First, it was great to be somewhere where great craft beer was available at every restaurant. Colorado certainly has it fair share of eating establishments that have craft beer on tap or a couple in the bottle, but nothing like Belgium. Every place that we ate had several beers on tap and a bottle list so that you could pair whatever you were eating with a great beer to have along the side.
Second, I was able to visit some awesome breweries, such as Cantillon. Cantillon is one of the last producers in Belgium of authentic lambic and is the last brewery left in Brussels. On a self guided tour you got to see their old brewing equipment and barrel after barrel full of lambic. What I enjoyed that most was seeing the coolship and the roof that it was under. The slits in the tiles allowed for amble air circulation and I could just imagine the wild yeast populating the cooling wort.
Third, I made sure to hit up as many of the Trappist breweries as I could. This included Rochefort and Chimay who make some of my favorite beers. The trip also included a stop at Maredsous where cheese, beer wurst, fresh bread, and beer were available... all of which were delicious.
Finally, to ensure that I would remember my trip I stuffed a suit case to the brim with beer to take home!
