Kulminator

Cluttered Belgian beer pub with 700+ beers and vintages going back decades

Address Vleminckveld 32, 2000 Antwerpen

A small, cluttered bar near the Stadspark with what is widely regarded as the deepest Belgian beer list in the country. Around 700 different beers on the printed list, including aged vintages of Trappists and other classics going back decades. The owners ring a bell at the door — tell them you have come to taste beer, and you will be let in.

The interior is famously chaotic — every surface stacked with empty bottles, papers, knick-knacks. The crowd is mostly beer geeks; the service is slow and gruff but knowledgeable. No food beyond cheese plates and small snacks. Cash strongly preferred. Closed Sundays.

bars and cafes bar
A story
Run by Dirk Van Dyck and his wife since the late 1970s, the bar holds a vertical archive of Belgian beer — Westvleteren XII back to the 1990s, Chimay Bleue back to the 1980s. Order what you want; if the price is steep, that is what aged Trappist beer costs.