I find Belgium very interesting, in that it reminds me a lot of where I grew up in northwest Indiana, with its generally flat land and smaller communities. I’m also taken by the ancient brick dwellings side-by-side with modern abodes. There are also a lot of Chinese restaurants, which may require further investigation on a future visit.
Saturday was the least structured day, but one of the busiest. We visited the Volkscafé De Cam in Gooik. Although none of their own beers were available at the time, the café did have several lambics for our perusal. The lambic blending is done across the yard, and the brewer appeared towards the end of our visit and sold some bottles out of his car, which several in the group bought.
Then it was on to Belgium’s national beer festival, Zythos. Held at the Brabanthal outside Leuven, the festival has more than 80 brewers and more than 500 beers. A modest sum gets one a glass and 5 tokens; most beers cost one token, although barleywines and other heavier products can cost two. Additional tokens can be bought at any time, and CAMRA members such as myself get an additinal two tokens for free.
I sampled many of the offerings and enjoyed everything I tried. The food, which for me was currywurst and frites, was quite good as well. This is a festival that absolutely drawfs my local events, and is definitely an opportunity not to be missed.