Day 7: Antwerp and Tongeren

Ok, so just made it to the oldest town in Belgium and so had an old beer (Rodenbach. has a slight sourness, but has good sweetness and aging reduces the sourness considerably. i actually found it quite nice to drink.) in the oldest pub in this place. Missed out on the blood pudding I wanted to try there as was busy doing a laundry wash. still, may just hang around tomorrow and have lunch there, and see more of this place.

As for today, we left rainy Ghent and headed for Antwerp, where we again, indulged in more flemish beer stewed meats (beef and rabbit) with a Grimberger Brune and La Chouffe (scotch ale). After a much needed walk to work it off we hit a great pub called Kulminator, where I tried a Black Albert Imperial stout on tap (brown head gives away a blockbuster beer with intense coffee notes but then also smooth in taste and texture. no spiking flavour but long aftertaste), a Chimey Blauwe from the year 2000 at 11.6% (caramel alcohol smell, that tastes so smooth and caramel it is more than a taste, drinking this beer is an experience. subtle by flavourful with a cleansing finish with slight alcohol. JF comment: ethereal warmth) and a Rochefort 10 from 2003 at 11.3% ( still contains amazing smell even after aging.

A knee slapping beer [Like the Hercule I had in Brugge], warm, mellow and still seems to retain much of the flavour of the original, just more rounded. both these beers were served at room temperature and love the dust on the Rochefort bottle. JF on the other hand stuck to one beer at Kulminator, an Abbey Des Rocs Special Noel (9%), which is a bit hoppy with alcohol in smell but the texture is good. I found it cleansed pretty well at the end, but JF had 'gut rot' as his first comment, then improved with 'dark raisons, rum and cinnamon, with a sweet aftertaste like drinking port'. He also wanted me to note that with my drinking after the massive lunch he thought i would be a magician and pull a rabbit out of my hat (ie, bring it up). still, proven him wrong (again), but still didn't need dinner.

I also have to add that today Jaimi and I parted ways for the moment as he has gone back to Berlin to recover from me and to play a few gigs. Massive love goes out to you my friend, as i said on the last 5 min monologue on the train to antwerp. Looking forward to seeing you next week in Germany.

Cheers,

Beefy