If Belgium reminds you of beer before you think of chocolate, you’d better write a reminder in your calendar for May 13-15, when the 7th Belgian Beer Festival will offer 205 kinds of beers from 43 Belgian breweries, including 61 on tap. With so many options to choose from, even the most knowledgable aficionados can become confused – thankfully, this year’s color-coded system is intended to help avoid such disorientation, with 11 colors marking 11 dominating flavors (in Hungarian), so we only have to decide whether we’re thirsty for something sour, sweet, or bitter. The event’s online beer guide (in Hungarian) can also be of help.
For all this we have to go to Bálna Budapest on the Pest riverfront near the Great Market Hall, which is easily accessible by free rides aboard the sightseeing bus Hop On Hop Off from Városház Square (by Deák Square). At the entrance, we can decide whether we’d like to be “beer lovers”, “beer fanatics”, or simply escorts. Depending on our choice, the prices of the tickets are 2,800 forints or 4,000 forints; the former includes the tasting of three beers, while the latter bumps the number up to five. Any additional beers (2 deciliters apiece) cost 600 forints. This year, the two main types of beer at the festival will be the trendy sour ale and the fresh saison. The event will also welcome three new breweries in its ranks: St-Feuillien, presenting the results of American-Belgian Préaris, some small-scale brewers sometimes making beer with coffee, and De Halve Maan, which also uses semi-wild yeast cultivation.
For those who can’t conclude much from the above description, we recommend some specialties to try. Floris products are a must-try, and their cherry- or banana-flavored beers are always a good choice. But if you must taste cherry, try the versions of Kasteel Rouge or Liefmans, as well. The latter is said to be the best cherry beer of Belgium, with every batch brewed for two years. It’s also worth tasting the strongest Belgian beer, Bush (12%), as well, although gourmets might prefer the reddish and rather sour Grand Cru Rodenbach. Naturally, beer tasting requires appropriate snacks: here, we can munch on hamburgers and Belgian fries.
Fortunately, most of these beers will be available for purchase even after the festival, as Belga Sörök Háza (“House of Belgian Beers”) recently re-opened at Bem Quay. The shop offers plenty of specialties that aren’t available anywhere else in Hungary, but we can still find more common brands like Floris and Delirium on the shelves. The most exclusive items have their own separate wall section, including the whiskey-barrel-aged specialty of Gulden Draak, Bush Préstige, and other premium category products. Interestingly, the shop has its own bottler, so we can draft beer into a buckled bottle ourselves. Their website (in Hungarian) is also worth checking out – with recipes and a Belgian beer map for Budapest.
