SAVE up to $300! - GBBT ON SALE Join your friends from QUAFF on the The 2009 Great Belgian Beer Tours The Ultimate British & Belgian Breweries, Castles, Chocolates & Champagne Crawl LONDON, GHENT, PARIS Four Exciting Tour Choices 5 nights Ghent – GBBT 1 March 03 - 09, 2009 From $1449 2 nights London and 5 Nights Ghent GBBT 2A March 01 - 09, 2009 Or 5 Nights Ghent and 2 nights Paris – GBBT 2B March 03 - 11, 2009 From $1849 The 2009 GBBT GRAND TOUR 2 Nights London, 5 Nights Ghent and 2 Nights Paris March 01 - 11, 2009 From $2299 Hurry – Space is Limited These SALE PRICES expire December 12, 2008 The 2009 Great Belgian Beer Tour The Ultimate British & Belgian Breweries, Castles, Chocolates & French Champagne Cellars Crawl March 01 - 11, 2009 March Sun 01 Depart San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle on American Airlines for your transatlantic, overnight flight to London, England. ''...when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford.'' Dr Samuel Johnson Mon 02 Arrive London’s Heathrow airport this morning, then take the “Tube” (London’s Underground subway) to central London to our hotels. London’s historic sights! For those unfamiliar with London an optional hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus is a great way to explore; Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, The National Gallery, Downing Street, Big Ben, London Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, The Tower of London & Westminster and more! The Great London Beer Tour and Ultimate Pub Crawl This afternoon we’ll meet the inimitable Chris Pollard aka “Podge” co-author with Siobhan McGinn of “Around London in 80 Beers” who will guide us on “The Great London Beer Tour and Ultimate Pub Crawl”, a walking/Tube tour to London’s top pubs featuring cask-conditioned ales and of historical note. We’ll start out on London’s south bank to visit The Royal Oak pub for a brief orientation and to taste Harvey’s Sussex ales, then visit the forecourt of The George Inn, London’s last 16th century galleried coaching inn for photos, then visit The Hop Exchange, Market Porter and Rake’s pubs. The 2009 Great Belgian Beer Tour The Ultimate British & Belgian Breweries, Castles, Chocolates & French Champagne Cellars Crawl March 01 - 11, 2009 March Mon 02 - Continued Continuing our Great London Beer Tour and Ultimate Pub Crawl, we tube over to Holborn to choose from the following: Cittie of York; Princess Louise, Olde Mitre, The Castle, Seven Stars and the Edgar Wallace. For those hardy souls we will continue our pub crawl until “closing hours Podge is also the author of “Around Brugges in 80 Beers” and “LambicLand, LambikLand” and will be happy to autograph your books! A few of the ales we’ll taste: Harvey’s Sussex ales, Marston’s Pedigree, Courage Directors, Shepherd Neame’s Spitfire and Bishop’s Finger, Meantime Porter & IPA, Young’s Winter Warmer and Fuller’s Old Harry – along with a few surprises among London favorites. The Market Porter features a wide range of ales from microbreweries all across the United Kingdom. Tue 03 After a full English Breakfast to fortify ourselves we’ll meet at Fullers Griffin Brewery for a tour of London’s last Victorian brewery, followed by a tasting and optional lunch at the brewery tap. The 2009 Great Belgian Beer Tour The Ultimate British & Belgian Breweries, Castles, Chocolates & French Champagne Cellars Crawl March 01 - 11, 2009 Tue 03 – Continued This afternoon we will tube out to Parsons Green to the legendary White Horse Pub! This is a grand pub with high ceilings, large stuffed chairs and long chunky tables is a welcome home to both drinker and diner. The beer list remains arguably the finest in London, with in excess of 80 bottled beauties and more than a dozen perfectly kept draught beers pulled through lines cleaner than a nun's conscience. Not just a Beervana for Belgian beer buffs, it features wonderful wheat beers, fancy fruit beers, brilliant pilsners and the best of British with eight rotating cask ales that strive to showcase a mild, a porter or stout and beers seldom seen elsewhere in the capital. Every dish on the menu comes recommended with a suitable tipple. Toulouse sausage & mash with beer gravy is paired with Adnams Broadside, Hoegaarden- battered haddock with Harvey's Sussex and custard tart with Anchor Porter from San Francisco. Wed 04 This morning we say farewell to London and depart for Belgium on the Eurostar “Chunnel” (channel tunnel) train to arrive in Lille in just one hour and 20 minutes. This year’s Great Belgian Beer Tour and Ultimate Brewery Crawl begins with two GBBT Favorites: St Bernardus and Westvleteren! On arrival in Lille we’ll be met by the GBBT private luxury motor coach for a drive to St Bernadus brewery for a tour and tasting. After our visit to St