Tour 61 | Abbey Beer Pilgrimage 2012

Thursday 20th September - Monday 24th September 2012

5 Day Tour

We are pleased to announce a new themed Tour which explores the authentic Abbey beers of Belgium. In 1999 a Certified Belgian Abbey Beer (Erkend Belgisch Abdijbier) logo was introduced by the Union of Belgian Brewers. This is awarded and can be used on the labels of beers which comply with certain conditions including links with an existing or former abbey and payment of royalties for charitable purposes to the abbey.

We will aim to visit various locations associated with these beers to give Travellers a unique opportunity to attempt to try most or all of the "Erkend" Abbey beers of Belgium. We will be visiting some of the Breweries where they are brewed, some of the associated Abbeys and some other historic settings linked to the beer. Siobhan McGinn will be our guide to the historical and cultural elements of this Tour including sorting your Cistercians from your Benedictines, whilst on the beer front Podge will sort out your Dubbels from your Tripels. The first two nights Hotel accommodation will be in Wallonia at the centrally located Ibis Namur Centre Hotel followed by two nights in Flanders at Novotel Mechelen Centrum Hotel. Details of this Tour are still being worked on, but the following visits have been organised:

•  A meal and a beer at Gasterie Ten Duinen, the estaminet associated with the Ten Duinen Abbey in Koksijde.
• A tour and tasting at Brasserie de Brunehaut, brewers of the Saint Martin range of beers and maybe a taste of their new Abbaye de Saint-Martin Quadrupel beer if it's ready.
• A visit, tasting and meal at Val de Sambre  brewery which nestles in the heart of the Aulne Abbey.
• A visit to Abbaye Maredsous for a taste of the Maredsous beer range. 
• A snack and some beers at the Tournebride Taverne in the grounds of the Abbaye de Bon-Esperance.
• A brewery tour and beer tasting at St Feuillien in Le Roeulx which is currently in the process of having a new brewery built on their existing site.
• A meal and beer at Floreffe Abbey.
• A tasting of Ename beers at Oude Abdij café in Ename.

We should soon be posting news here of Bornem, Val Dieu, Herkenrode, Ter Dolen, Keizerberg, Grimbergen and Ramee.  

Included in the cost of this Tour are:  

• Hotel accommodation and breakfasts.
• Luxury coach travel on a 49 seater coach with toilet.
• Pick up from Ipswich (Crown Street Layby), Colchester (Southway Chapel St South Layby) or Chelmsford (The Woolpack, Mildmay Road). Arrangements can be made for different joining points on the way to Folkestone or even on the other side of the channel.  
• All Brewery visits, tours and brewery beer tastings.
• Entrance fees to attractions, museums and historical sites.
• All other items marked with an asterisk on the individual detailed tour itinerary.
• Copies of Podge’s City Bar guide and Map for the town or city where we stay or spend some time on Tour.
• Free still and sparkling water on the coach. 

Tour Price:   The price of this five-day tour is £445 per person based on sharing a twin or double room.

Single Supplement: £128 if you want a room of your own. If you are travelling alone and want to share a room with another traveller please contact Podge as we are regularly able to pair up travellers in twin rooms to avoid the need for payment of a single supplement. 

All detailed itinerary times are local and approximate. All food and drink (apart from those marked with an asterisk on the detailed itinerary) and all passport and insurance costs are each traveller's responsibility. Personal insurance is not included in the Tour price, but is strongly advised, as is carrying the European Health Insurance Card available online, by phone or via the Post Office.  If you would like to join us or have any questions please call Podge on 01245 354677 or send Podge an email. Please also contact Podge to get details of how to send a deposit of £100 per person for this Tour. Full balance payable 5 weeks before departure.