While brown ales of today may be considered less-adventurous and rather boring, more than a century ago they were stylish and considered of the highest quality. Belgium is often considered an epicenter of beer-production, and so, it is expected they are a source of authority on what makes a good beer. In the 1900s there were several types of beers …
The Rise of Real Ale
Beer has been around for decades and even though beer is a popular drink of choice, there isn’t much real ale left out there. As the market increased a lot of businesses took the easier road to mass production and cutting costs rather than keeping their small businesses unique and their ale unique among different styles. Real ale has made …
Restaurants in Ghent
Biercentral With 30 beers on tap and over 300 bottled beers, Biercentral’s expert staff is more than qualified to recommend the perfect beer pairings to suit your meal. Biercentral serves typical Flemish fare through to pizza and burgers, snacks and salads, all at competitive prices. If you don’t want a full meal be a local and order a plate of …
Attractions in Ghent
Gentse Feesten In the summer of ’69, Ghent hosted the first of its Gentse Feesten that started the ball rolling into what this artistic ten day Oktoberfest equivalent has now become. This theatrical, music-packed ten days of entertainment is a highlight of the Belgian summer calendar. A full line-up of professional and amateur entertainers takes over the city centre, and …
Breweries in or near Ghent Dok Brewing Company
While the large breweries of Belgium stand out from international competitors, local microbreweries deserve a place in this list. Today’s innovative microbreweries are reflective of the race towards better, quicker, more exclusive and pop-up. The Dok Brewing Company is happy to remain a microbrewery and thrives on experimentation. Offering regular shorter runs of exclusive top-fermented beers as it tweaks each …
Breweries in or near Ghent Van Steenberge
Proud of its use of modern technology to produce traditional beers steeped in history, Van Steenberge (pronounced: Van Steen-burger) is little known outside the Benelux. A pity, as this brewery has been producing high quality and complete ranges of top-fermented ales since 1784, although it has gone through frequent name changes up to the 1960s. Using two types of yeast, …
Breweries in or near Ghent Brouwbar
Just five minutes from Gravensteen fortress, through the medieval streets that twist and turn towards the river Lys, you’ll find the Brouwbar (Brewing Bar). What you won’t find is much information about it on the Internet (very little in Dutch, practically nothing in English) as Brouwbar doesn’t have an own website at the moment. All it has to tell the …
Breweries in or near Ghent Huyge Brewery
If you’re strolling around Ghent and find that you’re seeing pink elephants, you probably haven’t had one too many (or perhaps you have). The pink elephant is the most famous of the Huyge brewery beer’s logos – that of Delirium Tremens. Huyge isn’t an easy word for the English – it’s not pronounced ‘Huge’. The Flemish ‘uy’ is a cross …
Breweries in or near Ghent Gruut Brewery
Gruut Brewery The word ‘Gruut’ is the Flemish term for botanicals – herbs, fruits and spices used in the brewing process. And while the Gruut brewery isn’t old –founded just a decade ago – its methods most certainly are. Gruut, or ‘Gruyt’, was traditionally used in medieval breweries located in areas under French rule where hops were outlawed. Alternatively, German …
Ghent “Gent” for the Beer Lover
Ghent is one of Belgium’s top cultural locations and a busy university city well used to catering for its many demanding students; there’s always something worthwhile going on. Named after the meeting place of two rivers, Ghent became central to Flemish trade throughout the medieval period and made many merchants incredibly rich. Their mansions still line the riversides today. The …