Brussels, there’s so much happening!

The sun is out, temperatures are high, and everyone seems in such a good mood! The only downside? The allergy season🤧. But we’ll get through it!

If you’re free next Thursday, on 7 May, I’ll be speaking at an event co-hosted by Microsoft and LinkedIn (#goals) on careers in Brussels. My fellow panellists come from Red Thread EU, FleishmanHillard and the European Parliament. I’ll be happy to see you there!

Also, we still have a few spots left for our BXL Vintage Shops Tour, taking place on 9 May from 14 to 17 CEST. And more events are coming; stay tuned😎.

In this issue:

A few weeks ago, I complained on LinkedIn about the obsession with alcohol at Brussels’ events. One of the people who commented on this post was Bernard, a founder of a Belgian alcohol-free beer brand. You can imagine what my first instinct was - let’s meet up for a coffee and discuss working together. This segment was written after having been gifted a few beer cans, but I had full creative control over my review.

Belgian Balance is a local, alcohol-free beer brand that launched on 1 January 2024. Coming in three flavours and enriched with adaptogens and electrolytes, it’s trying to fundamentally disrupt our relationship with alcoholic beer. Their motto? Keep the ritual. Lose the fog.

Background story: Bernard is no stranger to the beer industry. He used to work for beer giants, such as Heineken or Guinness, and his career even took him to China and Mexico. But there was a moment where he himself wanted to slow down with alcohol, and started replacing it with kombucha or kefir. But as he didn’t like them enough, he wondered what it would be like to set up his own non-alcoholic beer brand. If he was looking for this, others must have been too, right? People around him thought he was crazy, though; non-alcoholic beer in Belgium?!

Present: Almost 2.5 years in, Belgian Balance is made up of four people. Four! I couldn’t believe the team was so small when I interviewed Bernard. He is the owner, and his business partner in crime, Eole, is in charge of prospecting new clients and sales. They’re supported by two interns responsible for deliveries. Their distribution is now split 50/50 between shops and restaurants/bars. But it’s a constant hustle; if they don’t show up in two weeks, someone else will step in and replace them. They are targeting customers who want to achieve more and do more, and have also partnered up with run clubs.

What makes Belgian Balance different: Bernard is not the first in Belgium to create 0% beers. Some other bigger Belgian brands send their beers to Hungary to de-alcoholise them. This process involves a lot of chemicals, and artificial ingredients and sugar are added to make up for the taste. Belgian Balance approaches this differently. They use special yeast for brewing, which only releases between 0.1 and 0.5% of alcohol. And their packaging makes the non-alcoholic experience very fun from the get-go.

Product flavours: Belgian Balance is currently available in three flavours - Ginger Beer, IPA Beer and NEIPA Beer. I was gifted all of them, and my favourite was definitely Ginger Beer. It has a really good ginger kick to it, it’s very refreshing and not sweet at all. IPA was also very nice, and it truly reminds you of tall pines, as its description suggests. NEIPA wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, too fruity for me, but if you like that, together with a strong beer flavour, you will enjoy it.

What’s coming in the future: Bernard is shooting for the stars. When you meet him, he’s full of energy and ambition. He wants Belgian Balance to become a major Belgian non-alcoholic beer brand in the world. They’re now looking at targeting several world hubs and creating content around this journey. I’m personally very excited to see how far they will go.

You can find Belgian Balance in selected shops, restaurants and bars, or online, serving more than 350 customers. For more information, you can check their website, LinkedIn or Instagram.

My favourite Brussels season is here! ❤️ Guingettes, aka summer beer gardens, are finally popping up across Brussels. For me, that’s the true start of an outdoor season in this city. Where and when can you find them? And if you want even more information, you can visit this website.

If you’re feeling a bit fancier and would like to connect your after-work or weekend catch-up with a view, then check the list of rooftop bars in Brussels that I shared in my very first newsletter issue.

Guingettes are not the only concept that pops up once May comes. Open-air gatherings and parties are also hard-launching their festival season, which will go well until mid- or late-September. Just within the next two weeks, there are so many that I decided to give them a special category in this newsletter. Otherwise, the list of events would be way too long.

🤝 = networking/meeting new people; 🎨 = crafts and workshops; 👚 = fashion; 🎸= music; 🎉 = party and festivals; 🎭 = theatre, musicals and performing arts; 🚶 = walking and hiking; 🏀 = sport; 🎥 = film festivals and screenings; 🏋️ = fitness; 🎤 = talks; 🍔 = food; 🖼️ = exhibitions; 😂 = comedy