Beer experts share their favourite Belgian beer memory

By Malin Norman

Ten international beer experts share their favourite Belgian beer memory with Discover Benelux. From unforgettable visits at world-famous breweries to life-changing experiences and getting lost in the Belgian countryside, read their inspirational stories here.

Paul Davies

Founder of AleHunters, UK ambassador for Belgium Beer Week

Since travelling to Belgium for 35 years, there are many beer memories. Spending time with Frank Boon in his cooperage, tasting Oerbier Reserva straight from the wooden cask, visiting Grote Dorst for the first time, being invited to Westmalle, to recall a few. But probably the most rewarding was visiting Rudi Ghequire at Rodenbach, which I’ve done many times. I took some beer colleagues there and he advised us that he could only spare an hour. As I had visited numerous times, he asked if I had ever visited the old, original brewery. Rudi opened up the closed site and we went in, looking at the beautiful old brewing equipment, the largest coolship I’ve ever seen. The look of pride on his face when he showed his old office and desk – much humbler than the one in the modern brewhouse. It was such a brewing history lesson, I will never forget it. I’m amazed and honoured that this kind, generous and legendary man of beer keeps making me feel welcome – also at his own brewery, Kazematten. He once gave me a Mort Subite Kriek from before Alken-Maes bought the brewery, around 40 years old and delicious.

www.alehunters.co.uk
Facebook: AleHunters Brewery Tours
Instagram: @alehunters6
LinkedIn: Paul Davies
LinkedIn: AleHunters

Max Finnance.

Max Finnance

Master Cicerone®, Grand Master BJCP®

During my first pilgrimage to Belgium, in the days before easy international mobile use, I had plotted the course from my hotel to the famed beer bar In de Verzekering Tegen de Grote Dorst in advance. The plan was one bus transfer, count the stops we passed so I’d know where to disembark, then a quick walk to the café. I didn’t know the bus wouldn’t stop at every stop, but I’d mentioned to the driver which stop I needed, so I was in their hands. When I got off the bus the only other passenger to disembark asked me where I was headed, and his graven face said all I needed to realise I was in the wrong village. Without a second thought, he offered to use his parents’ car to drive me to my destination. We talked about beer along the walk to his parents, and the drive to the bar. I tried to repay his kindness with a shared bottle of lambic, but he had to get home for family dinner. His unneeded generosity made my visit to Grote Dorst even sweeter, and I always think back to that kind stranger who made the trip possible.

Instagram: @maxfinnance

Markus Raupach. Photo: Jana Margarete Schuler

Markus Raupach

Beer sommelier educator, beer judge, podcaster

Every year, on the first weekend of September, Belgian Beer Weekend transforms Brussels’ Grand-Place into a tasting ground for hundreds of Belgian beers – but what truly captivated me was the opening ceremony. As a former chorister in Bamberg Cathedral – one of the world’s oldest boys’ choirs – I’ve always had a deep respect for liturgy and ritual. During my first visit to this festival, I joined the opening Mass at St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral, where brewers, garbed more splendidly than the priests, processed in with a beer cask. The priest then blessed the barrel – a beautiful tradition honouring beer’s place in society. The procession to the Town Hall and the following academic session, including the Knighthood of the Brewers’ Paddle ceremony, completed an unforgettable experience. Today, as a member of that Knighthood, I return every year – not just to taste the beer, but to celebrate the culture I deeply cherish.

bierakademie.net

Facebook: markus.raupach
LinkedIn: in/bier

Rex Tao Sha Advanced Cicerone®, founder of BeerFortune

Rex Tao Sha

Advanced Cicerone®, founder of BeerFortune

In 2023, I embarked on a two-day retreat at Orval Monastery, during which I abstained from speaking and using my mobile phone, and followed the monastery’s bell schedule. At each meal, I was able to enjoy a special edition of Orval beer that was only available within the monastery. The same bottle and cap were used, but there was no label. The beer’s colour was similar to that of the regular version, but it felt slightly less alcoholic, with a more pronounced hop flavour and a pleasant funky taste. Compared to the regular Orval beer, this version was milder and more balanced, and compared to the exclusive Orval draft beer served at Ange Gardien restaurant near the monastery, it was more mature and refined – making it the perfect match for the light meals and tranquil atmosphere within the monastery. It’s the beer that I most long to taste again.

WeChat (BeerFortune): BeerFortune酉运
WeChat (Rex): bjcprex

Chris Williams.

Chris Williams

Advanced Cicerone®, competition director at Brewers Association

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend time in Bruges, Ghent and Brussels, so it’s very difficult to choose just one place or experience, but one of the fondest Belgian beer memories is a simple but satisfying one from Brussels. My wife and I started an early afternoon, enjoying a good selection of Belgian beers and light beer snacks at Poechenellekelder, spending time exploring all of the wild puppets and art throughout the place. After some time, we casually walked the streets in the surrounding area, exploring alleys and the beautiful town square until eventually deciding on a later dinner at a place called Billie for what was, at the time, new to me (but now favourite) beer and food pairing – Bolognese and Belgian beer. It’s now something I try to incorporate into my beer and food experience whenever I’m able.

www.WorldBeerCup.org

Wagner Falci.

