A wonderful Brussels beer and chocolate tour that you need to do
What do you do in a city full of history and packed with things to do and you only have 24 hours and it is pouring rain? This was us during our visit to Brussels. Since I wanted to eat every single chocolate, waffle, fries and beer available, we decided that doing a chocolate & beer tour would be our best option to taste what this great city has to offer. We booked a tour with Hungry Mary - one of the best rated tours (5 starts for over a thousand reviews) in the city - besides helping you gain some weight, the walking tour gives you fantastic sightseeing stops of Brussels' city center.
The tour overview
The meeting point was at Chocopolis, very close to the Grand Place. While we were waiting outside for a few minutes, Daniel, our tour guide for the day, arrived. He was a fun and charismatic Spaniard who lived in Brussels. The tour would not have been as much fun if he would not have been our guide. It looks like he really loves his job, and to be honest, who can blame him? After the 15 persons attending the tour arrived, Daniel gave us a brief explanation of what to expect. The tour is divided into two parts: we start by touring chocolatiers and chocolate artisans and then we go bar hopping to taste the different Belgian beers, all of this while stopping at important historical landmarks of the city.
This is a walking tour so wear comfortable walking shoes. Don’t worry, you won’t be doing a lot of km and you won’t feel like you are walking a lot since there are numerous stops. You should also dress according to the seasons. The city has very unpredictable weather so also consider this so you can have the best time possible.
The visit lasts between 4 and 5 hours and time goes by super-fast! The tour takes you through an ascending journey of flavours and different styles of craft making until you arrive at the finest beers and chocolate the Capital of Europe has to offer.
The chocolate part
Once inside Chocopolis, we learnt why Belgium is famously known for chocolates even though they do not grow any cacao trees. As you might know, chocolate comes from the Americas, history points to the Mayans as the first to try this treasure. So how did Belgium come to be a chocolate hot stop? It turns out that a pharmacist named Neuhaus was trying to find a way to make pills tastier, apparently, at the time, they had a horrific taste. By making his pills more appealing, he was hoping he could increase his sales. The recipe he developed gave birth to what became the delicious Belgian Praline. This was in 1912. Neuhaus chocolate store is still running and is one of the most popular brands in the city.
What is special about Chocopolis? Our first stop is that they make the chocolates in their workshop, located inside their store. They believe that chocolate should be eaten fresh, and should not be stored for months or years. If you are lactose intolerant, like myself, or vegan, then this will be THE shop for you as they only use coconut milk when making their products. My favourite praline was dark chocolate with mango and passion fruit. The fruit flavours were harmoniously blended with the bitterness of the chocolate. The store has impressive chocolate models of the different landmarks of the city.
Our second stop of this chocolate tasting tour was Frederic Blondeel, a chocolatier specializing in flavoury infusions. These were delicious; it was the stop that I liked the most. The infusions are not your typical flavours as they offer pesto, bay leaves, and rose water, among others. I was feeling adventurous and took the bay leaf. At first, I thought that the flavour of the leaf would remind me of cooking salty plates but it graciously gave hints similar to cinnamon that paired perfectly with the bitterness of cacao and the sweetness of sugar.
The next stop was Pierre Marcolini, a “Haute chocolaterie” as they market themselves, making illusions to the Haute couture fashion. To ensure the quality of his beans, Marcolini purchases lots in cacao nations and runs them himself- this is how serious this guy is about chocolate. Here, we tasted an Earl Grey praline, which was my favourite in this store. The different floral hints of the tea were like musical notes in the mouth. I’ve since been to Brussels several times (my best friend now lives there) and Pierre Marcolini is a store that I love to visit and buy chocolates to bring home. Just like Haute couture, he releases new chocolates according to the seasons.
The last stop of the Belgian chocolates tasting was Meert, although it is a French chocolatier, it was on the tour because it is one of the best. Here, I indulged in a dark Venezuelan single-origin praline. I chose it not only because I’m from Venezuela but because Venezuelan cacao is classified as one of the best in the world! Meert is also known for its thin waffles, I highly recommend trying them!
PSSST: If you are 2, you get to taste the other chocolates of the other person chosen so more chocolate variety for you!
The beer tour
After all this chocolate, we headed to the beer part of the tour. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of beer tastings that they gave us, when the tour finishes you will be a little tipsy (and we consider ourselves good drinkers).
This next section almost counts as an introductory guide to Belgian beers. While a small country, the beer culture in Belgium is very rich and full of history. The majority of the Belgians know their beers very well and even know how much glass to use depending on what you are drinking, just like wine. Did you know that the small country has 3000 kinds of Belgian beers, spread out over 200 breweries? Don’t worry you don’t get to taste them all in the tour! They will walk you through these different types of beers: Abbey beers, Trappists, Lambics, Belgian IPAs, Triple Blonds, Double Browns.
