[Jay]

Hi everybody

Our first trip of 2025 is now just over a week away, next Friday we head out to Lisbon in Portugal for a family mini break to celebrate my birthday (on the 14th)

Last year we visited Porto and we were so taken by this wonderful city that Portugal is my birthday location once again, this time heading much further down the country to its coastal capital city

It should prove to be another fantastic beery and foodie getaway and of course a full report will follow

https://www.ratebeer.com/places/city/lisboa/0/164/

Cheers
Jay 🇵🇹

[Trappist]

Hi Jay,
Great to see you'll heading back to Portugal.
Your birthday celebration will be         
This is a country that's on my to-do list. Although I already visited twice (long time ago), it sure is time to head back again for us. I want to do the Douro region. But first, I need to find us an acceptable airplane rate and free time. Things will become much easier when I'm retired starting from 1 August.
And when Katrien retires in 3 years, we will have plenty of time  .. can't wait....
Some great recommendations there on Ratebeer.
Makes it so painful to read that Ratebeer will stop (www.ratebeer.com)

"RateBeer To Close
RateBeer will cease operations February 1, 2025. It has been my pleasure to serve you. For more information, read our public post."

Where will we need to get our information from  What a loss, jeez....

Have a cracking trip Jay & Linda 

Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

Hi Filip,

We certainly will have a cracking time in Lisbon, yet again Linda has booked us into an amazing city centre hotel (Hotel Lisboa Plaza) surrounded with bars, breweries and restaurants

It's such a shame that Ratebeer is shutting down, I haven't rated a beer on there in well over a decade but do use on every trip as an invaluable source of info for bars when visiting a new city.
It's simple layout is so easy to navigate (and so familiar) but there are also places like Untappd and Tripadvisor that provide you with useful info so will be consulting these in the future

Cheers
Jay 

[Trappist]

Jay,
Indeed Untappd and Tripadvisor are great too. I use them too.
I also use Google maps to look for beer bars. Searching with words like Belgian beer bars, pubs, beer, brewpub, brewery, etc... as long as beer is involved
Not all results are satisfying, but the best beer bars will always show up. It's a matter of filtering afterwards.
Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

Great news is that like Porto, Lisbon also has a Gulden Draak bar, this means some great beers are guaranteed (and some great looking food) chief amongst which is Linda's No1 beer...De Garre from tap

https://guldendraaken.crd.co/

It looks like a different bar set up to the one in Porto, so not just a carbon copy and it's so close to our hotel.




But there's more Belgians on offer because not only does Van Steenberge have a bar but also Brouwerij Huyghe are in town with a Delirium Cafe and again close by our hotel in the opposite direction




Cheers
Jay 🇵🇹🇧🇪

[Trappist]

Hi Jay,
That's some great piece of beery research there mate.



Garre tripel seems to be everywhere these days. That's a good thing 
A bit expensive in Portugal, but hey, you're on vacation. 
I would go for the half litre though (that bit less expensive, that more volume of quality beer )

Here's another address, and very close to Gulden Draak bar!



Flor de Lúpulo : https://www.facebook.com/flordelupulobar

With a name like that, it sure cannot go wrong I think 

Have a great trip Jay & Linda!

Saúde 🇵🇹🇧🇪
Filip

[Jay]

Hi everyone

Back from a most wonderful mini break to Lisbon, it was 3 fun filled days visiting some fantastic bars sampling some amazing beers and also eating some utterly delicious food.

A full report will of course be following

Cheers
Jay 🇵🇹

[Trappist]

Hi Jay,
Nice to see you back 
Lisbon (in Flandres we say Lissabon) sure won't have disappointed you.
After all, it is one of the all-time best touristic places in Portugal.
The pictures you posted on Facebook already gave that nice proof !!! Amazing !
Waitig for the report Jay         
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!
Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

Hi everyone, here we go...

After waiting an hour whilst our plane was sprayed with de-icer (due to the-9 temps in Manchester) we were on our way shortly after 8am for our 2 hour 40 minute flight.

Landing in Lisbon and after grabbing our luggage we exited the airport and instead of jumping in one of many waiting taxis we hailed an Uber and 5 minutes later on our way to our city centre hotel, a hotel that was once a former Art Deco style movie theatre and it still retained much of its former 1920s glamour.

A brisk unpack then it was out to explore, seeing as it was lunchtime some food was called for so it was a short walk to local brewpub Canil - a large open plan brewery owner bar that showcased the Canil beers (and others) plus they did some great food as we would soon find out.










