As the Chapter Head for Green Bay Girls Pint Out, it’s pretty obvious I love beer. I travel frequently for both work and leisure. That almost always means a visit a new brewery in the town I am in.
In 2017, I was researching vacation tours in Europe, and found the company Beercycling. The concept is exactly as it sounds. On its website, Beercycling.com, tours are described like this: “enjoy some of the best beers that Europe and the USA have to offer as you explore new places near and far by bicycle. They offer intimate brewery visits, comfortable hotels, gourmet beer and food pairings, top-quality bicycles, and veteran tour guides who are passionate about beer and cycling. Travel with us at a pace that lets you fully absorb your surroundings while earning your beer at the end of each day!”
Sign me up!
The other great thing about Beercycling is their affordability. Tours start at less than $1500. And that includes your bikes, guides, brewery tours/tastings, hotels, breakfasts and lunches, as well as luggage transport each day. Other tours I’ve researched can be upwards of $3000-$5000. This past July marked my third Beercycling trip. I can personally attest to the amazing value, culture and exclusive experiences that this tour offers!
This summer’s destination was the countryside and small towns of southwestern Belgium and northern France for a Farmhouse Saison Tour. With the newfound popularity of farmhouse styles, it was no surprise that this tour sold out quickly.
Day #1, we all met up in the beautiful city of Mons, Belgium to be fitted for our bikes and make a quick introduction— then off on an 11 mile ride to the family owned Brasserie de Blaugies
Owner Pierre gave us a tour of the brewery and a detailed history of Saison of the region.
Before heading back to the hotel, we made surprise visit to the French border, which was only a few hundred feet away from the brewery!
The tour keeps evenings open for you to explore the many wonderful cities and towns you stay in each night, but the itinerary does give you a few suggestions. A few of us walked to the Grand Place in the center of Mons, where the city’s famous belfry is located, along with several restaurants with outdoor dining.
It was a beautiful evening to eat and drink outside, and we had dinner at La Cervoise. It is a popular place for “steak frites”, and you cook your own steak on a stone at your table. The meal is served with excellent “frites” (french fries) and sauces. This is Belgium, after all!
MONS TO PERUWELZ, BELGIUM
This morning, two breweries were on the schedule. The first brewery was Brasserie Deseveaux for a private tour and tasting with the brewer. Brasserie Deseveaux was voted best Saison in Europe in the 2018 Brussels Beer Challenge!
Then, it was over the border to Gussignies, France for our lunch/tour at Brasserie au Baron. The Manager, Xavier, showed us around the brewery, located in a small village with a beautiful picturesque view from their patio overlooking the river.
The brilliant sunset made for a perfect backdrop as our group of 19 riders had quite the bottle share this evening in the courtyard of our charming hotel.
PERUWELZ TO TOURNAI, BELGIUM
The next day we visited the largest, and one of the most popular breweries of the tour, Brasserie Dupont. It is famous worldwide for its Saison Dupont, which widely regarded as the benchmark that all other saisons are measured against. We learned on the tour that most saisons are bottle fermented and stored on their side.
After the tour, we enjoyed a tasting in the taproom, complete with cheese that is made by DuPont. We were sent on our way with a free 6-pack filled with DuPont’s most popular beers!
From DuPont, we cycled to our home for the night in Tournai. A small group of us grabbed take-out and enjoyed a beautiful summer evening on the patio of Le Bierodrome, a bicycle-themed brewery / bottle shop. This is a nanobrewery, and the selection is always changing because of the very small batches of beer the owner makes. I chose a Belgian ale that tasted exactly like New Glarus’ Spotted Cow, but had a bit more of that Belgian yeasty funk. A few of us took an impromptu tour and found out the owner hosts classes, and home brew enthusiasts can test their skills on his small system. If you want to say you brewed beer in Belgium, Le Bierodrome is your place!
TOURNAI, BELGIUM TO LILLE, FRANCE
The next day we headed to Brasserie De Cazeau. This brewery has family roots that date back to 1753. We took a tour of the brewery and tasted the new generation of beers they produce, which includes the Tournay Tripel– very popular in the town it is named for.
After that, a beautiful ride, over the French border into the big city of Lille. We watched the US Women’s Soccer team win the World Cup at a bar in the same country! After that, we headed to La Capsule, an amazing beer bar which has a killer selection of French microbrews on tap.
LILLE, FRANCE TO CASSEL, FRANCE
This was our longest day of cycling– 45 miles! Fortunately it was a bright, sunny day with mild temperatures and no humidity. We visited one brewery today, Brasserie Du Pays Flamand.
Co-owner Mathieu Lesenne, and brewery employee Theo showed us around the brewery and we tasted some of their barrel-aged beer and two different IPA’s. Their barrel aging facility was quite impressive, and it was nice to have some different styles of beer.
The long day on the bikes ended with a huge, steep climb into the gorgeous little village of Cassel. We enjoyed a wonderful 3-course French dinner in the hotel restaurant. It even included some bottles of wine. (This is France, after all!)
A few of us found a local beer bar that was open and got to know the locals with a song and dance to send us off for the night!
CASSEL TO POPERINGE, BELGIUM
Brasserie Thiriez was our first stop. This is a family brewery, started in 1996. Daniel Thiriez and his daughter now run the brewery. It was one of the first breweries in France to collaborate internationally with the Austin, Texas brewery Jester King.
Our last stop is a highlight and sacred ground for Belgian beer lovers worldwide: the famous Trappist Abbey St. Sixtus in Westvleteren!
It is one of six Trappist breweries in Belgium, brewing beer under a strict monastic tradition. They only make enough beer to support their church’s operations and projects. Unlike other Trappist breweries like Chimay or Orval, Westvleteren does not export its beer. In fact, the only place where you can buy the beer is at the brewery or the restaurant onsite.
They are known to crack down on people who sell the beer illegally in stores or online, where it sells for much more. Westvleteren makes 3 beers: the 6 (a blond), the 8 (a dubbel) and the 12 (a quad). Westvleteren 12 is regarded as “the best beer in the world.” We were lucky this day: the restaurant was selling 6 packs of beer, and I was able to get one. A coveted, and rare treat! The quad is 10.2% ABV, but is a dangerously easy beer to drink. Almost “heavenly”, you might say!
We celebrated a great 6 day tour with an ice cream Sundae which uses the Westvleteren “8” as an ingredient! It was absolute bliss, and I almost ordered a second.
From there, it was a short ride to the nearby train station in Poperinge, where we boarded the train to our other destinations, but not before enjoying a bottle share on board as we said our goodbyes. (You can drink beer on the train in Belgium!)
Beercycling is currently booking tours for 2020 you can find out more at Beercycling.com
Girls Pint Out will be planning an exclusive private tour for members only that will include some amazing tours and meet and greets. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!
Author : Nikki Kummer
National Advisory Board – Sponsorships, Multi-Chapter Meetups & Programming
