[Trappist]

Hi,
On the quest to find new beery spots that offer excellent food, we found this place.

Sfeerbistro d'Abdij
https://www.bistroabdij.be/

Located inside a medieval abbey farm (De Abdijhoeve), dating back to the 11th. century!
https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/45588

Origin 11th century
The Abbey farm once belonged to the St. Peter's Abbey (a Benedictine Abbey), which was built in the late 11th century from the old Roman fortress walls by Arnold van Tiegem, better known as the saint "St. Arnoldus".
Monks found their home here and not only grew vegetables, herbs and animals, but also brewed beer. Arnoldus beer was born.

However, in 1578 the monks were driven out by the Calvinists and in 1579 the entire St. Peter's Abbey was destroyed. Under Spanish rule, a real fortification was built on the ruins.

17th century
After a very turbulent period of demolition and war, the Abbey Farm got back on its feet in the 17th century.

1671
The date '1671' is displayed on the large whitewashed entrance gate. This refers to the year of construction and the current state of the basket-arch gate. The site now consists of the old stables, house, carriage house and dovecote. The latter is the only oldest remnant from the 15th century of the once beautiful St. Peter's Abbey.

In the 1980s, residents, tractors, cows, pigs and horses made way for a catering complex.

We visited this place already from the 90's. At that time there was a local Oudenburg located brewery with the name 't Steedje.
Their beers (incl. Arnoldusbier) could be tasted at de Abdijhoeve that time.
Unfortunately bry 't Steedje stopped its activities.... and that's already long time ago.
De Abdijhoeve closed its doors for about 10 years.
But see, renovations have been done lately, and two new eating places have been raised inside that medieval farm.
Bar Trottoir (https://bartrottoir.be) and the one we went to (also because bar Trottoir is not open on Sundays) Sfeerbistro d'Abdij (https://www.bistroabdij.be/)





The weather was great, so we sat outside on the cosy outer terrace. It's really an amazing location, knowing you are sitting at such an old medieval spot!
We ordered a Sint-Bernardus Abt 12, a Westmalle tripel, and went for the charcuterie platter.
About 30 beers available and they have Blonden Os from bry Bourgogne des Flandres from tap.
That cured meat, the bread, and some cheese cubes were from a remarkable outstanding quality.
And the beers don't need any more explainations. They both are damn great Belgian beers !!

On a side note.
I frequently experienced that people thought they had the label with the winking monk.
But ofcourse they weren't right on that one.
Today, it seems that all the labels have a winking monk.
That's because the labels have changed and the monk (actually, he is not a monk) has those two white little stripes next to his left eye.
Quite confusing, and people think this is the winking monk.
For the real deal: The eye should be completely closed !

Cheers,
Filip