Tour de Trappist, Part Deux

Another beautiful Spring weekend in Brussels, so we decided to knock off the last two Trappist Monasteries that are open to the public, Achel and La Trappe.

Achel is the smallest of the Trappist producers and they make only two beers, a Blond and a Bruin. The Achel Bruin is probably my favorite beer next to Westvleteren and is my go to at our local pub. At the Abbey, it is possible to get the beers from the tap (van ‘t vat). This makes them lower in alcohol because they have not undergone a second fermentation in the bottle. The barrel beers are lighter and much less complex than their bottled version, which is probably why I was almost finished mine before remembering to take a photo.

The Achel monastery is not really set up for tourism. There is a small cafe where you can get the beers and snack, which seemed quite popular with local cyclists.  Sitting directly on the border with the Netherlands, they also have a more extensive beer shop where they offer many other Belgian beers as well as the Abbey produced cheese. This too seemed quite popular. Overall though, the monastery is probably the least touristy of the ones available to the public. I am glad we made the time for it nonetheless as it was good to visit the home of one of my favorite beers.

La Trappe was next on the list. We arrived in time for a later lunch of a meat and cheese board paired with a couple of their beers. SWMBO went for the Blond, while I had a Bockbier followed by the Isid’or. The Bockbier is a very dark beer using chocolate malt and has rich notes of coffee, bitter chocolate and some hop. The Isid’or is named after a monk that used to brew at the monastery and is a lovely reddish Amber color with toffee flavors and light hop. Both were excellent and would rate a solid three and half Drunk Monks. Following the tour we also had the opportunity to try their Jubilaris beer. This was made to celebrate the 25th Anniverary of the Abbott of their Abbey and is very close to running out. This beer is a a bit darker than their Dubbel and has a stronger hop flavor but with a sweetness and maltiness that was quite nice as the afternoon cooled off. I would give it 4 Drunk Monks.

La Trappe is the only Trappist Beer producing monastery in the Netherlands. By Contrast to Achel, these monks bring their marketing A-game. They have a huge cafe where you can sample all of the beers including some very limited edition beers. They do quite a nice tour with a very enthusiastic tour guide and a surprisingly interesting movie about monastic life and beer. They also have the most well developed gift shop with all of the beers, breads, cheeses and chocolates produced by the monastery. They even sell monk-made bitterballen. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitterballen)

We recently had a conversation with the editor of Belgian Beer & Food Magazine (http://www.belgianbeerandfood.com) about the fact that the brewers, Trappist and otherwise, could do so much more with tourism if they wanted. Beer culture in the US has been booming for the last decade, with the awareness of Belgian beers really beginning to expand. The same can be said for the UK and some of the surrounding European countries as well. With the compact nature of the country, it would be possible to set up three or four really nice regional tours that could also feature some of the wonderful food from this country. I sincerely hope that Paul and his colleagues can help make that happen.

Following the tours, we made our way back to Brussels. We arrived home late and were pretty hungry so we headed to our local pub for dinner. As I sat down, our publican arrived with my glass Achel Bruin.

 

Back in Barcelona

We spent Easter in Barcelona.

SWMBO’s parents were finishing up a cruise there and it seemed like a great opportunity to go to a city that we like, spend time with family and eat a lot of tapas. 

A success on all counts.

It is interesting returning to a city where you have spent time previously. There is no temptation to see all of the sites, or force fit a schedule around certain activities. You can sleep in, read a book, linger in a café and not feel as though you are missing out on something better. The more we travel, the more we are inclined to behave this way anyway. 

Our travel patterns these days tend to have one day where we do some hard core site seeing. I usually tease SWMBO that these are her forced marches, as she is usually the one to define the path we will take. The rest of our time however, is typically more relaxed. We still walk a lot, our strategy is to let ourselves get lost and try to see what we can see. Some of our best experiences have come by going off piste. Toss out the guide book and just wander. You tend to stumble upon something great or at least memorable.  

Even when we are in siteseeing mode, it is often more tuned to taking in the scene. We will read the occasional plaque, maybe the odd information card, but we will seldom read more than a few and generally avoid the audio guides altogether. We take our time where we want and move on when we want. I would not suggest that this is the best way to explore the sites you visit, but it works for us. 

We often refer to our travels as “Eating our way through Europe”. Generally we try to find little places, away from the touristed areas where we can sample simple, local food. Sometimes this is successful, sometimes not, but more often we have a good meal and a memory.

One place that is the exception that proves the rule for us is El Quim de la Bocqueria. Right off the Ramblas in the Bocqueria, in most places it’s location alone would have me avoiding it. That would be a mistake however. The first time SWMBO and I visited El Quim we came on it by chance. What we noticed first, was that the place was packed with locals. Always a good sign. So when a chair opened up, we jumped in. The place is worth going to just for the show.  5-6 guys cooking in an incredibly small space, food stacked high, serving patrons by reaching over the balanced ingredients. And the food is good. Is it the best tapas in Barcelona? I don’t know. But it is tasty, entertaining and one of our favorite places to go.

Tour de Trappist, Round 1

Spring is the best time of the year in Belgium. When the weather is nice, the flowers blooming and the cafes are full of people. It is almost enough to make you forget the several months of rain that you have just endured. So to take advantage of the beautiful weather, SWMBO planned for us a driving trip to a couple of Trappist monasteries to see the sites and sample some of the monks products.

The first destination was Orval. About 2 hours from Brussels in the Luxembourg region of Belgium, Orval sits only a few kilometers from the French border. The weather was a bit touch and go early in our drive but by the time we reached Namur, the sun was out and the temperatures were rising. The Abbey at Orval is probably the most scenic of the monasteries that we have been to and is the site of some very well preserved ruins. We wandered the ruins for a while then peeked into the cathedral. The extreme quiet was a little intimidating so we left and went to their museum, trying but failing to maintain the silence.

By the time we finished in the museum, we were ready for lunch, so we went to the cafe associated with monastery. Many of the monasteries make beers that are specifically for the monks. They are referred to as Patersbiers and are generally lower in alcohol and would be classified as blondes. You can sample the Orval version only at the cafe, so this made lunch a little special. The beer itself is quite hoppy and refreshing. It was very easy to drink sitting in the sun enjoying our lunch.

After lunch, we walked back to our car and enjoyed looking at a collection of vintage MG’s and Triumphs that had stopped in the middle of their road rally to do the same thing that we had just done.

Next stop was Abbaye de Scourmont home of the most well known Trappist beer, Chimay. Leaving Orval, our GPS took us on a route that crossed into France and kept us away from most of the highways. We drove through pretty little towns and past fields bright yellow with blooming mustard. It is really a wonderful drive and it made me wish we were in one of those classic convertible MG’s.

The Abbey itself was pretty, but did not compare to Orval. The cafe for the Abbey reflects the popularity of their beers and is set up in a more touristy way. We also sampled the Chimay Doree which is their version of the Patersbier. Like the Orval it was more hopped than their other beers and considerably lighter. Again very crisp and refreshing although not as complex as the Orval.

At this point it was pretty late and we still had a long way to drive home. We purchased some cheese and bread also made by the Abbey for dinner and headed back to Brussels.