When we get a good lead, an inspector calls, without mentioning the Guide. Where there are inconsistencies in what we find, the editor will pop in, always anonymously. Anonymity means that we see a place as any other customer will see it. Café owners will not put on a special show for you but they might for us if we say why we are there.

What our inspectors like is a clear commitment to Belgian beer culture.

In most of the country we want to see a list of at least 60 different beers. Occasionally we will accept fewer if there are signs of specialisation in one or two types of beer or a particularly intelligent. We also reserve the right to include a few extra entries in places of special interest to tourists, ex-pats or business travellers, and in a few parts of the country where the beer culture needs encouragement.

The Guide is not impressed by a long list of well-known beers from larger producers. Half a dozen brews from a couple of local microbreweries are far more likely to make an impact on Guide inspectors than fifty better known names.

We do not care about the type of bar it is. All sorts of premises from village smoking rooms to Michelin star restaurants have graced these pages and will continue to do so. We do expect it to try to be good at whatever it does, be that a one-room local or a multi-storey museum of Art Deco. We do expect owners to show panache in choosing and presenting their beers.

One of our best sources of information is recommendation by readers. Nearly half the cafés in this book originally came to our attention through amateur sleuths who took time to tell us what they found.

So if you come across an undiscovered gem with a good beer list that you thinks fits the Guide's criteria, let us know on BelgiumGBG@aol.com or else through CAMRA Books. New finds that are good enough to get a full entry will earn you a free copy of the next edition.