Delirium Café & Beer Culture

Delirium Café holds the Guinness World Record for the most beers available in a single bar — over 2,000 different beers from around the world, with a particular emphasis on Belgian varieties, which means this narrow bar in a medieval alley off the Grand-Place is simultaneously a tourist attraction, a pilgrimage site for beer lovers, and a functional introduction to one of the world's great brewing traditions.

Belgian beer culture is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the variety is staggering: Trappist ales brewed by monks in monasteries, lambic beers fermented spontaneously by wild yeasts in the Senne Valley, strong abbey doubles and triples, fruit beers, white beers, and the kriek (cherry lambic) that is Belgium's most distinctive contribution to the world of fermented beverages. Delirium's menu — a book-sized document organised by style, country, and alcohol content — is overwhelming, but the bartenders are knowledgeable and patient with beginners.

The alley where Delirium sits — Impasse de la Fidélité — has become a beer district unto itself, with the Delirium complex expanding to include a tequila bar, an absinthe bar, and a taphouse. The atmosphere is loud, international, and enthusiastic in the way that only a bar serving 2,000 beers can be. For a more refined Belgian beer experience, the traditional brown cafés (bruine kroegen) scattered through the city centre — À La Mort Subite, Poechenellekelder, Le Cirio — offer smaller selections in atmospheric settings that have been serving beer since before Delirium was born.