The Heart of Brussels
If you read guidebook descriptions of
Brussels, you'd swear its name was a synonym for
"boring." But if you're a fan of good beer, and you're
not afraid of trying something different, Belgium's
capital is anything but dull. An amazing variety of
beers--more than 400 in all--awaits you. And you can
enjoy them all at famous venues in the very heart of the
city.
The town square, called the Grand'Place, is the center of Brussels. It's paved with cobblestones, filled with tourists and flower sellers, and surrounded by Gothic-style buildings adorned with gold leaf and ornate sculpture. Most were built by craftsmens' and traders' guilds that once wielded enormous power.
Most of the guilds have long since left their quarters in the Grand'Place, and many buildings have been turned into cafes. The most famous is Le Roy d'Espagne (1 Grand'Place; 32.[0]2.513.08.07), which was once the headquarters of the bakers' guild (a statue of Saint Arburtus, the patron of bakers, stands guard above the entrance). The decor includes a huge stuffed horse, and wooden sculptures depicting the theme of "the encounter." If you can find a table upstairs, you'll be rewarded with a view of the bustle below. Fair warning, though: some café owners think you're as wealthy as the medieval guildsmen.
The Brewers' House (10, Grand'Place;
32.[0]2.511.49.87) is still the home of the
Confederation of Belgian Brewers, the world's oldest
professional organization. The building, one of the
first erected on the Grand'Place, houses a museum of
brewing history with everything from 18th-century
equipment to an exhibit of modern beer-making
technology. 
Admission to the museum (€3) includes a
beer sample.
If you have extra time on your hands, and if you're interested in artisanal brewing, you owe it to yourself to visit the Cantillon Brewery and Brussels Gueuze Museum (56, rue Gueude; 32.[0]2.521.49.28). There, Jean Van Roy and his family preserve a brewing technique which dates back to the age of Rubens: relying on wild yeasts in the air to ferment the beer. The €3 price of admission includes a self-guided tour of the brewing equipment, and, once you've finished, samples of the house beer.
The product of Cantillon's spontaneous-fermentation process is lambic, a beer that starts out intensely sour but grows mellow with age. Draft lambic is rarely found these days; most of it is blended and poured into bottles, where a secondary fermentation converts the beverage into gueuze--a dry, sparkling beer with a light color and a sour, slightly fruity taste. Summertime variations on lambic include kriek, in which cherries are added, and framboise, which is brewed using raspberries.
A couple blocks from the Grand'Place is
a la Mort Subite (7, rue Montagne-aux-Herbes
Potageres; 32.[0]2.513.13.18), where locals still gather
to drink gueuze and other traditional beer styles. Its
name means "sudden death," a dice game that was popular
when this venerable café opened in 1910. A la Mort
Subite's decor has been described as "rococo boudoir,"
heavy on mirrors (with beer menus posted on them) and
faded old photographs. Though I'd been warned about
grumpy waiters and chain smokers, neither were in
evidence the day I visited; what I found instead were a
few solitary drinkers and families with well-behaved
children.
Another place to enjoy gueuze is a la Bécasse (11, rue Tabora; 32 [0]2.511.01.06). It isn't easy to find, as it's tucked away in a narrow alley off the Grand'Place. Look for a sign with the picture of a woodcock, the bird for which it's named. Dating back to 1793, a la Becasse is a cozy place, where customers share long wooden tables and enjoy beer, snacks, and sometimes a little song. The beer (kriek as well as a gueuze) comes from a tiny brewery west of town, and it's still decanted in traditional stoneware pitchers. One word of caution: don't order a grande unless you have a cast-iron liver and a fat wallet. It's a half-liter stein.
Another celebrated establishment near the Grand' Place is Le Falstaff (19-25, rue Henri Maus, just south of the old stock exchange; 32.[0]2.511.87.89). This busy, Art Noveau café has an huge heated outdoor terrace, and plenty of seating in the mirror-filled rooms inside. Le Falstaff offers a good selection of draft beers, along with cuisine à la biere, or Belgian-style pub grub. But its main attraction is a pages-long menu of bottled beers covering every style imaginable. Part of the fun of Belgian beer is whimsical brand names, many with religious derivations, like Forbidden Fruit, The Last Judgment, and The Eleventh Commandment.
On the north side of the old stock exchange is another classic café, Le Cirio (18-20, rue de la Bourse; 32.[0]2.512.13.95). Like Le Falstaff, it offers a wide beer selection and turn-of-the century ambience--aproned waiters, embossed wallpaper, and the original lighting fixtures. Its atmosphere is on the sedate side, which pleases the upper-middle-class townspeople who come here. Le Cirio, it is said, is one of the best places to observe that stereotypical Brussels habitué: a woman of a certain age carrying her attentive, freshly-coiffed little poodle.