Trip to St. Bernardus brewery and Bruges, Belgium

Our first vacation while in Europe is complete.  We stayed 2 nights at a B&B attached to the St. Bernardus Brewery in Watou, Belgium, and then stayed 2 nights at a B&B in Bruges.  St. Bernardus brews one of the highest ranked beers in the world, Abt 12, which is a Trappist Monk recipe from nearby St. Sixtus abbey.  They also brew several other recipes from the Monks, and a few of their own beers.  The B&B was amazing, a personal residence until 5 years ago, when it was purchased and renovated.  An addition to the home actually attaches it to the brewery.  This was a wonderful place, we enjoyed it thoroughly.  Even Marissa seemed very happy and relaxed here.  The nearby town of Watou is right on the border with France.  It is a charming 300+ year old town, surrounded by countryside and farms (including hop farms).  We will go back again!  Oh, did I mention that the B&B has all the brewery beers in stock with an open bar policy?  I took full advantage, and then some, as you will see...

We then drove to Bruges, which is a beautiful city known as the Venice of the north because of its canals.  We would like to return to Bruges as well, but it is not great for small kids.  If anyone comes to visit us, this is a candidate for where we should go (without kids), because it has great restaurants (think mussels and pomme frites for starters), bars, and nightlife that we were unable to fully take in during this first visit.

A few pictures follow, and if people want to see more, let me know and I can add to the post.  There's a little beer commentary at the end too:

St. Bernardus, with phone number (for future reference), and the hop field in background:

A view from our window, and an afternoon picnic with beer (yea... Abt 12):

This is what they stocked the open bar with, and don't worry, there were multiples of these selections consumed:

 There was a nearby children's zoo and a beach, so we visited those as well:

 

And then there was Bruges:

 For my beer buddies, notice the Saaz and Styrian hops, and then Mosaic dry hopping (and 9.5% ABV).  If you can get this one in the US, try it!

I also had a triple and a blonde at the only microbrewery in Bruges , and a LaChouffe.  Would have loved to continue sampling, but with 240 Belgian beers available, there was just not enough time.

But the best beer on the trip was a local beer brewed in Watou by Poperinge Brewing, called simply Poperinge Hommelbier.  Hommel is "hops" in Flemish.  This is the beer that I would make if I could only brew one beer for the rest of my life.  This strong Belgian pale ale had a perfect balance of light but rich malt body (almost like a triple), with a hoppy lemony fruit in the middle palate, and a lemon peppery finish.  Honorable mention goes to St. Bernardus Triple, for its hefewiezen-like  fruity esters, but 8% abv.

As a very special bonus, I was given the last bottle in stock at the St. Bernardus brewery of their Extra 4, a limited run done for the first time in over 20 years this summer.  It immediately sold out, but they had one bottle left on display.  My beer knowledge and enthusiasm must have impressed, because they just gave me the last bottle.  It was a great trip!