Ostende/De Bistronoom article in Celebrator Beer News

Photo, above: Stefanie De Vos and Christophe Pelfrène
outside De Bistronoom.

I'm happy to say that I have a 750 word article on the beery delights
of Belgium's port city, Ostende, in the October issue of Celebrator Beer News.
I cover Hotel Marion and 't Bottelje, which are connected to each
other and under the same ownership. "The Little Bottle" stocks 300
beers and has good food.


Photo, above: this excellent selection of 75 cl beers 

features front and center at De Bistronoom.

Ostend's new beer star is De Bistronoom, a beer cuisine 

restaurant with over 250 beers on offer, including the largest 

selection of 75 cl bottles on the Belgian coast.


Photo, above: Christophe Pelfrène with a bottle of 

De Bistronoom, the house beer of the restaurant. It 

is brewed at Brouwerij den Tseut, and has 10% abv.

This brew has a whole hop flower added to it at bottling,

adding to the hop aroma and bitterness of the beer.

Stefanie de Vos and her partner, Christophe Pelfrène, 

craft superb multi-course meals and pair them with Belgium's 

excellent beers.
De Bistronoom offers meals cooked in beer as well. On my visit 

May 31, my group enjoyed a fine lunch, with seafood being heavily 

featured. The tuna steak was delectible, as was the dessert course, 

custard paired withOak-Age Alvinne Melchior. Oysters, another 

fish plate and veggies also impressed.


Photo, above: Oysters at De Bistronoom. 

My recommendation: get to this world-class "cuisine a la biere" 

restaurant if you go to Belgium! It's a mere three minute walk from 

Ostende's train station, so there's no excuse for not doing so.

Photo, above: Christophe Pelfrène, with a great array 

of Belgian brews.

Photo, above: a dessert course of rich custard, paired 

with Picobrouwerij Alvinne's fine Oak-Aged Melchior. 

Photo, above: Ive Mostrey of 't Koelschip

Also covered: Ostende's excellent new beer shop, 't Koelschip. 

The shop carries over 500 different beers already, and plans are 

to get that number to 1,000 over time. "The Coolship" is owned 

by Ive Mostrey, a friendly, dedicated beer  lover. Ive can offer 

tutored tastings for groups. See http://www.koelschip.be/.

Photo, above: a shelf full of Belgian brews at 't Koelschip.