Brussels is a beer city, and drinking here is less a night out than an ongoing study. Delirium Café near the Galeries Saint-Hubert holds a Guinness World Record for the most beers on sale — over 2,000 — and is mostly full of tourists; the neighbouring streets have quieter options that locals prefer. À la Mort Subite on Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères is an old-school brown cafe serving its own gueuze and kriek in an unchanged 1920s interior. Au Bon Vieux Temps is a tiny medieval bar down an alley off Rue du Marché aux Herbes — easy to miss, wonderful inside. For a more modern craft scene, head to Saint-Gilles or Ixelles, where bars like Moeder Lambic on Place Fontainas serve a rotating list of Belgian and European craft beers.
Cafes are different — Brussels has a proper French-style cafe culture, with terraces that fill up the minute the weather cooperates. Café Belga on Place Flagey, La Fleur en Papier Doré (Magritte's hangout), and the cafes around Place du Châtelain are good starting points.