From the owner: L'Échappée Bière est une structure spécialisée dans le tourisme et les animations brassicoles pour…read moreles particuliers et les entreprises. Notre ambition? Redonner à la bière ses lettres de noblesse en toute décontraction. Que vous soyez novice ou amateur, jeune ou âgé, une association ou des visiteurs de passage, nous saurons vous proposer une activité à la carte. Visites de brasseries (combinées à des visites de musées, fabriques artisanales, etc.) Jeux de pistes ponctués de dégustation (Lille, Bruxelles, Paris) Cours de dégustation de bière Murder Party Casino de la bière Découvrez ou redécouvrez le patrimoine sous un angle gourmand et original !

This was a few hours well spent in Brussels for me, the beer aficionado. But you certainly don't…read morehave to know the finer points of beer to enjoy the tour, your guide will explain all! Our tour was 20-30 folks (most if not all from North America) ranging from college students to what I'll call "retirees". And all had a good time, and as you would expect to happen, you meet some new friends (and get tips on other sights to see in the area). Our tour guide was Cesar. The tour starts in an old (what I would call) pub with a large sample among three choices. Here you learn about the making of Belgian beer (brewing style, why it was made by trappist monks, beer styles), and get a good foundation for the rest of your tour. This is the best opportunity to ask questions. The tour then moves to the only Brewery still active in Brussels (Cantillon), which is about a 15-20 minute walk well off the beaten path (apparently jaywalking is legal if no cars are coming). This tour was really interesting (small place with a lot of subtleties for the Belgian style and the Lambic method). After the tour, several samples are provided, they were okay, but most American beer drinkers seemed disappointed as the flavor did not resemble what they expect out of beer. The tour then migrates back toward the main downtown area for a more modern pub with what Cesar called "by far the best selection of Belgian beer in Brussles". I believe him, it was a huge bar with everything you could possibly want (if you could figure out what it was). Some description of how this particular pub kept it's beer fresh was presented. Here was maybe a couple of more samples and you're welcome to stay as long as you like. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and personable, definitely made the tour much more enjoyable (how do I get this job????) Actually the answer to that question is to start your own business (as he is the owner). You might think 5 beers is a lot, but spread over 3-4 hours (plus the samples at the brewery are smaller) it's no problem (I was also drinking my wife's). If you're paying that day, bring cash Euros, it's the easiest way to pay and be sure to budget in a tip if you enjoy your guide.

Held the first or second weekend in september each year…read more this years was 4-6 sept and was excellent with 44 brewers showcasing around 270 of their beers only slight complaint would be not any food stalls bar one selling oysters and snails,a stall selling more traditional beerfest food would be welcome

Every beer tour is different. Sometimes it is more like a bar hop, and sometimes it is like a…read morechemistry lesson. This tour is kind of a blend of the two in equal parts. If you enjoy the drinking mainly, you may wait a bit to really dive in, and if you aren't good with sours or Belgian-style ales, this likely isn't going to be your cup of tea. However, if you enjoy a variety of ales, enjoy history, are good with walking, and like to learn a lot about the science behind making beer, then this is the tour for you. We covered a good portion of the town (at least the main highlights), in just a few hours, tried 6 different beers, learned A LOT from our extremely knowledgeable tour guide (the dude knows so much about all types of beer, not just Belgian), and had a great time doing it. The value is also excellent at about 39 Euros per person (+ tip!). Brugge is a cool town, and if you are going to get some guided walking in, you might as well also enjoy some of the best beers in the country. Definitely recommended.

From the owner: Historische bierwandeling in Brugge. Ontdek het charmante stadscentrum en leer bier proeven tijdens…read moreeen drie uur durende stadswandeling met gids in Brugge die je de verborgen cafés en vergeten brouwerijen laat zien. Prijs inclusief vijf degustaties van speciaalbieren en een officieel BeerWalk proefglas als aandenken. Start aan het Bruges Beer Museum en proef van het Brugse verleden tijdens een interactieve wandeling met bierproeverij in het historische centrum van de stad. Laat je verrassen door bijzondere verhalen op unieke bier- en/of brouwlocaties van de Brugse geschiedenis, die al voor het jaar 1000 begon met de Heren van Gruuthuse. Deze unieke wandeltocht is inclusief bierdegustatie van vijf speciaalbieren die allen gelinkt zijn aan deze Middeleeuwse stad en haar smakelijke biergeschiedenis. Elke deelnemer kan indien gewenst het gedegusteerde speciaalbier vervangen door een frisdrank naar keuze en alsnog mee genieten van alle boeiende verhalen en prachtige bezienswaardigheden in Brugge.

