Belgian Roads!

For those of you considering a Belgain tour with us in the future this was just published on Expatica-

http://www.expatica.com/be/news/community_focus/Belgian-roads-relatively-safe-.html

Belgian Roads are Relativley Safe

According to a study published by the motoring organisation Touring, Belgium's roads are amonst the safest in Europe.

Belgium comes third only to the Netherlands and Switzerland when it comes to road safety.
The study looked at the number of accidents on a total of 140,000 kilometres of Belgian roads.
There was striking evidence that the number of road traffic accidents in Belgium has fallen dramatically in recent years.
A Touring spokesman told journalists:“Recent policies to promote road safety are showing dividends.”
The regional governments have invested heavily in making accident black spots safer.
On average, the chances of being involved in a serious accident are forty times greater on a so-called “dangerous road” than on the country’s safest roads.

A total of two million people have died on Europe’s roads during the past ten years."

So, there we go! 

Photos by Bier-Mania!
Bier-Mania!'s Great Belgium Beer Tour, a 10-day adventure around Belgium and Northern France runs all year.

Bruxelles Special (PM-091121) Photos

A day out drinking 'strage' tasting beers! Cheers!

Bruxelles Special Beer Tour Map

View (PM-091021) Bruxelles Special Beer Tour in a larger map

Bruxelles Special Beer Tour (PM-091121) Final Itinerary

Locations for this Saturday's Bruxelles Special Beer Tour have now been finalised.
Pick-up is 11.45am in Bruxelles and we go straight to our first location-a brewery in Itterbeek in the Payottenland region to the west of Bruxelles and commonly known as Lambic Land!
Enjoy your day.

Timmermans Brewery
Tour, beer.
We have a tour of this awesome brewery at 1215,  naturally followed by a couple of the beers they brew! Welcome to Lambic beer!

De Cam Volkscafe
Lunch, beer.

After a short journey from Itterbeek, we then have a traditional Flemish lunch at the traditional De Cam Volkscafe in Gooick along with a few beers. Next door is also the Lambic blender, De Cam as well as a museum of traditional Flemish musical instruments! There we go!






Drei Fonteinen Brewery & Restaurant

Look around, beer.
Our last stop of the day is the Lambic brewery Drei Fonteienen (Three Fountains) in Beersel. After a look around the brewery (you'll be experts by now) we have a tasting in the cellar after which we can a further few beers in the excllent resaturant/cafe.

Drop off is in Fat Boys Sports Bar and Grill! Cool.

Cheers and looking forward to seeing you all.

This Bier-Mania! Bruxelles Special is a custom made tour put together especially for a group from the UK.. Should you wish to do a tour with us then feel free to contact us, andy@bier-mania.com or phone +49-(0)2157 810558

Belgium Beer Night (PM-091031)

Great night on Saturday at the Altes Brauhaus, when we put on over 51 Belgian and French beers during our Belgium Beer Night!
Photos are now online as is the Beer Menu.
Thanks to all those that were there and hope you had a great time.
Prost!

Belgium Beer Night Beer Menu

Great Belgium Beer Tour (GBBT-091016)

The 'Zuiper' Tour
Our 10-day Great Belgium Beer Tour and 6th tour in 6 weeks (!) has just ended in Düsseldorf on Sunday afternoon.
The tour kicked off with a 'training' evening on day zero in Düsseldorf's Altstadt with a beer (or 2) at Schumacher, Füchschen and Uerige, prost!
Where did we go then? We basically did an anti-clockwise loop of Belgium also taking in Northern France (Flandres and Pays de Meuse) and transitting Germany and the Netherlands, took in every Belgian Province and drank at every Belgian Trappiste Abbey! Whoopee!