The very friendly barman came over and explained that they had a lunchtime special, for 13€ you pick a beer (from a choice of 5) a main, a sweet and a coffee...fantastic value as the mains alone are around 11€




Drinks first and it was a Czech Kolsch for Linda and a Belgian Blond for me. Food was ordered - Portuguese sausage croquettes with a beer and mushroom risotto for Linda, a Louisiana Chicken Sandwich for me and Chicken Parmigiana for our Anna










A selection of desserts followed before finishing with an espresso, what a great start this was













Bellies filled we made our way outside to see what this city had in store for us, making our way across town we happen upon The Queens Ale, a small one room bar with 12 taps and a small beer fridge.
An Under Double Pressure DIPA from Colina brewery, the beer and bar were okay but not that special so just the one beer it was.



















The next bar would prove far more rewarding - local brewery Dois Corvos, a large open plan brick walled bar.




My first choice was a Dois Corvos Weekend - 6.5% Hazy IPA along with some bar snacks (hummus with warm tortilla chips and fries)










Time for my first dark beer in the form of Dois Corvos Finisterra, an 8% Imperial Porter that was full of sweet burnt cocoa




One final beer, a most delicious DIPA then it was beer fridge raiding time...a great bar serving some great beers.


Time to move on to another bar and this was our Anna's favourite...Sputnik. It very much reminded us of Beyond Beer in Hamburg (and that's no bad thing) its long one room layout with a wall and fridges filled with beers available to drink in or takeaway and plenty of board games to play.










My first choice was something out of the norm for me, from Puta it was their Tomato Eruption - 5.9% Tomato Gose...wowser this was completely bonkers, full of zingy, salty, greenhouse, tomato fruitiness. Halfway through I was given a bottle of Tabasco and it was transformed into a Bloody Mary - quite unique but one was pleasantly enough so a Wheat Beer from Riegele followed




Our next bar was one we had intended to save until Sunday but curiosity got the better of us and so after a taxi across town to the wrong establishment with the same name we eventually found our way to Gulden Draak.

Having already visited its sister bar in Porto last year we expected pretty much the same thing here in Lisbon but decor wise this was by far the better of the two.
Whereas the bar in Porto had a more polished wood look to it and a brightly lit interior the Lisbon bar was more neon lit with some attractive lighting.













Time for a beer and given our location there could be only one natural choice - Tripel De Garre...a beer that needs no introduction whatsoever.




Sitting beneath the Gulden Draak glass lights and drinking one of our favourite beers was complete Nirvana...even more so with our next order...yes another De Garre but also bar snacks in the form of the best chicken wings our Anna has had and beer braised beef short rib croquettes - the very best we've had, no bechamel, no potato just pure meat...completely and utterly delicious










One last beer and another from tap, a wonderful Gulden Draak Calvados Barrel Aged - full of toffee, bubblegum, pear drops and boozy stewed apples




What a fantastic first day it had been but it was now time for our bed, tomorrow we will explore

Cheers
Jay 🇵🇹

[John B]

Jeez Jay, you and Linda sure know how to find the gems. Perhaps a second career as a travel blogger/vlogger is in order?

I really enjoy reading about your exploits here (one of the main reasons the BBB is my favorite website of all), I'm always looking forward to your next one.

Cheers mate! - John

[Trappist]

Perhaps a second career as a travel blogger/vlogger is in order?

Hi Jay & John,
That would be an excellent idea!!!
What an excellent write-up and what magnificent pictures as well. 
It's always a true pleasure reading your experiences Jay. Feels like we are part of the ride...
That Gulden Draak bar looks amazing to me, with all the beer glass shaped Gulden Draak lightings on top there.
Like John, always looking forward to the next one .....
Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

Day 2

Today was an exploring day and after yesterdays drizzly weather Saturday was slightly overcast but dry so it was the short walk to the Santa Justa Lift, an iron elevator built in 1902 and connects the lower Baixa neighbourhood to the higher Bairro Alto district.




We avoided the lengthy queues and instead up the steep backstreets heading for the Carmo Convent ruins, after taking in the beautiful panoramic views over Lisbon below it was a gentle stroll back downhill.



















Making our way to the area around the River Tagus we called into what was possibly my favourite bar - BREW.




It really was amazing just how much this place reminded us of BREWDOG, from the same pale blue BREW lettering to the similar furniture and layout but that wasn't the reason it was such a big hit with us all...the amazing tap list, delicious food and wonderful hospitality.













