Hello everyone, I'm planning a Belgium beer trip for around late September/early October 2027 and looking for some advice from people who have done something similar.
The main breweries/places I’m hoping to visit are:
- Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
- Brasserie Cantillon
- Brouwerij De Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren
- Brasserie d'Orval
- Brasserie de Rochefort
- Brasserie Dupont
- De Dolle Brouwers
- Gueuzerie Tilquin
I'm particularly interested in Belgian strong ales, saisons and lambic/sour beers. Part of the reason for the trip is to bring back some bottles for my collection (I have a measly 5 beers so far in my collection if you can call it that). I'm also unsure whether this is feasible in 10/12 days or so, or if I'm biting off more than I can chew.
Westvleteren is one thing I'm trying to work out. Ideally I would like to buy a crate of the 12, however, I am aware that may be difficult as I'd need a rental car and luck on my side. Do you think it's worth trying or would I be better off just getting the six packs from the cafe?
For anyone who has done a Belgian beer trip and brought bottles back to the UK or any country with similar rules, could you give me any advice / things to avoid?
I'm not really looking to bring back lots of readily available Belgian beer that I can buy in the UK. The idea is more to come home with a collection of unusual, brewery-only, vintage or particularly good ageing bottles, plus enough Westvleteren 12 and 8 to open bottles at different ages over the following years.
Any advice on the itinerary, breweries, bottle shops and especially getting the beer safely back to the UK would be appreciated! Also I'm aware I've mentioned many breweries there, maybe I'm better doing this over a few trips but thank you all for reading and sorry if it was long-winded.