1. Düsseldorf (Germany)-Achel Trappiste Abbey-Westmalle Trappiste Abbey-Antwerpen & Pelgrom beer dinner-Overnight Antwerpen
2. Bosteels brewery-Bruges (UNESCO)-Bruges Beertjes & Den Dyver-Overnight Bruges
3. Hill 62 & Ypres-Westveleteren Trappiste Abbey-'T Rohardushof Estaminet-Watou-Thiriez Brewery (F)-Mont Cassel, Trois Moulins, Kasteelhof-Overnight Cassel (France)
4. Brunehaut Brewery-Frites!-Rodenbach Brewery-Bruxelles-Overnight Bruxelles
5. Bruxelles-La Villette beer dinner-Overnight Bruxelles
6. Cantillon Brewery & Museum-Silenrieux Brewery-Chimay Trappiste Abbey-Bouillon & Castle-L'Estaminet cafe-Overnight Bouillon
7. European Brewing Museum-Chateau Chamois Brewery-Vauquois Hill (WW1)-Verdun-L'Estaminet Brewpub-Le Lapin que Fume-Le Clapier restaurant-Overnight Verdun
8. Verdun WW1 sites-Orval Trappiste Abbey-Bastogne-La Vieille Forge beer dinner-Overnight Achouffe-Mont
9. Rochefort Trappiste Abbey-La Ferme au Chene Brewery-Fantome Brewery-Achouffe Brewery-La Vieille Forge Beer Dinner-Overnight Achouffe-Mont
10. End tour in Düsseldorf!
    

To all those wonderful people we met along the way, thanks for your hospitality and kindness!
Cheers!

International Streekbierenfestival 2009

Hello Guys,
Well, we went to the International Streekbierenfestival. Was it good? Yes it was, very good in fact and we had a great time along with some 30 other brewers from both Belgium and the Netherlands.
Thanks go to Yvan and his team for organising one hell of a slick festival, again the weather was perfect, the music was good and the beer was flowing.
What was the my favourite beer we had on? Must be the Weissenhohe Altfränkische beer, absolutely delicious! Funnily enough the 15 litres sold out pretty fast.
Cheers and enjoy the photos!

Great Belgium Beer Tour-October 2009 2 PLACES LEFT

There are just 2 places left on our Great Belgium Beer Tour in October.

More details please contact andy@bier-mania.com

Cheers,
Andy

The Great Belgium Beer Tour runs all year and takes in France, Belgium as well as an optional night or 2 in Düsseldorf. More information can be found on our website.

Great Belgium Beer Tour-October 2009 2 PLACES LEFT

There are currently 2 places available (6 people maximum) on our October Great Belgium Beer Tour (GBBT-091016).
This epic 10-day adventure across the whole of Belgium and northern France starts in Düsseldorf, Germany visiting every Belgian Province and Trappiste Abbey and ends in Düsseldorf!
Awesome!
If Düsseldorf isn't a good pick-up/drop-off for you then talk to us and we can sort something out!

This exclusive 'gourmet' tour travels in an anti-clockwise direction and takes in bier-cafes, world class Belgian restaurants, breweries, historical attractions, religious sites, countryside, WW1 and WW2 sites and much much more!

Even if you don't even like beer you will see the whole of Belgium anyway!

Dates
Friday 16 October-Sunday 25 October 2009
Itinerary
Please email us for the full Itinerary.

Cheers,
Andy@bier-mania.com






Photos
The photo on the right is the Grand Place in Bruxelles, taken just last week! On the left is L'Ange Gardien-Orval Trappiste Abbey's 'tap', fresh Orval 6.2 and the 'monks' weaker 3.5, oh, and great cheese as well!


Bier-Mania!'s Great Belgium Beer Tour runs all year. Please email or phone if you are interested in dates. For more information see our website.
Tours for 3-6 people.

International Streekbierenfestival-14, 15 August 2009

This years International Streekbierenfestival is from 14-15 August in the town of Zwevegem (no, I can't pronounce it either!) just to the east of Kortrijk in West Flanders.
You may be thinking what is this all about then!?
Streek in Flemish loosely translates as 'regional' for us English speakers, nothing to do with going naked. Last year there were some 13000 people and around 30-35 different international bars. Should be good!

We will be there this year with around 200-300 litres of some of Germany's finest beer with our usually named 'Beers of Germany', most of the beer will be hand picked up during our Franconia tours in July and August, we are also hoping to bring back some Annafest beer from Forchheim. The beer will also be mainly dispensed by gravity and in the correct glassware!


