Bernardus we’ll lunch at our favorite Belgian destination: Westvleteren’s “In de Vrede” cafe – where you can enjoy Wesvleteren abbey cheese, pate, smoked ham and, of course, the world’s most rare and renowned Abbey ale: Westvletern 12! The 2009 Great Belgian Beer Tour The Ultimate British & Belgian Breweries, Castles, Chocolates & French Champagne Cellars Crawl March 01 - 11, 2009 Wed 04 – Continued It just wouldn’t be a GBBT without lunch, tasting and the opportunity to buy Westvletern ale direct from the Abbey’s “In de Vrede” café. After lunch the GBBT luxury motor coach rolls on to visit Rodenbach Brewery where we’ll see the brewery and famous oak casks where the beer rests before a tasting of the famous Flemish red ale. After a short drive, we arrive and check-in to our superbly located hotels in historic Ghent, one of the most beautiful historic cities in Europe. Ghent was the seat of the counts of Flanders whose great Gravensteen Castle is a “must” visit. Of even greater importance to the Beer Traveler, Ghent is a conveniently located to visit the great Breweries of Flanders! Tonight enjoy an evening at leisure to explore the City’s restaurants and specialty beer cafes. At our doorstep are the world renown: Waterhuis, Bicycle Bar and HopDuyvel cafes. And don’t miss master choclatier: Daskalides. http://www.daskalides.com/en/default.aspx The 2009 Great Belgian Beer Tour The Ultimate British & Belgian Breweries, Castles, Chocolates & French Champagne Cellars Crawl March 01 - 11, 2009 Thu 05 Today you have the option of exploring Ghent and the magnificent castle, cathedral or museums or continuing on today’s GBBT Coach to the Huyghe Brewery – brewers of Delirium Tremens, well known to all as the beer/bottle/glasses festooned with Pink Elephants. We’ll then travel north to Holland to discover Koningshoeven - “The Lost Abbey” Home of the brilliant Trappist Koningshoeven and Urthel Ales for a brief brewery tour, followed by a tasting with traditional Dutch snacks bitterballen and the abbey’s fine cheeses. We’ll then return to Belgium to visit Het Anker Brewery in Mechelen, home of Gouden Carolus ales and Belgian Beer Chocolates! We’ll tour the brewery, then enjoy a tasting of ales as an aperitif to the optional dinner in the Brewery’s café’. After dinner we return to Ghent where your evening is at leisure to continue your exploration of the cities many specialty beer cafes. (Don’t worry if you want to join the GBBT coach to visit the Breweries. You’ll have plenty of time on the weekend to visit Brugges, Antwerp & the 24 hours of Beer Festival!) Fri 06 Today you have the option of exploring Brugges or joining the fun on the GBBT Coach to explore all new breweries: The Bosteels Brewery famous for Kwak, Karmaliet and DeuS, MALHEUR, and DE SMEDT, brewers of AFFLIGEM Abbey beers. The 2009 Great Belgian Beer Tour The Ultimate British & Belgian Breweries, Castles, Chocolates & French Champagne Cellars Crawl March 01 - 11, 2009 Fri 06 – Continued Tonight your options include traveling to Brussels to explore The Grand Place and nearby Delirium Café. Or join us for a GBBT exclusive private dinner and tasting of vintage Gueze and Lambic ales at: “In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst” (The Pub with Insurance Against Great Thirst) is the name of the famous pub that hosts The famous semi-annual Geuze and Lambic Festival (which we attended last year). Our great friend Yves, the pub owner and producer of the bi-annual “Night of the Great Thirst” festival, welcomes GBBT back for our very own mini-festival; a Gueze & Lambic tasting and beer-menu dinner. You’ll all remember the incredible food. For those of you who found the vintage Gueze a bit of a challenge, you’ll be happy to learn that Yves has laid on a range of alternate, contemporary Gueze, Lambic and Trappist ales for us to enjoy. Sat 07 Today the beer traveler is greatly challenged – before the ZYTHOS 24 HOURS OF BEER FESTIVAL begins! This morning is yours to explore Brussels. Don’t miss The Grand Place, and it’s Maison de Brasseurs (Belgian Brewers Guild), the superb Contemporary art museum, Auto Museum and even a Museum of Comic Strips (invented in Belgium). Perhaps you’ll have a pint and enjoy lunch in the nearby Petit Sablon – an area renown for its antique shops and great beer cafes, all serving great food and abbey cheeses. Don’t miss Cantillon’s Open Brewing Day! From 6:30am to 5pm, the Master brewer, his family and friends invite you to experience the bi-annual Cantillon open-brewing day, wherein you learn the various steps in the traditional production of Lambic and Gueuze ale in a 19th Century brewery with all it’s original equipment : 6.30 to 9.00 Brewing process; 9 to 13.00 Filtration &d hopping ; from 12.00 to 15.00 Cooking; 15.30 Pumping of wort into the cooling