheeks and chicken wings, followed by the Black Albert Sabayon, a whipped dessert consisting of egg and Black Albert beer.
Our next stop was the De Struise Brouwerij barrel room, where the brewer explained the workings of barrel-aging and lambics, followed by tastings of a couple beers.
We then went to Ichtegem to visit Brouwerij Strubbe, passed down from father to son for seven generations. The brewer focused more on history than technique, but it was still a fascinating talk. Again, tasting commenced, and I heartily recommend trying Ichtegem’s Grand Cru if you can find it.
We then reached Aalst, our home base for the tour. A lovely tapas restaurant called Tapasco provided dinner and another beer, followed by a last round in the hotel bar. The town square was fairly quiet, but I expect that will change with the weekend coming up.