So I originally didn’t plan to post something about this day trip to a beer festival. However, this festival—HOPZ!—turned out to be quite different from many others…
For starters, it was a bit further away—all the way in Hamont, the very end of a train line—necessitating a train change, which can be quite risky… (I might post about my Van Moll Fest adventure after all, to illustrate this point)
But secondly, it wasn’t the kind of beer festival where you meet the same persons you meet at every beer festival. I actually didn’t see a single familiar face! Some of the attending breweries were familiar though, but from at least half of the breweries present, I hadn’t tried a single beer yet.
Most of the breweries present were Belgian, although there were some Dutch breweries and one German brewery as well.
Quite a pleasant surprise was their glass cleaning policy: just go back to the bar where you received your glass initially, and you’ll get a freshly cleaned and rinsed glass each time you hand in your dirty glass!
They published their beer list well in advance, so I knew there would be plenty of new beers to try. Most of the beers on my list were above 7% ABV though, so it was quite a challenging list to get through…
With the help of some snacks, I did survive it though, and eventually successfully got on the train I intended to take. I even managed to not miss the train change in Antwerp Berchem! Having a peanut sauce soaked dinner probably helped…
My next day trip: Bruges!
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