Antwerp Craft Beer Week starts on Wednesday: “We want to put Antwerp on the map as a beer city” (Antwerp)

The Antwerp Craft Beer Week starts on Wednesday. The event is part of Billie’s Craft Beer Fest, which returns to the Waagnatie for the sixth time this Friday and Saturday. The aim of the week is to put Antwerp on the map as a beer city. In addition, it offers the many international visitors to the Billie’s Craft Beer Fest the opportunity to become acquainted with the city’s rich beer culture.

“We came up with the concept of the Antwerp Craft Beer Week two years ago,” says Geert De Ben of Billie’s Craft Beer Fest. “Visitors from more than thirty countries come to our festival. They usually link the festival to a city trip in Antwerp or a trip through Belgium. That was a perfect opportunity for us to organize additional activities in the city.

The idea behind the Antwerp Craft Beer Week is clear: to put Antwerp in the spotlight as a beer city. “People often think of Leuven as the beer city of Flanders. But Antwerp also has a rich beer history and a thriving beer scene,” says De Ben.

With that goal in mind, the organizers of Billie Craft Beer Fest entered into discussions with friendly bars and cafés that profile themselves as craft beer bars. “Everyone was immediately enthusiastic to participate,” beams De Ben. “The cafes organize their own events such as bar takeovers, where visitors can taste local beers from breweries that are not available at the festival itself.”

Some participating cafés and bars are: Café Pardaf, Café Ernst Antwerp and Station 1280. “The cafés are within walking distance of each other. This allows beer lovers to have a fun evening in Antwerp or go on a pub crawl, while enjoying delicious local beers,” says De Ben.

The Antwerp Craft Beer Week runs from November 8 to 12. More info can be found here.

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