Thursday 4th of August 2011 10:31:59 AM

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In de Vrede is an unusual place for a beer bar -- it's more like a beer cafeteria. Not to mention the fact that it is a couple kilometers off the road, in the midst of farmland. I've never been to anyplace quite like it.

At 2 PM on a weekday the place was packed. Not with rowdy punters, but with a few beer pilgrims like ourselves and a lot of ordinary Belgians, demographically on the older side.

The food is pretty simple: cheese sandwich, ham and cheese, or house-made pate (I recommend the latter), with or without a salad. Not flashy, but everything was pretty good quality.

I marked the beer inexpensive here: at 4-5 euros ($5.50 - $7) for 33 cl, I wouldn't normally call it that, but since bottles of Westvleteren are at least double that in any bar or bottle shop in the low countries that happens to carry it, I guess it counts as relatively cheap. The beer is bottled, not draft, in case you were wondering (of course they pour it into correct glassware before you get it).

The table servers are very friendly, patient, and helpful.

In the past, apparently, the gift shop has sold six-packs of the beer to go, but on our visit all we could get was a 23-euro "tasting pack" that had a Westvleteren goblet, two bottles of the blonde, and one each of 8 and 12. That was a disappointment.