Where/When
Friday 1500-0130 (3pm-1.30am)
Saturday 1100-0130 (11am-1.30am)


View 03-Combo Tours/Events in a larger map

Be great to see you there, say hello to us if you do read this blog!
Cheers,
Andy

Ardennes Special (AS-090512)

Just back from another Ardennes Special tour in Belgium, great tour and a good time!
Thanks Tine and Pol for a great night in the new bar and brewery and of course some delicious Ardennes food!
Photos are now online!



Cheers,
Andy



More information on our Ardennes Special tours can be found on our website www.bier-mania.com
Tours run all year.

Great Belgium Beer Tour-May 2009

A few places are still available for our Great Belgium Beer Tour (GBBT-090522) this May from Friday 22-Sunday 31 May.

This is a truly epic tour, we only have a maximum of 6 people on the tour making it pretty much an exclusive 'VIP' tour of Belgium and Northern France.
Not only do we include overnight stops in the Flemish towns of Antwerpen, Bruges and Bruxelles but we also get ourselves into the heart of Wallonia and Northern France. We believe that France has its rightful place on any beer tour of Belgium!
We include beer dinners, bier-cafes, WW1 sights, WW2 sights, breweries, chateaux, castles, museums, some great countryside and lots lots more. All tours are also in effect 'half-board' with all main meals included in the price. We also visit every province in Belgium as well as all 6 Trappiste monasteries-we don't do brewery tours at the Trappiste monasteries because we respect the wishes of the monks (if we do then we don't talk about it!).

When we are in the Ardennes (day 8 and 9) we stay at La Vieille Forge, this is a converted 300 year old forgery and run by Tine and Pol, Tine is an awesome cook and we have some excellent food there, usually cooked in a beer sauce! Thanks Tine! The forgery is a great end to our 10-day tour and a chance to unwind and look over where we have been over the last 10 days. Oh, and Pol also brews a mean beer.... (ssshhh!).



We visit some really off the beaten track places, the following video shows the Chateaux Charmois, located in the Pays-de-Meuse countryside just north of Verdun in France, Alain brews an excellent beer, in fact he was trained at Orval Trappiste brewery! Thanks Alain.



The 2009 Tour Itinerary can also be downloaded.
Download Tour Itinerary.

The price of the tour is €2150.00pp, however if we have a full tour then we offer a 10% discount per person, a saving of €215.00pp.
If you are thinking the tour price is expensive, yes it is, however if you consider that the tour is for only 6 people maximum and also what is included and where we visit then you will see that the tour really is an amazing 'experience'! We don't 'do' mass tourism, these are very specialist exclusive tours run by us.

Be good to see you.
Cheers,
Andy@bier-mania.com

Bruxellensis 2008 Photos

Hello.
Photos from last wekends's Bruxellensis beer festival are now online.
See Photos.

Servus!
Andy

Bruxellensis 2008

For those of you who missed this year's Bruxellensis beer festival in rue Glacier then here is a video.

Bruxellensis 2008 Bier-Mania! Beer List

Hello,
We have now finalised the beers we are taking to Bruxelles next week and think we have a pretty good selection for you to try with 15 different beers, some of which have have never been to Bruxelles before, so it is a bit like a holiday for them!
Please note that not all beers will be available all the time apart from the Zwiesel Dampfbier (1), Schneider Märzen (10) and the Huppendorfer Zwickel (7) all of which we have in bottles.
Beer List as pdf
Cheers! See you there or in London next month!

Ardennes Special Beer Tour Promo Film!

The Belgian Ardennes, great beer, lots of cows and Trappiste Monasteries...awesome!

Great Belgium Beer Tour ™ (22-31 May 2009) Itinerary

Great Belgium Beer Tour ™
GBBT-090522
Please see the full Example Itinerary.
Contact us for the password.

Cheers,
Andy
Bier-Mania!

Ardennes Special (04-06 July 2008) Tour Photos

Ardennes Special Beer Tour
AS-080704
Great tour, great weather, good time!
Thanks for those of you on the tour for coming along, good to see you all.

