Antwerp, Belgium - City of Diamonds

Stop number one of the Belgian Beer Tour was at Belgium's second largest city if my facts are correct.  Antwerp had a decent number of excellent beer bars according to one of our research sources, www.beeradvocate.com. In addition to bars, it has quite a few attractions including a booming diamond-dealing district.  We thought this city would make an excellent first day to our trip because it was closest to Amsterdam, from which we traveled via train.

It took just 90 minutes on a high speed train, in first class I might add (Tip: Watch for some of those online deals on Thalys' website.  Our first class ticket was less expensive than a second class ticket because we traveled in the middle of the day.)  The free snacks and drinks made the time go by even faster. And the free entrance into the First Class lounge while waiting for the train in Amsterdam's Centraal Station made it even more rewarding.

We arrived on a dreary Sunday.  The clouds hung low threatening to rain.  We were pretty sure rain was headed our way.  Better get out the right shoes.  In my case, the only ones I owned that don't leak or have perforations in them that would allow my feet to get wet were my nice black suit shoes. They were the ones I "pounded the pavement" with, as some would say in the sales industry.  They were purchased for maximum comfort, looked nice with a suit and yet were highly functional in inclement weather. Since I haven't had need for cold calling businesses in quite some time, they would at least get some good use on rainy days during my journey.  And Antwerp offered just that.

Once we dropped off our packs in prison, I mean the hostel, it was time for the first bar of the day.

Time to try some authentic, craft Belgian beer which we had never heard of.

So we explained the Belgium Beer Tour to our waitress.

"Hello.  We are from America.  We are on a mission to try the best beers Belgium has to offer."

"Very good," she said. "What kind of beer do you like?"

"Every kind."

"Oh."

And then to be helpful instead of sassy we went into the styles of beers, colors preferred, tastes, amount of bitter or hoppiness preferred, etc., to help them find their idea of what we are looking for.

And she did great! Two new beers neither of us had tried before!

Luckily, we snacked on a waffle before we had that beer.  True Belgian waffles have sugar pockets mixed into the batter so when you bite into it, ooohhhhhh man are you rewarded with ooey gooey deliciousness. We tried one with chocolate also.  It was too rich for my tongue.

Time to go see the old part of the city.  The section with the large town square.  Maybe a church or two.

The rain came just as we thought.  It encouraged dryer activities such as going to other bars on our list. We showed our list of 100 Belgian beers that were the highest rated to the bartenders.  They were always interested in what we were looking for.  Some even recommended we go to their competitors.

They took their beer just as seriously as we did.  That is when we knew we made the right choice in trips.

Here's what we tasted that day:

1. Grimbergen Blonde
2. Jessenhofke Biere de Garde
3. Noir de Dottignies
4. Trappistes Rochefort 8
5. De Koninck
6. St. Bernardus Abbey Ale ABT 12
7. Duchesse de Bourgogne
8. Boon Oude Geuze
9. Bourgogne des Flanders