Last Belgium post - geeky Inclined Plane and beer!

Tom and Shirley decided to go with me to Brussels instead of just dropping me at a train station. The weather looked good again; the storm has passed through. We wanted to see the Inclined Plane, in Ronquieres, which is like a lock for boats, but it is over a longer horizontal distance. At the top level, a boat enters a bathtub (my name for it). The bathtub is sealed off and then sent down a funicular track to the lower part of the canal. It is so emblematic of a great iron age invention when people seemed to be so creative. But surprisingly, Wikipedia says it is from 1968! I took a long video, and even though my battery indicator was blinking red the whole 11 minutes, it came out wonderfully!

We had lunch at a café near the Inclined Plane, and we each got a traditional Belgian plate. I got mussels cooked in white wine, with frites on the side, Shirley got sausage and sauerkraut (not as sour as German kraut), and Tom did the adventure route and got some chops from the wild boar section of the menu.

I have to add a picture of that cheese and pickle dish I mentioned called Raclette:

What looks like bread crust is really the shell of the cheese

We had a stroll around Brussels and a couple of Belgian waffles. Actually, there are different sorts. I had the rectangular kind, while Tom and Shirley had the round kind. Tom says that the round kind are made from dough while the rectangular kind are made from more liquid batter. Interesting. We said goodbye on the track of the Central Station. Sniff!

Now, let’s review. What kinds of beers did we try? We opened one bottle for all three of us and shared it. I took pictures of the bottle with one portion of beer so you can see the color. Notice our super-cool beer glasses!

Delirium Christmas – no picture, but it has pink elephants in Santa hats guiding Santa’s sleigh. It was a Triple, and served cold. It came in a huge bottle. We liked it a lot. Triple fermented, 10% alc. refrigerated.

Chimay Triple, 8% alc, 6-8 C, Don’t serve in a skinny glass (!)

Chiimay 2013, 9% alc, 10-12 C

Chimay Brun, , 7% alc, 10-12 C (Brown beers are my favorite type)

Super des Fagnes Blonde, 7.5% alc, 6-10 C (after a while, I forgot to take a picture before emptying the glass!)

Super des Fagnes Griottes. Cherry beer (Kriek), 4.8% alc, 4-8 C (Kriek is Shirley’s favorite type of beer)

Durboyse Brune, 6% alc, (floor by the patio door temperature)

Durboyse Triple, 8% alc., (refrigerated) We liked all these beers from Durbuy.

Durboyse Blonde, 6.5% alc, (refrig.) (also delicious)

Super des Fagnes Scotch, 7.5% alc, 8-14 C (roasted malt – delicious !)

Super des Fagnes Brune, 7.5% alc,6-10 C

McChouffe Brun with a Scots elf on the label?

Our conclusions from tasting these 11 types of beer? None of them were bad. We like different sorts – I’m sticking with browns and Shirley’s sticking with cherry – but we liked all of them. I found the Durboyses to be surprisingly good, but Chimay, which I can easily buy in Norway, will continue to grace my refrigerator. It was a fun activity for Christmas in Belgium.