South of the Grand-Place...

 

Near the "Maison de l'arbre d'or" or "Maison des Brasseurs" (Den Gulden Boom or De Brouwershuis in Dutch), which has been converted into a Brewery Museum (small museum of the 'Belgian Brewers'), you will discover if you push the door of

 

 

LA ROSE BLANCHE

 

 

Grand Place 11, 1000 Bruxelles

Du lundi au dimanche de 11h30 à 23h

Restaurant with mezzanine. Breathtaking view. Famous for its unique architectural ensemble. One of the most beautiful restaurant settings in Brussels.

"romantic"  in winter?

 

 

 

 

3 rooms can be rented for banquets, receptions.

 

 

Menu of mainly Belgian cuisine : waterzooi à la gantoise, moules, chicons au gratin...

 

Recipes of traditional and local dishes. Ingredients from different Belgian regions.

 

Note the menu concocted with beer:

 

 

 

 

Magret de canard à la Kriek, Fricassée de lapin à la Gueuze, moules à la Triple Grimbergen, gaufre de Bruxelles à la Chouffe, boulettes à la Marolienne (also called ballekes à la gueuze)...

 

 

Each dish is cooked and served with the appropriate beer

Menus may vary.

 

 

If you choose a dish with Belgian beer, you should know that :

 

  • LA CHOUFFE  is a Belgian blond beer (high alcohol content), produced in Wallonia by the Brasserie d'Achouffe (a pioneer in the revival of craft beers in Belgium). Guided tour of this brewery and tasting possible.

The name comes from the name of the picturesque village Achouffe where "the village of the artists" takes place every year: painters, watercolorists, illustrators, sculptors, creative craftsmen meet each other.

CHOUFFE beers have received several awards worldwide.

 

The labels of Achouffe's beers are illustrated with elves with white beards and red hats.

 

 

The brewers (two brothers-in-law) did not want any reference to an abbey, a monk or any other religious aspect.

 

The name "Marcel" was given to the elf of Achouffe!

 

Good Marcel. The most daring on his unicycle. He has the urge to move.

 

 

But let's not forget Malcolm (the kilt-wearing Scotsman), Matthew (the hop elf, with his head in the bag to smell the aromas?), and of course Micheline (every year, she takes care of the cherry harvest in order to bring a little life into their lives). What a family!

It is in an old grimoire that the elves of "La Vallée des Fées" discovered the secret of making this golden beer.

The green Belgian Ardennes.

 

These famous elves are the identity of the brand!

 

 

  • LA GUEUZE (also written Gueuse) is a beer from the Senne valley – 

​ Southwest of brussels, and the Pajottenland (country of straw huts, which in the 19th century bore this name because of the straw that covered the roofs of the region, a parcel (nicknamed / baptized "the Tuscany of the North" (located in the west of Flemish Brabant) obtained from the assembly of LAMBIC BEERS.
 

Quite a melting pot.

In the past, the gueuze was called "the little champagne of Brussels".

 

What to think of the physiognomy of its bottle? An eloquent sign?...

 

Don't be afraid to go to Anderlecht at 56 rue Gheude and push the door of the Musée Bruxellois de la Gueuze/ Brasserie Cantillon.

Every year this family brewery welcomes thousands of visitors! A real time machine. You can watch the various stages of the making of gueuze and lambic, visit the different rooms....

 

Guests of the ARBANY HOTELS go there during their stays in Brussels.

 

Where does the name "Gueuze" come from? Different hypotheses exist.

 

From the word "gas" (carbon dioxide) or from "geyser", the water that gushes out and contains gas? Maybe from the German Gose. Or ...

Gueuze is probably the most used beer in cooking. Many chefs have made it a point of honor to mention one or the other on their menus or in their culinary publications.

One of them is Jean-Pierre Bruneau, the former chef of the starred gastronomic restaurant "Maxime Maziers" located in Ganshoren (a township northwest of Brussels), at the foot of the Koekelberg basilica.

Unfortunately, this temple is scheduled to close soon? 
 

Many celebrities liked to go there. What a guestbook!

 

A HALLE of the MARCHE MATINAL DE BRUXELLES has been named after this chef, one of the most starred in Brussels.

Some people add grenadine to their gueuze.

 

 

  • The GRIMBERGEN gets its name from the ABBEY OF GRIMBERGEN (in Dutch Abdij van Grimbergen), founded in 1128 and located in the province of Brabant.

The brand specifically named Grimbergen was launched on the occasion of the World Fair in Brussels in 1958 by the Maes Brewery.

This abbey was destroyed several times by fire.

 

Beer of the phoenix?

It has taken as its logo a coat of arms depicting a stained glass window under a Romanesque round arch, representing a phoenix set on fire from the base.

The abbey has revived a brewing activity on its site after more than 200 years of abstinence. 

Destruction of the site since the French Revolution.

 

New visitor center around its beer!

 

  • THE KRIEK is a Belgian beer flavored with sour cherries produced in the Brussels Region.

Reddish colored beer.

 

Kriek is a Flemish word that means small sour cherries, "Morello cherries". They were originally Schaerbeeck cherries, a variety that has almost disappeared.

 

Every year takes place the "Cherry Festival" organized on the last Sunday of June.

The most used cherries today come from Limburg Hesbaye.

 

Also from Poland and Serbia.

 

 

His return is planned thanks to the Brussels collective "Les Bûûmplanters"? You never know...

 

Since the 1980s, following the success of fruity beers and more generally "sodas", many brewers have launched on the market other varieties of blends: raspberries, bananas, peaches .... As well as a wide range of fruit extracts and juices.

Want to know more about two classics? Check out the pages of the book "Gueuze & Kriek: la magie du lambic" (2011) by Jef Van den Steen (a beer expert who regularly gives lectures on beer).

 

The cherry, key ingredient for the Kriek. To be drunk with moderation .... And sing "le temps des cerises", lyrics written in 1866 by Jean Baptiste Clément (1836-1903), chansonnier, journalist, trade unionist and also French communard) during a trip to Belgium.

Music written by Antoine Renard.

 

This song is strongly associated with the "Paris Commune" of 1871 (revolutionary period in Paris, which, against the government, issued from the National Assembly that has just been elected, establishes a workers' organization as organizer of the city, and proletarian government).

 

Love song turned revolutionary anthem! It will be translated into all languages and spread throughout the world. Many artists interpreted it.

The "Rose blanche" ?  In Deutch : Weiße Rose » .

 

It is also the name of a German resistance group founded in June 1942, during the Second World War, composed of a few students and their relatives: distribution of leaflets attacking the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler (1888-1945).

 

I love a white rose. Its history is matched only by its polar beauty.