Tour 61 | Abbey Beer Pilgrimage 2012

Thursday 20th September - Monday 24th September 2012

5 Day Tour

We are pleased to announce a new themed Tour which explores the authentic Abbey beers of Belgium. Belgian Abbey beers have a connection to a monastic community.In 1999 a Certified Belgian Abbey Beer (Erkend Belgisch Abdijbier) logo was introduced by the Union of Belgian Brewers to indicate beers brewed under license to an existing or abandoned abbey, as opposed to those many abbey-branded beers which are marketed using various religious connections, such as a local saint.  The requirements for registration under the logo include the monastery having control over certain aspects of the commercial operation, and a proportion of profits going to the Abbey or its designated charities. Monastic orders other than Trappists are included in this arrangement.  To be a Recognized Belgian Abbey beer certain other rules must be met such as the beer must be brewed by or licensed to an Abbey although the rules do allow for a connection to a now defunct monastery. 

We aim to visit and sample most of Belgium's true or "Erkend" Abbey beers in either brewery or Abbey settings.  Siobhan McGinn will be our guide to the historical elements of this Tour including   sorting your Cistercians from your Benedictines, whilst on the beer front Podge will sort out your Dubbels from your Tripels. The first two nights will be spent in Wallonia in the centraly located Ibis Namur Centre Hotel followed by two nights in Flanders at  Novotel Mechelen Centrum Hotel.

More details on price and itinerary will follow early in 2012. Included in the cost of this Tour are: 

• Hotel accommodation and breakfasts.
• Luxury coach travel on a 49 seater coach with toilet.
• Pick up from Ipswich (Crown Street Layby), Colchester (Southway Chapel St South Layby) or Chelmsford (The Woolpack, Mildmay Road). Arrangements can be made for different joining points on the way to Folkestone or even on the other side of the channel.  
• All Brewery visits, tours and brewery beer tastings.
• Entrance fees to attractions, museums and historical sites.
• All other items marked with an asterisk on the individual detailed tour itinerary.
• Copies of Podge’s City Bar guide and Map for the town or city where we stay or spend some time on Tour.
• Free still and sparkling water on the coach.

Tour Price:  To be issued in early 2012. Tour Price is based on sharing in a twin or double room.

Single Supplement: To be issued in early 2012. If you are travelling alone and want to share a room with another traveller please contact Podge as we are regularly able to pair up travellers in twin rooms to avoid the need for payments of Single Supplements.

 

All detailed itinerary times are local and approximate. All food and drink (apart from those marked with an asterisk on the detailed itinerary) and all passport and insurance costs are each traveller's responsibility. Personal insurance is not included in the Tour price, but is strongly advised, as is carrying the European Health Insurance Card available online, by phone or via the Post Office.  If you would like to join us or have any questions please call Podge on 01245 354677 or send Podge an email. Please also contact Podge to get details of how to send a deposit of £100 per person for this Tour. Full balance payable 5 weeks before departure.

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