De Gans

Rick and I had another interesting beer experience at this beer cafe in East Flanders.  It's called "De Gans", which means "The Goose" in Flemish.  As you can see by the decor, the place stays true to its name.  De Gans is famous for a unique method of serving beer.  They stick some pokers in the fire until they are good and hot and then use the pokers to rapidly stir glasses of Chimay Rouge until they are nice and frothy.  This process carmelizes the beer and results in a sweet flavor that tastes like marshmallows.  This tradition is what piqued our interest in De Gans.

The Chimay Rouge was very good and we enjoyed watching the owner of the bar work with the hot pokers, but it was not the highlight of our visit.  The best part of the day was getting to chat with the her  (she and her husband have owned this bar for almost 30 years) and to try some aged beers that she recommended.  We were the only customers in the bar so we had her full attention.  Once she realized how passionate and knowledgeable Rick was about Belgian beer, she started pulling out "the good stuff".  We opened a few bottles of aged beer and she told us that we didn't have to pay for them if they were not good.   One of the beers we had was a Christmas beer from 1986....it was awesome!

In addition to the great beer, we also had a nice meal, followed by dessert pancakes, the bars other specialty.  This was an ideal place to wallow away a few hours on a cold, winter day.  Both the hospitality and the environment were warm and cozy.