Billy Beer

When we arrived in Delft we look around for a restaurant. We ended up finding the "Cow Square" for the first time. It was totally empty under the drizzle and most restaurants were closed. One in particular called my attention. it said: Billy Beer. That is it, I thought. A restaurant with beer in its name. Well, it happens that beer in Dutch means bear. So, the restaurant's name is Billy Bear. Indeed, there are lots of teddy bears inside, and kids like it.

We entered and it was full, we even had difficulty in finding a place to sit. We enjoyed a very large schnitzel and this restaurant became one of our favourites. (We later learned that it is a "student's" restaurant, very popular for its spare ribs. Well, I preferred the schnitzel.)

It was then, that our last meal in Delft was at the Billy Beer (Bear): schnitzel and potatoes.

"Scientific Research" (part 31, 32 of many)

Well, here I am again trying Paulaner. You see, I need more samples to increase the degrees of freedom of my investagion.

Below, HB beer from Munich. It is from the Hofbraeuhaus pub, a very traditional and touristic house of Munich. I had it along side a Bavarian sausage in the market on a hot Sunday, listening to live jazz music.

"Scientific Research" (part 28, 29, 30, 31 of many)

After visiting DRL I rushed towards Rodrigo's house to watch Brazil playing against Portugal. There, Rodrigo had a surpise to me: four Paulaner beers, each one different from the other. They were Naturtrub, Dunkel, Hell and Pilser. What can I say about them: they are all from Bavaria!

I personally do not like to quote Wikipedia, but anyway, see what it says about Paulaner:

Paulaner is a German brewery, established in the early 1600s in Munich by the Minim friars of the Neudeck ob der Au cloister. The mendicant order and the brewery are named after Francis of Paola, the founder of the order.

Paulaner ranks number 8 among Germany's best selling breweries.

"Scientific Research" (part 27 of many)

Indonesia is a former colony of the Netherlands. It is very common to find Indonesian restaurants elsewhere in the country. The only time I had the chance to eat the tasteful Indonesian food, I did so accompanied by Tiger beer, from Singapore. As the add says, a "world-acclaimed beer for its quality and excellence."

"Scientific Research" (part 24, 25, 26 or many)

Another very popular brand name in Holland is Grolsch, a Dutch beer. The brewery was founded in 1615. It is older than UNB!


Jupiler is a very popular Belgium beer in both Holland and Belgium. Not surprising. Very enjoyable and more to the light side.


A stronger and tastier triple-style ale from Belgium is Kastel, with its 11% content of alcohol. It is like drinking wine. Creamy, thick and warm.

"Scientific Research" (part 21, 22, 23 of many) - UPDATE

The saga continues.

I enjoyed Wieckse Witte in an Argentinian restaurant in Amsterdam (during my last visit). It was a hot day, so the lemon helped to enjoy this light beer.

La Trappe Tripel is another excellent Belgium beer. UPDATE: A correction. As pointed out by Paul, La Trappe is Dutch!

And, finally, Wieckse Rose, which is a fruit beer, something really awful! I wasted 3 Euros with that. Darn!

"Scientific Research" (part 20 or many) - UPDATE

Luciana! Emilio! I found it! Delirium Tremens, a Belgium beer with a very original name and an excellent taste. It is part of the selection offered at Locus Publicus. Now, I quite do not understand the reason why the glass has elephants on it. Never mind. The contents is what really matter.

UPDATE: Luciana told me the meaning of the red elephants. The idea is that if you drink enough, you will eventually see red elephants. Do you see them, you sober?

A hideout in Delft

Locus Publicus is like the geodetic datum of Delft. Indeed, there are lots of stories that connect geodesy, TU Delft and the pub, all surrounded by mystery.

Locus Publicus offers a very large selection of Belgium and Dutch beer.

"Scientific research" (part 17, 18, 19 of many)

I feel thirsty, I mean, hungry to satisfy my scientific curiosity. The result of three investigations are as follow:


1- Köstrisser is nice German beer I had the chance to savour on the banks for the Rhine River. A nice beer to enjoy the sunset around Castles and history.
2- Kirkner (photo not shown).
3- Celebrating the spirit of the new Robin Hood movie, I had this Belgium beer: Brigand.