Wagner Falci

International beer judge, owner of Daoravida Brewpub

My life changed forever in 2012, the year I travelled to Belgium for the first time. I arrived as a curious traveller – and left with a heart set on beer. Tasting Trappists, lambics and saisons in their birthplace was more than inspiring; it was life-defining. I returned to Brazil with a mission and, in 2013, brewed my first beer at home. That moment marked the beginning of a journey that would reshape my career, my passions, and my purpose. More than a decade later, I stood on Belgian soil again – not as a tourist, but as a brewer and an international judge. In 2024, my Barley Wine was awarded at the Brussels Beer Challenge, and I brewed a collaboration with DOK Brewing in Ghent. Belgium gave me more than inspiration. It gave me direction. And for that, I’ll always be grateful.

Instagram: @wagnerfalci

Lana Svitankova.

Lana Svitankova

Ukrainian beer writer, educator, international beer judge

“Michael Jackson* probably wasn’t struggling this much to get that beer!” This is me, puffing and sweating while pedalling my bicycle along a cobblestoned track somewhere in the middle of the fields of Flanders. I’m on my way to Brouwerij De Brabandere to try one of the most famous beers of Belgium: Petrus Aged Pale. It sits there, in a forest of tall foeders, quietly getting its signature profile of refreshing tartness, pineapple and wine like notes. The day was hot and humid, the trail taxing, but it was a pilgrimage, tracing the steps of a beer legend, and what can be more rewarding than a glass of excellent beer at the end of the road? And there, in the shade of humongous barrels, hiding not only beer, but time itself in their bellies, my prize was waiting for me. One of the best days ever.

*the one who drank and wrote about beer, not the one who sang.

Facebook: lana_svitankova
Instagram: @lana_on_beer

Chris Flaskamp.

Chris Flaskamp

Brewer and international beer judge, founder of TÜbinger Craft Beer in Chile and Beer Culture Tours Around the World

A favourite memory is Brasserie de Vapeur, a farmhouse ale brewery in Pipaix, which still operates entirely out of a steam engine from the 19th century. As they do virtually no marketing outside rural Wallonia, I only heard about them through my friend Peter Bouckaert, a legendary Belgian brewer based in Colorado. Vapeur’s owner, Jean-Louis Dits, used to be a school teacher in the same village, and in 1984, in order to preserve it, decided to buy the old steam brewery from the previous owner, who was about to sell it to a scrapyard. The huge equipment is stored in a large barn next to Jean-Louis’ farmhouse and operates through gravity. Visits are only allowed on Sundays, and on the last Sunday of each month there is a public brew of one batch, which lasts for over 12 hours. An unforgettable experience, which transported us right back to the age of the Industrial Revolution. The brew is followed by a huge farmhouse lunch of organic food sourced in Dits’ garden, paired with a never-ending flow of Vapeur’s various brews. Delicious.

This is my Belgian beer memory, and I hope some of you may now want to visit this outstanding historic brewery – you won’t regret it!

Instagram: @chris_flaskamp_ | @viajeculturacervecera | @cerveza_tubinger
Facebook: chris.flaskamp.1 | viajecerveceroporelmundo | cerveza_tubinger

Cheryl Cade.

Cheryl Cade

Beer sommelier, beer & cheese educator

As a memory trigger, nothing beats beer for me. In 2018, there was a definite buzz in the air and Antwerp had become the centre with many great bars. De Panick with salt sculptures alongside machinery and views of the river. Billies Bar, home of Billy the dog, noting a poster for their first festival. I thought, why not? It had a rockabilly vibe with some of the best brewers, including Alvinne, De la Senne, De Struise, Verzet, De Dochter van de Korenaar… Little did I know that Billies Craft Beer Festival would be a festival of firsts: my first Lervig 3 Bean Stout (still a favourite), my first dance to the Drop Kick Murphys, and my first festival with a tattoo artist (I was sober enough not to get one, but merry enough to design my first of many). Billy unfortunately is no more but the festival runs every November. Be quick as tickets sell fast, there is still that buzz!

cherylcade.com
Facebook: ThirstBeers
Instagram: @thirstbeers

Noel Sánchez.

Noel Sánchez

Certified beer specialist & judge worldwide

I’ve travelled to Belgium more than a dozen times, immersing myself in rustic, centuries-old breweries, silent monastic halls, and modern cosmopolitan craft beer hubs. Along the way, I’ve made great friends with legendary beer architects, whose passion and mastery shape the very soul of Belgian beer. Still, my most memorable Belgian beer experience unfolded far from Europe – in my hometown, Panama, in 2012. One afternoon, I tasted a Flanders Red for the very first time: a Rodenbach Grand Cru. At a pioneering bar for Belgian craft beer imports, including sours, they asked if I preferred it in its iconic glass. But I was a self-proclaimed ‘steel-hearted beer drinker’ and chose to drink it straight from the bottle, as if it was a thirst-quenching lager. The flavour stunned me – layered, vinous, edging on balsamic. My hosts laughed about my puckering reaction. Years later, through absolute dedication, I became a sommelier, educator, and global beer judge – often on that very style that once humbled me. Who would’ve thought?

Instagram: @noelssanchez

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