One of my traditions when going on a trip is to do some sort of food-related activity that revolves…read morearound a country's specialties. For Belgium, everyone knows that its specialties are chocolate and beer. While doing my research I found this company as it came recommended by quite a few bloggers as well as Brussels' tourist bureau site. Length: 4.5 hours Cost: €80/person This is by no means a cheap tour. However, the amount you get for €80 is quite a lot, especially when you factor in that aside from beer and chocolate you also get to know the history behind two of Brussels' most famous landmarks: Grand Place/Grote Markt and Manneken Pis. Personally after the end I couldn't eat another bite of chocolate and I was pretty buzzed, especially if you take into consideration how strong Belgian beers can be. Julie was my guide. She was also training 2 other guides in addition to managing our group. She was the epitome of a good guide - presented the more "boring" parts of the tour in a fun and engaging way, helped guarded the chocolate from being stolen during the Pierre Marcolini portion of the tour (apparently that chocolate's quite popular) and made sure that everyone's needs in the group were taken care of since some people in our group didn't care for beer. Our group also managed to get along very well. Here are my notes of the stops on the tour along with any chocolate and/or beer that was consumed. -Chocopolis- 1. Traditional dark chocolate, coconut base 2. Mexican chocolate with red pepper 3. Speculoos This particular shop is known for their "bean-to-bar" approach; meaning to say that they take control of the entire process as opposed to getting the starting products from distributors. This shop is also good for vegans or people that need dairy-free chocolate as the owner is lactose intolerant. Base milk is from coconut and is used in all the chocolate. I liked the pepper chocolate the most. -Meert- 1. Ginger and yuzu juice 2. Chinese green jasmine tea Located in the Royal Galleries. Apparently they supply chocolate and pastries for the royal family. We were able to choose 2 chocolates from this shop so I went for the more interesting combinations. -Pierre Marcolini- 1. Ecuador single-origin (floral) 2. Earl Grey Tea 3. Câlin "hug" (almond and hazelnut praline, Quimper wafers and Madagascan vanilla caramel) - family favorite. Also located in Royal Galleries. Pierre Marcolini is a master chocolatier and his products are renowned worldwide because he uses high-quality chocolate in his products. Noteworthy is that other people not on the tour tried to get samples thinking that the store was having a tasting. I was aware of Marcolini as the No1DP gifted me chocolate in the past. Later I bought chocolate for gifts (and myself) in another Pierre Marcolini store but bought a few câlins for myself. -Manneken Pis Cafe- Vedett Blond (on tap) This bar is located next to the (in)famous Manneken Pis statue. A good starter beer that's not too strong. -Atelier Sainte Catherine- 1. India single origin (earthy) 2. Cayenne - citronnelle (lemongrass pepper) 3. Sea salt caramel 4. Irish coffee milk ganache An authorized distributor of Frederic Blondeel chocolate, another master chocolatier. His chocolate was recognized as the winner of the Gault & Millau Chocolatier of the Year, the first year the award was inaugurated. I bought chocolate here the next day as gifts. -Dolle Mol- 1. Golden Carolus Tripel 2. Troubadour Magma The first bar also offered a charcuterie board. I liked the provided celery salt as a flavor enhancer to the cheese. Here we were given our first proper introduction to the Belgian dubbel/triple that the region is so well-known for. Troubadour Magma I ended up liking despite being an IPA because nobody overhops their beer in Belgium. -Benelux- 1. Lindeman's Kriek (lambic) 2. Jambe de Bois Here our group was given an introduction to the lambic beers, which Brussels is well-known for. Lambics undergo spontaneous fermentation using wild yeast strains. Kriek (a sour cherry) tasted like Robitussin, which earned mixed reception from the group but I personally liked it. Jambe de Bois is a triple made in Brussels. -Au Bon Vieux Temps- 1. Westmalle Dubbel (on tap) 2. Rochefort 10 The oldest bar in Brussels, this is where I got my proper introduction to trappist beer. I ended up loving trappist beer so much that my family came back here twice to explore their trappist beer offerings. Rochefort 10 is one of my favorite beers and I had a few more glasses of this over the duration of the trip. With the exception of Marcolini the chocolate shops offered a 10% discount if you bought chocolate from them. Not only did I buy chocolate from the vendors listed here, I also bought a few beers sampled on this tour as gifts. This is the best beer tour I've ever done and one of the best tours I've done in Europe. Many thanks to Julie and the Brussels Journey for putting together a great tour.

So glad we did this tour. Not only did we get to sample and learn about chocolate and beer, but we…read morealso learned about the history of Brussels as we walked along. Our guides, Julia and Andrea were amazing - they consistently checked in with all of us and at least one of them was available if there were some slower member of the groups that wanted to stop to buy chocolate or take pictures. They were also extremely informative - you could tell they loved their jobs. We had several pieces of chocolate at each location and also had a 10% discount at 2 of the locations (definitely came in use). We also had 5-6 beers throughout the tour as well. The world cup final ended up being during our tour and they even provided doggy bags of the beer for those who couldn't bear to miss the game. Definitely recommend.