To get to the first stop, the tour takes you through small alleys near the city walls. After this small labyrinth, we get to Au Bon Vieux Temps, The oldest bar in Brussels. Here, as he did on the first stop for chocolate, Daniel explained Belgium beer. The foundation of Belgian beer is the Trappist, a beer made by monks in their monasteries. Not to be confused with abbey beers, these were originally made by monks but their recipes were sold to big brewers. In the world, there are only 11 Trappist breweries in operation and Belgium has six of them. History says that for the monks to be able to drink beer and to carry out their other duties, they developed a “weak beer”, around 3-4% ABV. When you see Dubbel, Tripel or Quadrupel, it means that the percentage of alcohol was doubled, tripled or quadrupled compared to the original 3% ABV beer. This first bar stop was an old-timey in Brussels; the owner was an antique collector so you will see random objects harmoniously put together making it unique. A clear characteristic of this bar is the yellow walls; I will let you go on the tour to learn why these are yellow.
Our next stop of the beer tasting portion was Toone Royal Theatre, it has been in the same family for generations and is known for its puppet shows. Inside the bar, you can see the stage and some puppets hanging around. You can come for a show and stay for the beers. Here, to ease out all the alcohol, the tour gave us local charcuterie and cheeses.
In this theatre, we sampled Lambic beers. Sour beers are the new IPA in the world of beer, and these fall into this category. However, Lambic by definition has to come from Belgium. These sour beers use spontaneous fermentation, meaning that they’re fermented in open-air vats by the bacteria in the air. The result of this unusual fermentation is a sour and earthy beer with complex notes. The most famous Lambic are with Kriek or raspberries, the fruit will give the pink/violet colour and acidity and sweetness to the beer.
The last stop was at Benelux, a modern bar with laid-back vibes and with weird bathrooms (as a lady, while washing your hands you can see the faces of the guys peeing on the other side of the wall). Here, we diverged from the traditional beers and went to the new beer wave, microbreweries and craft beer. A new wave more in line with the boom of beers in the U.S. These, I have to say, were my favourites, especially the dark IPA, the Dark Sister from The Brussels Project Brewery. As a final tasting, they mix chocoholate a beer usually a caramel chocolate with a stout, simply delicous.
PSST: If you don't like beer as much, the tour will exchange your beer for another drink, alcoholic or not.
The Brussels tour
There are a lot of stories and legends surrounding the different symbols of the city and the tour takes you through some of them. Not only do you get to taste delicious chocolate and beers, but the tour is super informative about history and culture. You will stop by main landmarks but also some off-the-beaten path.
La Grand-Place also called Grote Markt is the main square of the city, you cannot visit Brussels without visiting it. The square was constructed in the 12th century but the beautiful Gothic town hall was built in the 15th century and since 1998 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage site. It hosts many events throughout the year like concerts, fairs, folklore events, the Christmas tree, sound and light shows, and the flower carpet in the summer. When we passed by the Grand-Place, Daniel explained to us that the city hall building is full of mistakes, and nobody knows exactly why. The story says that when the building was finished, the architect saw the mistakes and committed suicide, sad that his masterpiece was not done correctly.
You will also walk through other architectural marvels like the beautiful Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries and public art.
The Manneken Pis, this odd little statue has a lot of hypotheses as to why it exists and why the toddler is pissing. The mythology says that there was a big fire threatening to devastate the city and a toddler came and peed on the fire extinguishing it, saving the city. Another legend says that a toddler peed on the enemy army giving new momentum to the Belgian army. However, all these stories are very weird, why is a toddler on the first lines of a war? How big was this fire that a toddler could put out by peeing on it? All these questions remain unsolved. Daniel explained to us, that this little statue is a good symbol of the city since they do not take themselves too seriously and that they make fun of it, showing the good spirits the Belgian people have. If you want to learn more about the statue that dates back to the mid-15th century and its numerous outfits (he has more than 1000 outfits!), you can visit his wardrobe museum. The museum rotates all the costumes and shows only 150 at a time. Did you know that in the 80’s they also commissioned a Jeanneke Pis. The female version of the statue. And of course, they had to do a dog version, the Het Zinneke sculpture.
During the tour, Daniel points out where to have the best waffles and the best Belgian fries. You will see that the city center smells like fresh waffles & fries, so it will open your appetite! It can be a good idea to stop after the tour to fill your belly.
This food tour is the perfect introduction to Belgium’s capital. Brussell is often overlooked by many and people often do a day trip to the city as part of an itinerary of Belgium or within a broader European one. However, it has more than 100 museums and tons of things to eat as well. If you are looking for more things to do in Brussels, here is a list of the 30 best free things to do in the capital!
Verdict?
If you are in Brussels for a very short time, like we were, doing this tour will be the best option to get to know the city and its delicious treats!
Overall, I found that the tour was extremely well organized, Daniel had an assistant, Jonathan. He stays with you if you decide to buy chocolates to bring back home, so there is no shame in strolling behind while you give all your money away.
They also give you a bottle of water. A plus, that gets you through all your indulgences.
- How to book? Visit Hungry Mary . The tours are every Tuesday to Sunday. There are 2 tours, one that starts at 1pm and another at 3pm.
- Tour Price? €90
- What’s Included? Chocolate around 10 pieces, around 6 glasses of beer. Plus you get 10% off selected chocolate shops. There is also Cheese and cured meats nibbles and of course, Belgian Fries to share. Use the 10% discount to bring chocolate home, you can thank them later!
- How long? 4 to 5 hours
Have comments or questions about the tour of our travel to Brussels? Write me a comment below!
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Disclaimer: We enjoyed the Brussels beer and chocolate tour as guests of Hungry Mary Food Tours. A big thank you! All opinions are my own
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