Latest reviews from Haasdonk

“Not that big shop but they do have a good selection of local beers, Belgian specials (like Struise, De Ranke, Stille Nacht Reserva) and extensive selection of Geuzes, including seasonal Cantillons and specials / one-offs like Villa Servais (Boon), 10 years Parlement Halle, Boon Apogee etc). Very friendly staff. Large parking. Ok prices. Nice shop, worth a detour.“

EvNa 105 days ago

“An old friend of mine, living in Haasdonk, told me about this shop earlier this year and since it’s close to where I live, I decided to pay it a visit today. Your average old-fashioned local Flemish drinks store from the outside, small and a bit littery on the inside, with three narrow rows of shelves packed with beers to the brim, in an apparently not very well organized manner - a kind of charming clutter, so to speak. The beer selection, though, was larger than I’ve seen anywhere in the Waasland region: the Belgian classics of course, but many local ’streekbieren’ too, obviously with a focus on the Waasland region but also including beers from the larger Ghent or Antwerpen regions. I saw less common things like Draeckenier, Veurvechter, Louis XVIII, Vageblond and so on, alongside a relatively extensive selection of lambics (I was quite surprised, for instance, to spot Tilquin’s Oude Mûre, Hanssens’ Experimental Raspberry, 3 Fonteinen’s Intense Red or Oud Beersel’s new Geuze Vandervelden among the more usual suspects). On top of all this, the owner apparently went on the lookout to find a beer brand that matches his surname - and ended up at the completely unrelated Moor Beer Co in England, boasting a completely unexpected selection of their beers, including a beautiful (yet expensive) 2014 vintage old ale I never heard of. And then there was this spice beer from Thiriez - an established French brewery, admittedly, but I don’t remember ever having seen anything from them on a shelf in a local beer shop in Flanders. Left the place with more than a dozen new ’ticks’ - completely contrary to my expectations. The owner and his wife initially were not the most talkative beer people I met but service was absolutely excellent, and both were very friendly and helpful; now that I got to know Carl better, I can only stress that his guy will go out of his way to find your beer if you have any requests, and is well aware of the novelties that the Belgian beer scene is producing. Seems to attract mainly locals who are not that interested in specialty beers - which is a bit sad actually, because this probably means that some of the bottles I bought have spent a considerable amount of time on the shelves already and are probably not in prime condition anymore. Still recommendable as a kind of hidden gem in this particularly ’unbeery’ corner of Flanders - a lovely discovery actually, which deserves some more publicity. Certainly worth a stop if you happen to be in the Sint-Niklaas or Beveren area. Pleasantly surprised, honestly...“

Alengrin 2532 days ago