Unlocked Media

I'm staying about 200m downwind from the Stella Artois brewery--the biggest brewery in Belgium, the most beer-obsessed country in the world. It smells quite nice here. This is the beer that's marketed as "Reassuringly Expensive" in the US, although it's considered low-end and is relatively inexpensive here.

I heard from a little brewery around here that Stella is the only brewery in the country that makes its own malt.

See them all here

The spinning Jenny

Some shots from SW of Brussels, in the first (small) hills i encountered during my trip. Lovely bike paths along empty but super smooth roads.

Photos from my first day in Belgium

Gent is a medieval city that got a big booost after the biggest intellectual property heist in history: when some guy smuggled the plans for the spinning jenny, which rapidly turns cotton and wool into thread, over from England to Belgium. This was the start of the industrial revolution on the Continent.

Here are some pics from around town and in a great museum called MIAT that tells the history of industry in the area, and doesn't hesitate to show the role that child labour played.

The De Halve Mann (Half Moon) Brewery is a family run operation that produces Straffe Hendrik (Strong Henry) beer, and Brugse Zot, which won the gold medal at the World Beer Cup 2006 for Belgian and French Style Ale.

They have one room full of cans from around the world including of all things, Point from Stevens Point WI...