Josh's Birthday Beer Trip

I have a hard time shopping for my husband. He is actually easy to shop for, so easy it is difficult. He would be happy with anything I got him, regardless of the price or thought which went into the present. The fact he is so easy stresses me out because I want to get him something he will really like or enjoy. And... well. He doesn't need anything... and most of the time if he wants something, he buys it for himself. I also always want to get him special presents and make a big deal out of his birthday, because for his adult life he has been with the military and away from his family or alone for his birthdays. In his own words, his birthday is "just another day." Yes. But, no. I refuse to accept that. My birthday is, in the grand scheme of the world, just another day. But I like to celebrate myself, use that day (or month) as an excuse to treat myself. I think he deserves the same.

 I asked two of his friends for suggestions for birthday or Christmas presents. One friend suggested I get Josh Westvleteren 12 beer. If you have never heard of this beer before, let me explain it to you. This is a Trappist beer, meaning it is brewed by monks in a monastery, and Josh loves Trappist beers. There are many Trappist beers brewed in Belgium, however the Westvleteren 12 is considered to be the ultimate, the best. It is considered by many online beer forums to be the "best beer in the world."  I read online a case of it sold in the US for $800. I think part of it has to do with how difficult it is to get this beer. So. To get this beer - first, you must call to place your order. You must look at the website for the monastery and determine which beer it is you want to order. You can only call to order certain beers on specific days and times. Then, you must call and pray that you get through (as the Monastery only had one land line they use to take orders). If you get through, you can only place your order for a maximum of two cases, and you must give the license plate number of the car you will be driving to pick up the beer. Then, one week later (exactly to the day - so if you order on a Wednesday, you must pick it up the next Wednesday) you can go to pick up the beer in the car you gave the license plate number for. They keep a record to make sure each "person" (or car, I suppose) is only getting their allotted two cases every 60 days. All of that... every 60 days. If we lived in Belgium it may not be a problem. However. From our house to this monastery it is almost a three hour drive. So I would be making a six hour round trip drive to buy Josh a case of beer. Yeah, process that for a moment.          I would do it for him, because I know he would like the beer, and he would appreciate my effort. But. No. I did humor the idea for awhile, but every week when I would check the new schedule, the day to call for the Wesvleteren 12 beer was on a day I was working - so I didn't have the time to spend on the phone trying to call, and I wouldn't be available to go pick it up the next week. But hey, maybe someday I will go buy him some...

But this did get me thinking of trying to find another way for him to enjoy beer on his birthday. Josh loves Belgium, and he loves going to Belgium for beer-related things. After some online searching, I found a brewery tour for one of his favorite beers. Perfect. I decided to round out his birthday weekend by having us return to one of his favorite places in Belgium, Gent. Josh is always talking about Gent and how awesome he thinks it is. We've only been once, and he has a horrible memory, so if he remembers a place and thinks it is great... well, it must really be worth remembering.

We woke up early on Saturday morning and made the drive to brewery. We were a bit early, and it was a quiet morning. I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of the outside.

At the beginning of our tour we waited in the tasting room, which had all of the different beers Duvel brews on tap, as well as many retro advertisements. I really enjoyed all of the old signs.

Our tour first took us to a room where we watch a movie which discussed the creation of Duvel, and the expansion of the brewery as well as the Duvel brand. After this our tour guide took us through the outside of the brewery. What is neat about this tour is there are many areas of the brewery which have large windows, so while you aren't actually inside, you would be able to see the brewery working (we were there on a Saturday, and only the tours/tasting room were open). Next we got to see the bottling plant, which is something we have never been able to see before on other brewery tours. Our tour guide encouraged us to come back at another time to "see it in action" as all the machines were stopped while we were there. I think it would be neat to see it running - I could imagine the noise of all the bottles!

 At the end of our tour we got to have two free beers of our choosing in the tasting room. They gave us some local cheese to snack on with our beers. Nothing better - two of Josh's favorites: beer and cheese.

One thing I did not plan ahead for was after our two free beers neither one of us was 100% to drive. Not that we were drunk, but... it just wasn't a good idea to drive. We killed time talking a walk and finding a grocery store to do some beer shopping. After some sobering up, we went to Gent to find our hotel and get checked in. Then we made our way into the center of Gent.

I instantly remembered why Josh loved this place. It is beautiful. The architecture of the buildings is unique, like nothing I have seen anywhere else before. We didn't have anything in mind for the evening, we were just going to take in our surroundings, find some dinner, enjoy some beer. And we did exactly that.

As it was Josh's birthday weekend, he picked out a place for diner. We sat outside - it was cold, but the outdoor seating area had blankets and warming lanterns standing near us. It was still cold, but we we were facing a busy pedestrian street, which made for some great people watching. After dinner and some beers, we walked around Gent some more. Gent really is magical at night.

We went back to our hotel - which actually more like a B&B than a hotel, and enjoyed a few more Belgian beers in the lobby before heading to bed. While it wasn't Josh's actual birthday, I hope he enjoyed his special beer themed birthday weekend.