Let's try some beers and with so many great choices a tasting plank was ordered




No12 - Hibiscus Berry Kombucha 6.5%

No13 - Farmhouse Saison 5.8%

No20 - Third Moon Triple Within 10.5%

No21 - Bestowed Pumpkin Pie Imperial Stout 11.5%

No23 - Central Waters Brewers Reserve French Toast 11.7%

What a lineup of delicious beers but No21 the Pumpkin Pie took top spot 🤤

It was hard not to notice the large popcorn machine on the bar with a range of flavours available, a portion of hot salted butter was chosen YUM 😋




After that brilliant bar it was a short walk to the river Tagus area for a stroll along its pedestrianised embankment




Seeing as a bar on our "to visit" list was close by we decided to pay a visit however Outro Lado wasn't yet open so a quick Google search and an alternative was just a couple of streets away, so Crafty Corner it was...a long one room bar with arches and painted ceilings.













A Rafeira Belgian Blond and a portion of Piri Piri chicken wings were ordered and thoroughly enjoyed...another great bar there's no doubt







Time to head back in the direction of our hotel and on the way (and loaded down with shopping) we passed by the Delirium Cafe so a pit stop was the obvious choice.













To our surprise and despite being in a Huyghe brewery bar a certain Van Steenberge beer was on tap, so here's something of a Belgian mashup - Tripel De Garre in a Delirium glass.







After unpacking at our hotel it was food time so a taxi to Time Out Market, a large room with various food stalls surrounding and a central eating area.







A most delicious sandwich from Smokin Asia BBQ - a Spicy and Vice...Brisket Pastrami, Apple Coleslaw, Mustard Caviar, Vietnamese Green Salsa and fresh Dill - my oh my, America meets Asia meets Scandinavia here in Portugal




Something equally delicious to follow and our Anna chose Crush Doughnuts, an amazing Crème Brûlée (brûléed in front of us) and a Boston Cream...absolutely amazing










Leaving Time Out we took a taxi back to the river Tagus area for a visit to Outro Lado and what a treat we were in for, this bar could easily tie the No1 spot with BREW. With its quirky interior filled with household furniture it reminded us of Dirks Cafe in Watou.













Linda chose my first beer and boy WHAT a beer, an Outro Lado/Ophiussa collaboration - a Banana and Chocolate Cream Stout, this was one of the thickest beers I've had...it was chocolate custard in a glass.




Next beer was something light in the form of SOMA and their Real Talk DIPA (totally tasty) and whilst enjoying Linda and Anna bought me some cans and also a Outro Lado glass, they were also given a free can of Thermovision Imperial Stout from local brewery Aguarella







What an fantastic day it had been, we all happily made our way back to our hotel, more exploring tomorrow (our final day)


Cheers
Jay

[Viv]

Hi Jay,

Great write up yet again.

Most, if not all, of the bars look fairly new. And seem to cater
for the younger craft beer tourist rather than a bar for the older
locals.

And as with a lot of your other trips' pictures often the bars are
virtually empty, although I know that you visit bars all day long
rather than specifically the lunchtimes and evenings which no doubt
are far busier.

Cheers!


Viv

[Jay]

Hi Jay,

Great write up yet again.

Most, if not all, of the bars look fairly new. And seem to cater
for the younger craft beer tourist rather than a bar for the older
locals.

And as with a lot of your other trips' pictures often the bars are
virtually empty, although I know that you visit bars all day long
rather than specifically the lunchtimes and evenings which no doubt
are far busier.

Cheers!


Viv

Hi Viv

Yes some of the bars do look fairly modern (like Gulden Draak and BREW) but others were simply housed in rustic looking Portuguese buildings (Outro Lado and Crafty Corner) and to refer to these 4 bars GD and BREW were located in the touristy centre of town and so had a good mix of people and despite my seemingly empty pictures actually really full.

Outro Lado and CC were also pretty close to the busy river Tagus but tucked away in a labyrinth of tiny backstreets, not somewhere you would stumble across by accident (no shops nearby to draw in the wandering tourists) so you make the special journey to visit these places.

I have a friend on a beery Facebook page who lives in Lisbon and she provided me with a list of bars worth visiting, local info is invaluable...is a track to a certain bar worthwhile?

As for locals bars, that's in my third and final part.

Cheers
Jay 👍🏻

[Trappist]

To our surprise and despite being in a Huyghe brewery bar a certain Van Steenberge beer was on tap, so here's something of a Belgian mashup - Tripel De Garre in a Gulden Draak glass.

Hi Jay,
Definitely a mashup here
Pink Elephants and Gulden Draaks never match
It is a Delirium glass   
GREAT write-up Jay !!!!         
Cheers and already waiting fort part III - THANKS !
Filip