Object #37 - Around Brussels in 80 Beers

21st century

Bar Life

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In 2009 “Around Brussels in 80 Beers” was published by an old Belgian beer hand. Written by Joe Stange, a young(ish) American reporter, and brewer Yvan De Baets, the concept was simple: 80 good bars matched with 80 good beers. A Brussels beer guide was nothing new; local politician Sven Gatz had published his own guide to 101 bars in 2002. But, arriving in the wake of Moeder Lambic’s revival and ahead of Brasserie de la Senne’s return to Brussels, “Around…” added to a feeling that the decades-long decline of Brussels’ beer was over.

Joe explains, briefly, how the book came to be.

An idea

“A freelance gig had ended, and my attempts at writing fiction were hilariously bad. So I started writing what I hoped would be a proper guidebook to finding great beer in Brussels. Obviously, going to a bunch of beer cafés sounded like an ideal way to pass the time. And it was.”

Inspiration

“My starting point was Tim [Webb]’s Good Beer Guide (GBG) Belgium. I held it and Tim’s work in very high regard. When somebody told me - it might have been Tim himself - he was planning a Brussels guide, my first thought was, “Well fuck it, I can’t compete with that.” So I nearly quit… Instead, I rang Tim up on February 3, 2008. I told him I’d been working on something similar, strongly implying he should probably just let me write his book.” 

The pitch

“The next day, I followed up by email with…this:

‘Your [GBG] chapter on Brussels is the best thing available at the moment, but clearly there's room for something more devoted to the city and its unique culture. So many pubs here have interesting stories that connect in some way with the city's history. Meanwhile, with so many bars in the city—good and bad—there's a real chance to steer people toward interesting beers, instead of more of the same. I know a lot of expats…and we host plenty of tourists. Nearly all are asking for at least two things: great beer and guidance.’

A co-author

“I learned from Tim he’d already been talking to Yvan about writing the book. There was obvious appeal in combining Yvan’s deep local expertise (and great taste) with an English-speaking writer/editor. As a bonus, I had no day job…and loads of time to wander around…getting lost down rabbit holes of Brussels history and beery esoterica. [Yvan] had plenty of suggestions to help fill out and improve our list of 80 cafés, and plenty of the kinds of strong opinions that can give a guidebook the edge it ought to have.”

Launching at Brasserie Cantillon 

“I don’t remember much. Mainly, I was really proud to be standing there with Tim and Yvan. And, I didn’t feel as young as I looked. Then [it] was incredibly successful and we all got rich. The end.”

Postscript - Tim Webb: “Definitely try that fiction writing thing. I especially liked the ending, ‘We all got incredibly rich.’”