Old friends, new encounters
Beer Breaks: Camra’s Pocket Guide to Some of Europe’s Best Beer Destinations (Tim Webb, Camra Books, £15.99)
By Phil Mellows
With an hour or three to kill in Brussels while waiting for the Eurostar home, me and my mate Nick ended our brief tour of Belgium by tramping through some horrifying roadworks in the direction of Grand Place to check on a couple of old friends.
Poechenellekelder, opposite the Manneken Pis, was as good as ever and a far superior tourist attraction to the radically disappointing little fountain across the road. My St Bernadus Wit was a pleasing lunchtime gulp, while Nick, coming down off his run in The Great Breweries Marathon, was happily surprised with his Leffe Blond 0.0%.
Then we sought out one of my favourite bars, A La Becasse, a kind of miniature beer hall at the end of a tiled alleyway that specialises in draught lambic, a gently sour, splendidly refreshing wild-fermented brew you can only find in these parts. There’s nowhere quite like it.
When I got home, Tim Webb’s new book, Beer Breaks, was waiting for me. His Good Beer Guide Belgium, now in its eighth edition, helped me find these places many years ago, and now he’s produced this abbreviated pocket guide to 32 cities around Europe.
I was relieved to find Poechenellerkelder leads his pick of beer venues in the Brussels section, but what did we miss? Among other delights, “One of the most interesting selections of draught beers in Europe” at the Moeder Lambic Fontainas, the Delirium Village, with no fewer than four different beer cafes, a confluence of classic and craft at Gist, and more.
That’s just one city. Webb’s knowledge of beer in so many places is uncanny, taking us from Hamburg to Helsinki, from Reykjavik to Rome, from Budapest to Barcelona, and from Bristol to Edinburgh, the two British entries. Each section lists half-a-dozen bars, with a brief introduction and boxed-out need-to-knows.
I immediately turned to Gibraltar as I had no idea that The Rock had a beer scene. And I was right. Webb has included this barren beer terrain in the hope that pressure from drinkers will irrigate it from below.
The city guides are prefaced by useful chapters on planning your European beer tour, the complexities of the Continent’s brewing traditions and beer styles, local dishes to go with your beer, an events calendar, and a note on prices. Webb even ventures to tell the reader “How to drink beer”, really some tips on how to home in on the best brews where there’s so many to choose from.
Had this book arrived before I left for Belgium, it might have tempted me to be more adventurous and try something new. But, sometimes, it’s nice to see familiar friends, and I just can’t walk past A La Becasse.
Kate Simon, our travel expert, adds: This book is more about the beer than the break. It’s certainly a useful resource for where to drink beer in different cities but the travel info is scant, with brief suggestions on how to get there and around, where’s most convenient to stay the night, and the style of food. It begs more detail.
What are the neighbourhoods like so that I can find the right fit for me in terms of where to stay? What sights can I see between beers, and not just the obvious ones? Where can I find the stand-out places to eat, across the budget? I sense it wasn’t the brief, but even a quick trot through these topics would benefit the reader.