Brussels,
By Joe Ray
I dropped Copenhagen brewer Anders Kissmeyer a note saying I was en route to Brussels and wanted to know where to go for good beer.
Within a day, Kissmeyer and his two brewers, Shaun Hill and Kasper Larsen, had a list of brewers, beer halls and lambic blenders to contact.
Shaun recommended the Poechenellekelder bar, a stone’s throw (a short squirt?) from the city’s bizarre Mannekin Pis statue. This close to the touristic center of most cities, it’s generally good to keep your guard up. Instead we were more than impressed by both the selection and the product knowledge.
The list of choices is extensive – even for a beer enthusiast it can be baffling – yet a lot of selection doesn’t mean much without good guidance – "at that point they’re just a stockist" someone said later. Here, however, our waiter - a philosophy student who could easily pass for a sommelier - guided by asking just a couple of questions about what we know and what we like and, without presenting options, simply said, “I’ll be right back.”
He came back with two different beers – one exactly what I asked for, and the other, St. Bernardus wheat beer that – with gentle berry smells and crisp flavors, I’d rank among the top ten beers of my life. I told the waiter so and, with a bit of clever salesmanship, said, "Ah, that’s nothing – if you like that, come back tomorrow and I’ll give you something that’ll knock your socks off." I’m on my way.
Poechenellekelder – Rue du Chêne, 5 Brussels Map
Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting
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