3 places in and around Brussels
Planning a city break to Brussels? Then you’re already in Lambiekland. The city was once teeming with breweries lining the banks of the Senne. In the early 20th century, Brussels was home to over a hundred breweries, most of which specialised in lambic.
So, even today, after a visit to Manneken Pis or the Grand Place, you’ll never have to look far for a refreshing geuze. In top-class restaurants and in traditional pubs with wooden benches and weathered tables, lambic and geuze are fixtures. Legendary cafés such as À la Mort Subite, À la Bécasse, Bier Circus, Monk and many others serve beer straight from the cellars of Lambiekland.
Lambic within walking distance
Just an eight-minute walk from the Grand Place, lambic is already maturing in wooden barrels. The Dansaert Brewery, part of the Brussels Beer Project, is the first new lambic brewery in the city for over fifty years. But it doesn’t stop at classic lambic and gueuze. Expect surprising, experimental creations that combine tradition and innovation, specially brewed for a young and curious audience.
How about lambic with koji, wild mushrooms or forgotten fruit varieties? Sometimes the brewers head out with their mobile cooling tank to capture the microflora at unique spots around the city, giving the beer its own distinctive character. The lambic then matures in carefully selected wooden casks, such as a foeder that once held Italian grappa. The brewers are happy to show you round the brewhouse, followed by a tasting.
Brussels Beer Project
Dansaert Taproom
188 Rue Antoine Dansaert
1000 Brussels
Opening hours, visits and guided tours:
www.beerproject.be
Six brothers, one brewery
Is lambic also enjoying a revival in Brussels? It certainly looks that way. Taymans Brewery certainly has big plans. In 1906, Adolphe-Philippe Taymans built a warehouse to age lambic, and in 1911 he added his own brewhouse. In 1970, his son Pierre stopped brewing, but in 2022, six grandchildren – six brothers – breathed new life into the brewery. And they did so on the original site.
Today, they produce a range of speciality beers and their own blend featuring Lambic Taymans. After 50 years of silence, praise for Taymans Lambic can once again be heard on the streets of Jette. They aren’t serving Geuze just yet, as the main ingredient of this unique beer remains time. But they’ve promised it’s on its way. In the meantime, you’re always welcome to come along for a tour or a tasting session.
Taymans Brewery
Van Bortonnestraat 46
1090 Jette
Visits by appointment
www.brasserie-taymans-brouwerij.be
Geuze on tap
If you follow the Senne river upstream from Brussels, you’ll find yourself in the heart of Lambiekland, where the hustle and bustle of the city gives way to an undulating Brueghel-esque landscape. You can get there in no time by train, car or bike. Follow the river a little further, across the language border, and you’ll end up in Bierghes (or Bierk), home to Gueuzerie Tilquin.
Pierre Tilquin founded the first gueuze brewery on Walloon soil there in 2009. Since 2021, he has also been brewing lambic there. His most remarkable creation? Geuze Tilquin from the cask: a lambic that undergoes secondary fermentation in a cask rather than in a bottle. A real rarity, so it’s well worth crossing the language border to give it a taste, isn’t it?
Gueuzerie Tilquin
Chaussée Maïeur Habils 110
1430 Bierk
Visits by appointment
www.gueuzerietilquin.be
Taproom and shop open every Saturday from 10.30 am to 1.00 pm