Tour Photos
The tour photos can be seen here.

Tour Summary
Friday 04 July
Chimay & Ardennes
Chimay Trappiste-France transit-L'Estaminet/Bouillon-La Vieille Ardenne/Bouillon
Overnight-Hotel de la Poste, Bouillon
Different Beers-around 10

Saturday 05 July
Orval, Ardennes & Belgium Beer Night
Orval Trappiste Abbey/Orval, L'Ange Gardien/Orval, Millevertus Brasserie, Houffalize, Achouffe Brasserie, La Petite Fontaine/Achouffe, Nounou's Cafe/Achouffe, Interpol Brasserie/La Vieille Forge, Belgium Beer Night!
Laugh of the day-Pol's 'Nose Cleaner'!
Different Beers-around 32!

Sunday 06 July
High Fens, Grain d'Orge
Scenic Ardennes drive, Haute Fagnes, Signal Botrange (700 metres), Grain d'Orge Brasserie, Eupen station.
Laugh of the day-Tay making friends with a sheep!
Different Beers-around 3

Bye bye!

See you all again soon.
Cheers,
Bier-Mania!

Ardennes & Bière de Garde Special (15-18 June 2008) Tour Photos

Ardennes & Bière de Garde Special
PM-080615
Sunday 15-Wednesday 18 June 2008
Another great tour!

The Tour Photos are now online, See Tour Photos


Day 1-Sunday
Frankfurt-Grain d'Orge Brasserie-Hautes Fagnes-La Vieille Forge (Belgium Beer Night)

Day 2-Monday
Achouffe Brasserie-Mardasson Memorial-Millevertus
Brasserie-Frites!-Orval-Bouillon



Day 3-Tuesday
Sedan Castle-European Beer Museum/Stenay-Chateau Charmois-Vauquois Hill, WW1-Rarecourt Farm Brasserie-L'estaminet Microbrewery-Le Lapin qui Fume* (who can't smoke)-La Clapier/Verdun

Day 4-Wednesday
Verdun Station END TOUR

*By the way, France has banned smoking in pubs and restaurants, Le Lapin qui Fume (in Verdun) which in English means the 'Rabbit who Smokes' has now been renamed by locals as the 'Rabbit who can't Smoke'! Who said the French had no humour!

Cheers,
Andy

Bruges and Flanders Special™ (08-09 August 2008)

Bruges & Flanders Special beer tour
(BF-080808)
6 PLACES LEFT
This amazing beer tour takes you both sides of Flanders, both Belgium Vlaanderen and the Biere de Garde region of French Flandre, awesome!
A short tour with an overnight in Mont Cassel in France, straight out of a scene from Chocolate, the movie (ring a bell?!).
We also visit the (now) world famous Westvleteren Trappiste monastery for a beer or 2 as well as seeing some WW1 history when we visit Ypres.

Where
West Vlaanderen, Belgium
Flandre, France
Another incredible tour.

Dates
Friday 08-Saturday 09 August 2008

Pick-up
0945/9.45am
Bruges (please contact us for your hotel).

Drop-off
1730/7.30pm
Bruges

Tour Itinerary
Download Tour Itinerary
Email for password
Day 1-Friday
West Vlaanderen & into France

• Strubbe Brouwerij, Echtegem (B)
  
• Diksmuide, Lo...
• Westvleteren Trappiste (B)
  
• In der Vrede cafe, Westvleteren (B)
• 't Rohardushof, Roesbrugge (B)
• Watou
• Mont Cassel (F)
• Kasteelhof Estaminet, Cassel (F)
• Trois Moulin Estaminet, Cassel (F)
• Kerelshof Estaminet, Cassel (F)
• Overnight-Mont Cassel (F)

Day 2-Saturday
Bière de Garde , Ypres & WW1

• Thiriez Brasserie, Esquelbecq (F)
• Het Blauwershof, Godewaersvelde (F)
• In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres (B)
• Ypres town
• Hill 62, Ypres (B)
• Drop-off Bruges

Tour Map
Map

Cheers,
Bier-Mania!™