I’ve been to more bars than is healthy, and seen many strange drinking traditions, but I’m sure there can be no bar-room custom as bonkers as the one I experienced on my stag-do inside Dulle Griet, in the beautiful Belgian city of Ghent.
On one of Ghent’s many pretty square’s, Vrijdagmarkt, is the Dulle Griet pub (www.dedullegriet.be). Named after a Belgian nursery rhyme character, it has an unassuming appearance from the outside, looking like hundreds of other Flemish boozers. But step inside, order a glass of house beer and the fun and games begin.
Dulle Griet sells over 260 different beers and claims to have the widest selection in Belgium’s third largest city, but there is one you have to try – the house beer, Max. It’s served in 1.2 litre test tubes which are held in wooden racks and bubble away like a chemistry experiment before you.
The test tube/rack combo is so expensive, the waiter will ask you for a shoe as deposit which he puts in a basket and winches to the ceiling. You won’t get your shoe back until you’ve supped-up and returned the glass.
With its perfectly rounded bottom, this type of glass is known as a coachman’s glass. Its thin neck allowed mail coachmen to be able to enjoy a beer without taking their thick gloves off in days gone by. Unfortunately, there were no coachmen on my stag-do and none of us really knew what we were doing – should we take the glass out of its stand, or should we drink while the glass is firmly in its stand?
And it was even harder to drink from dressed as a cow!
Max comes in blond or dark versions, and with both at 7.5%, it’s probably a good idea to start rather than end the night here unless you fancy walking home with one shoe. I’m pleased to say none of us lost our footwear, and after a fun couple of hours in Dulle Griet, we moved on to continue our pub crawl around Ghent.
Ghent seems to be in vogue at the moment and is on a lot of those “cities you must go to this year” lists you see. I hope you don’t feel too cheated at reading this if you were expecting a full city guide – my visit was almost five years ago now, and drinking beer was our priority, but have a read of this if you want to see what else Ghent has to offer.
A lot of people prefer it to Bruges, saying it’s just as pretty and medieval but it doesn’t have hordes of tourists. People actually live there, and it has a large student population giving it a bit of a creative edge. Me? I think it’s 50/50, although I need another trip to Ghent and it’s famous shoe bar to decide once and for all.
abitofculture 
Ha ha, this looks great! I sometimes make a short stop at Ghent on my regular journeys between England and Germany, but now I feel I should book in for an overnight stay next time! 🙂
Yep, look for a hotel! It’s a bit too strong to risk driving on afterwards.
How about using a straw?
Using a straw would be like a kid having a milkshake!
We visited Ghent last year but missed this! Glossing over the cow outfit, the most horrific part of this story for me is the idea of putting your foot down without it’s shoe – especially if you visit the toilet. I imagine the Gents is worse than the Ladies there…..
This probably makes me no fun at all.
A fair point! I don’t remember going to the loo – it was probably a ‘drink-up and leave’ sort of place.
That bar looks excellent! I may have to check it out on my upcoming trip to Belgium!
Make sure you wear your best socks if you make it there!
We may have had to wait 5 years but it was worth it to see you drinking out of such a silly glass, dressed as a cow! Thanks for the giggle 🙂
As the night wore on I forgot I was dressed like that, and couldn’t understand why people were staring and laughing at me!
Oh that’s so funny! 😀
My friend and I missed that bar…
There’s your reason to return!
That’s a brilliant place! How crazy that you have to deposit your shoe. Did people really steal the glasses back in the day and that made them decide to keep the shoe? To stop them doing a runner! Love the cow outfit. Not sure I would be brave enough to wear that.
Not sure if it’s just a gimmick now or if people really do steal the glass, but it’s a good laugh!
Love a bizarre bar tradition (and the cow outfit!). Looks like I might have to get myself to Ghent sometime soon…
It’s a very nice city, and Dulle Griet gives it a bit of je ne sais quoi!
nice photos and outfit 😀
Dulle Griet is indeed a famous bar in Ghent!
I miss that cow suit and the bar!
I love the shoe idea – much better than having to pay a deposit on a boring credit card…
Definitely, and no chance of committing fraud either!
I preferred Gent to Brugge. It’s gritty and gorgeous. Brugge is storybook perfect.
Two gorgeous cities so close to each other – I wish I lived nearby!