What an experience! Nicely restored old lambic pub, great selection of well-kept and expertly-served lambics and guezes. Very friendly proprietor, staff and locals. One of the best such experiences in Belgium, IMHO.

The legendary insurance against great thirst has more than a cool name to go along with its fame. Contributing to the myth are the exceptionally restrained opening hours around midday on Sundays only. Set in a bucolic Payottenland small town with brick pathways, it seems to be a mandatory pit stop for locals, cyclists and the occasional family. The setup between the Church is certainly no coincidence, the care for lambics being almost religious in here. Being here is definitely akin to stepping back in time and that adds tremendously to the global experience. For the context, I’d definitely put Grote Dorst on the must-do list of anyone visiting Brussels and that can fit it in the Sunday schedule. Public Transportation does not seem to be too ridiculous a hassle and having your name in the guest book should be seen as a life-time achievement. In terms of pure beer bar criteria, the lambic selection is great, but not quite exhaustive as I’d heard it was. No extinct breweries, but still a fair amount of rarities including their own blends, very rare stuff indeed, but sold at very expensive prices indeed. Some of the rarer lambics were more expensive here than anywhere else we’ve seen them, including Moeder St-Gilles in Brussels. I guess they just want to keep them in supply. The staff was very friendly though, welcoming us with opened hands and making us feel at home, after they made sure we’d signed the guest book. Come once for the experience, but if you can’t, mark it down for the next time and don’t overly regret it.

One of my top-4 pub-crawler experience in my life. Up there with being alone with only cats at Kulminator (many years ago when they had all kinds of crazy beers), the Velichov brewpub in the middle of nowhere in Czech Republic and that famous Saturday night at Wenlock Arms in London. A visit at In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst is simply surreal. Only opened for a few hours every week on the Sunday mornings for the mass at the church just in front of the pub. That’s pretty weird to start with. Opens occasionally for funerals and such. What the???. Very few people inside the pub are below 60. Very few tourists. Beer list is mainly lambic stuff. Summer 2010 they had stuff like Selection Lambic at 62 Euros, 3F Millenium at 75 Euros, 3F Hommage at only 20 Euros, De Cam at 3.75Euro. More unusual lambics like Moriau as well as their own exclusive lambic blend that cannot be rated on ratebeer. But the main attraction was the 1984 Eylenbosch Gueze. Holy crap this was good!!! When you order the vintage bottle the waiter leaves the bar, goes to the second cellar and comes back minutes later with a bottle full or dirt and the label eaten by moisture. No music, no nothing. They probably haven’t changed a chair or a table for 50 years. Passionate service. We biked there from Brussels and then stopped at Den Haas followed by De Cam Café. A beer day I will never forget.

WAAAUUWW. Insane bottle list. All the classics in various vintages at reasonable prices. BUT what maked my day was the atmosphere. Friendly hosts and locals. A great experience.

Way outside of Brussels with super limited hours, but its worth figuring it all out. A true local spot, we were the only non locals there. Unreal selection of lambics, top 5 in the world by far. This is more of stop than De Heeren to me.

I finally got around to visiting this lambic mecca. The best thing to do is to get the bus their and back, which is good value and fairly quick. The place is rather small and has a traditional feel to it with plenty of brewery/lambic paraphernalia kicking about. The beer selection is rather special with plenty of old lambic at rather reasonable prices. Yes it’s true that I’d tried a lot of it before, but having it all in one place at this price is great. Even though the place was very busy the service was still very good. I urge any lambic-lover to make the journey.

The Insurance Against Great Thirst demands some planning ahead, because of those limited hours. It’s especially nice for sharing a Sunday lambic before heading off elsewhere for lunch, like the Rare Vos in nearby Schepdaal. The attraction here is the selection of bottled gueuze and other lambics, stored and served perfectly. All the serious ones are here: Boon, Cantillon, De Cam, Drie Fonteinen, Girardin, Hanssens, Lindemans (Cuvee Rene only!), Mort Subite, Oud Beersel, plus the occasional surprise. This is also where you might find one of those elusive lambic-serving baskets for sale. For any lambic-lover touring Pajottenland, here is your pilgrimage.

Very authentic lambic café filled with locals having a lambic or a kriek after the mass. Great beer list at affordable prices. More to come, promised the landlady. Worth a detour on a sunday morning.

Pretty awesome experience to cram in with all the local over 60s in their Sunday best for a gueuze or two. Girardin lambik and kriekenlambiek plus every good gueuze and kriek in current production and a couple that aren’t. The bus trip from Brussels goes past both Belle Vue and Eylenbosch. On one hand it’s a shame it doesn’t open more frequently, but it does guarantee a good crowd. Do it.

The promised land for any fan of gueuze. Located not too far from Brussels, but in a bucolic location that feels as if it’s of a past time. The bar’s pretty small. Simple wooden tables and a spartan long bar. The walls are decorated with vintage lambic posters. The bottle selection is unreal. A fan of sour beers will have trouble choosing what to order. Multiple taps of unblended lambic are available too. The service is quite good for Belgium, actually friendly. The prices are very fair. More reasonable than the like of DHVL or Moeder Lambic. Overall, this was a brilliant experience. I can’t wait to return.