"Scientific research" (part 14, 15, 16 of many)

Following the suggestion of my uncompromising readers, I am summarizing the results of my latest investigation in one single entry. In the picture at the right you can see Gulden Draak, the 10.5% extra strong Flemish Belgium beer. Excellent. As strong as Smaug, the dragon from The Hobbits. Below, my favourite beer so far, also Belgium, Dutchese de Burgogne. The beer is red and has a very special taste, with its 6.2% alcohol content. And, finally, the third beer is of a same label I tried before, but red and with a "karakter": the Dutch Hertog Jan. This brewery is named after John I, Duke of Brabant.

"Scientific Research" (part 12 and 13 of many)

Right photo. The last beer in Vienna before taking the plane back to Holland: Schneider Weisse. Another good red beer. Drank in the WienerWauld.

Left photo. This is the beer I investigated in Bratislava: Kelt. You know Slovakia used to form a single country with the Czecks. No wonder, Slovak beer is so good.

"Scientific Research" (part 11 of many)

On Thursday, 6, Denise, Thales and I enjoyed a nice dinner in the company of Landon and his girl-friend Sarah. We went to the restaurant located on the top of the panoramic tower in Vienna, close to the convention center where the EGU was taking place. It was like a nice celebration for the poster Landon presented that same afternoon.

Landon and I scrutinized the contents of Zipfer, one liter in total.

"Scientific research" (part 10 of many)

After leaving Schönbrunn Palace we enjoyed a nice outdoor dinner. During this occasion, I investigated a glass of Gösser, another Austrian beer.

The interesting thing is that there is a beer mug called Kaiser. Well, Kaiser is a popular beer brand in Brazil. It's advertisement even says that "Kaiser is a great beer." Not in Austria: Kaiser is just a mug where they keep cutlery and napkins.

"Scientific research" (part 9 of many)

A picture worth a thousand words, said the poet. A half-a-litter glass of Ottakringer worth zero words, say I. Why speak when we can enjoy a nice Austrian beer?

"Scientific research" (part 8 of many)

This is a double dose, courtesy of my brother-in-law Guilherme and my niece Taís. Belgium beers, the light Brugs Belfort, and the red and bold Leffe. I liked more the red one.

The Beer Temple?

Walking around the narrow streets of Bruges I ran into something that took my breath away (but not my thirst): the beer temple (not 'a' beer temple, 'the' beer temple). In there I could pay my dues to the beer order, I mean, I ordered and purchase a few bottles of holy beer (for a later worship). And, while talking to one of the servants of the temple, I was told that there are almost 200 breweries in Belgium, with over one thousand different label names. Holy barley! I need more funding for a more thorough and lengthy investigation. I wonder if NSERC would be interested on that ;-)

And, still on the Beerlgium issue, I found this t-shirt that describes well the development of homo belgiums.

"Scientific research" (part 7 of many)

The add says: Kwak, a Belgium beer in a unique glass. They are right. The glass is interesting, but its contents is much better, until it becomes empty. When this happens, the uniqueness of the glass loses its purpose.

Now, I have to admit that drinking, I mean, performing a scientific experiment overlooking Bruges' main square is quite something.

"Scientific Research" (part 6 of many)

Michelle holds a Master's and is getting ready to start her Ph.D. To show her bold inquisitive spirit she joined me in my eternal quest to the highest level of scientific knowledge. We had dinner at my family's favourite little restaurant in Delft (it will be subject of another post). During the event we managed to savour, I mean, to investigate the geodetic contents of Palm, a Belgium red beer. We both approved it. Our findings have been submitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences under the co-authorship of Santos and Weirathmueller (2010). We may get a Nobel for that piece of science ...

"scientific research" (part 5 or several)

Here we go again, going lengths for the sake of science. I did try Hertog Jan, a Dutch beer from the town of Arcen. It is only 5.1%, therefore, very light. But the label is nice, with a king holding a mug. In the spirit of the royalty, I used my glass I bought in Vianden Castle gift shop.

"Scientific Research" (part 4 of many)

What don't we do for the sake of science? This time it was Diekirch, another local beer from Luxembourg.