This past weekend we have had two excellent events, one which was a Master Class in Haute Horlogerie by Maison De Greef in Brussels, and another which was a lunch with the Independent Watchmaker H-Moser & Cie. While we are still sorting through an impressive amount of pictures and finalizing the photo reports, here’s a read to keep you busy covering an entirely different subject (as we tend to do in the ‘Exploring’ column).
We are back for another Exploring column: This time, we take you with us to Maredsous! Home of the Abbey Beer & Cheese of the same name. Loyal readers will by now know what an abbey beer is, and how it isn’t necessarily a Trappist beer (check here for our visit of the Trappist Brewery Orval).
Quick need to know facts for potential visitors:
- Beer: The Maredsous beer was produced by the monks of Maredsous until 1963. Nowadays, the brewing has been entrusted to the Duvel Moortgat brewery (the brewery of the excellent ‘Duvel’ beer);
- Cheese: The cheese is not necessarily made on site. If you want to be sure that the cheese you buy locally is still made locally, then you’ll need to pick the blocks of 1 Kilogram. Anything else is likely made under license at other locations.
Let’s go
Upon arrival on top of a hill, you know you’re there as you’re greeted by a fantastic looking clock tower:
The Clocktowers (two in total) are part of the Monastery Church. Cool fact, inside one of the towers you’ll find the third largest bell in Belgium.
Side view of the (very big) church:
The site has been very well maintained and also houses an Eton-style school for the few chosen ones able to attend:
A quick watch shot, because why not:
Now, other than visiting the church & abbey. There is a very interesting part on site for visitors. This is indeed where you get to enjoy the different variations of the Maredsous beer (including an exclusive one only available on site) and cheese.
A good idea is to go for the taster menu, providing small taster glasses of each beer & a fair amount of cheese:
Perfect draft:
And not to forget, essential dining here is the ‘Tartine’ or ‘Boterham’ which is a sandwich with smoked ham & local cheese. Yes indeed:
There you go, the Maredsous Abbey! A must stop for anyone passing by, especially on a sunny day.