The Alchemist Belge and Beffa Bar Belgiek– The Beer Places To Be
As the sky turned dark, we firstly ducked into The Alchemiste Belge in Bergstrasse and later on into Beffa Bar which is right across The Alchemiste. They are, of course, as the name says Belgian beer bars, but they are not just any beer places. Both bars are owned by the entrepreneur and thus, follow a similar working ethic and concept. It is the spots which from online reviews are referred to as the hidden places where there are more international guests rather than locals. Even the New York Times (2011) cited one of the places as “The Alchimiste Belge, a Belgian beer bar popular with chain-smoking musicians from the Mozarteum conservatory, serves over 50 varieties like Kriek and Westmalle Tripel”. The owner of both bars is the Belgian Beer Sommelier – Dirk Baert. The Alchemiste which won the “Best Beer Bar in Austria” in 2012 from Bier Guide (bierguide.net), which is the Austrian website for beer lovers and beer experts.
The Alchemiste Belge is open 365 days a year from 17:00 – 01:00. The place itself it quite small for European, not to mention US standards, but we must not forget that most of the bars in Salzburg are as well small and cute. The interior ambience is warm and welcoming. You will find a variety of 70 different beers. Some delights that we have tried out were: Nocksteiner, Duvel, Orval, Floris (cherry flavoured beer), Hoegaarden – wheat beer (a classic). Don’t miss out on the Beer Tasting that Alchemiste organizes and which is held in groups from 5-15 people with the owner Mr. Baert personally.
As it has been mentioned above, Beffa Bar Belgiek follows the similar concept as The
Alchemiste, but is rather more spacious than the interior of the first bar we visited. Beffa is open from 19:00 – 02:00. An interesting fact that this bar has inside is the wall with coasters where every guest could write what they want and leave it on the wall. In Beffa we tried out: Leffe, Mongozzo (coconut flavored summer beer) and my all time favorite Douchesse De Bourgogne – beer with vinegar flavor (a must).
The staff of both bars speaks perfect English, which is very important as most of the guests are international. The only disadvantage of these two bars would be for non-smokers as it is allowed to smoke inside of both of them.
Your cold Belgian Beer is waiting for you!
Written by:
Milica Karbic