Beer Spa Bath & Barley: a zen moment in busy Brussels

Here’s my experience of beer spa Bath & Barley in the center of Brussels

Every year, my sister Sofie and I do something together for our birthday. We’ll plan something, just for the two of us. I put up the bunting in July, she does the same in September. We both enjoy spending a day in a spa and enjoy doing the finer things in life, like enjoying a good beer.

Now, we found something that combines both of our interests: Beer spa Bath & Barley, a cozy hidden spot near Muntplein in Brussels. And you can enjoy it to, with a free beer. How? Well, let’s continue reading, shall we 😉 .

Even before we got into the place, I fell head over heels when I saw the display in the window: they put up wooden cases with Trappist beer Westvleteren – the most exclusive beer in Belgium.

What’s a Trappist, you might ask? I talk all about it over here.

Customized experience

Before we enter the spa, we pick a hop that defines a typical aroma. Why? Well, continue reading to find out! Unsurprisingly, my sister and I have a similar taste and we both chose the citrus hop over a more floral hop.

Further, we were lucky to choose a beer package from their beer wall. From a Trappist package to an All the Ladies package, with beers that were made by women (Heldin for example). Of course, we chose the second option. Heldin is made by a friend of mine, read here to discover more about the beer.

Read on to discover their original food pairing.

What a unique design!

Everything in Bath & Barley is special: they put up a spinning wheel, authentic beer barrels, and strains of grain on the ceiling.

And, needless to say, I am quite a big fan of their tap. The design, that is ;-).

I don’t know whether you can read it but on the wooden barrel of Oud Beersel brewery, they offer a wide range of 75cl beer bottles, from an accessible creation Chouffe Houblon to the exclusive BZART Krieklambiek.

Exclusive beer menu of Beer spa Bath & Barley

Beers in our bath!

Jooopiee, time to start this zen moment

Let’s change and check out those oaky bathtubs, the same material they use for lambic beer fermentation.

What’s Lambic, you might ask? Book a Brussels brewery or a Brussels beer tour with us, or visit a lambic brewery like Boon Brewery.

We add the hops and yeasts that we chose earlier to our baths, and let me tell you: the smell was amazing!

After soaking in our very own bathtub, it was time to enjoy a fresh beer – right next to ourselves! You read that one right – we have complete access to a beer tap, while in the bathtub.

Did someone ever throw u… wow, let’s not think about that! We enjoyed our Estaminet (Palm brewery) – and it was delicious.

My sister didn’t know this pilsner, but I think she enjoyed it (since she downed her first beer before me ;-))

Let’s continue relaxing: Special beer tasting

After quenching our thirst, I felt so relaxed! Were it the hops in the bath, or were the beers doing their job? Maybe both…

Time was flying by, and we still had to try our All the Ladies package! I picked the Urthel since, believe it or not, I never tried it before. It’s a Saison-style beer, with roots in Eeklo, a town 20 km from Ghent.

My expectations were high as I love this style: it’s low in alcohol but a thirst-quenching blonde beer. And it tastes amazing. 🤩

Ola, it’s not finished yet: our beers were combined with an original food pairing of Frederic Blondeel, a Brussels-based bean-to-bar chocolate producer.

Our favorite piece: ganache with black chocolate and rose pepper filling – was simply DELICIOUS :).

After we finished our special beer tasting, I sat in the hay corner. It felt as if we were strolling through a field of grains.

Beer Secret x Bath & Barley

Okay, time to wrap up & say goodbye to the lovely owners.

As we made our reservation in the Italian restaurant Ricotta & Parmesan, we hurried up to keep our reserved seats. We won’t share with you the details of our dinner experience, but I highly recommend going there for lunch or dinner. The pasta was delicious.

So how was my experience at Bath & Barley? Beer Secret is a fan! A few days after our first visit, I went back and set up a partnership with Louis & Bart, the owner of the beer spa. Now you stumble upon Beer Secret when you enter Bath & Barley, thank you for that!
Happy to share with you the picture that is framed:

What’s in it for you?

If you visit Bath & Barley and make a reference to this blog post, you’ll get an extra beer flight for free, selected by myself. What a deal, right?

Of course, Bath & Barley is now part of every Beer & Brewery tour, where you’ll learn more about hop flowers.

We loved the reactions when sharing our first flyers during one of our Brussels brewery tours.
Manuel of Switzerland and a couple of UK were impressed.