Books About Beer

Around Brussels in 80 Beers

For centuries Brussels has enjoyed a unique reputation for its beers and the hundreds of places to drink them. Conviviality is what Brussels does best so naturally you would expect to find a special beer place on every corner, right?

Well, no, to the surprise of many a foreigner. In this as in virtually every other aspect of Brussels life, to get the best out of what is really one of the world’s great cities, you have to know where to go.

Joe Stange is an American beer writer who was recently condemned to live out a few years in Brussels, maybe for sins in a past life. Yvan de Baets has been campaigning for quality ales and lambics in the capital for years, turning his slogans into real projects first with the Bruxellensis Beer Festival and later this year by opening his own brewery in the capital.

In a city that is loaded with excellent restaurants we have naturally included suggestions for fine dining with beer and how to pair food with particular styles of brew.

From Joe and Yvan

‘We were pessimistic when we started this project. We feared we would not even be able to identify 80 places serving real craft Belgian beer, of the kind produced on a personal rather than industrial scale but by the end we had a hard time excluding some.

‘There is an up-and-coming generation of young proprietors rejecting the same-old corporate stuff and giving place of honour to craft beers on their menus and chalkboards. That is the subplot that runs throughout these pages. If this book gives those heroes an extra little boost then we have done our job.’

Around Brussels in 80 Beers

White Beer Travels