Friday 3 October 2008

World’s Greatest Pub – Delirium Café in Brussels, Belgium

To the beer drinker, Delirium Café in Brussels is as close an approximation to paradise as they will ever find.
The reason for this can be found in the large catalogue, weighing the wooden panelling of the table down like it’s a housebrick, or more promptly, by looking at the certificate behind the unhurried barmaid.
It’s from Guinness World Records, and it proudly proclaims that the Delirium has more beers available than any other establishment in the whole world. And that would be a gigantic 2,004 beers at any time. In other words, it’s the world’s greatest pub.
As the English chap plonked on the barside stool is keen to point out, this is a minimum of 2,004. On the list there are another 500, some of which may be out of stock at times due to transport hiccups in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the likes.
A flick through the catalogue is all it takes to realise that this is not your standard Belgian Beer Café. Whilst Belgium is represented in fine style, with every strength, brewing technique and fruit flavouring imaginable, the round-the-world trip is astonishing. Benin, Armenia, Bolivia, Guadaloupe, The Faroe Islands, Namibia, Mongolia, Tahiti… Every corner of the globe is covered, and the temptation to drink your way round it is only dulled by the prices of those obscure brews from Nepal.

Getting to the Delirium Café in Brussels, Belgium

Nearest International Airport: Brussels

Walking: The Delirium is the sort of place you’ll only find if you’re specifically looking for it, or are completely and utterly lost. It’s tucked away on a little cul-de-sac alley (Impasse de la Fidélité) near Grand Place, almost imperceptible as you walk past, off a maze of narrow, restaurant-lined streets, where there is barely room for people to walk two abreast (Rue de Bouchers).

More information: Delirium Café

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