This browser does not support the Video element.
Capitol Hill pub pours Belgium brews ahead of the World Cup
As the Belgian national football team makes the Sounders training facility in Renton their official World Cup home base, one Capitol Hill pub owner is sharing his love for Belgian culture through authentic abbey beers.
SEATTLE - With Belgium's national football team now in the Pacific Northwest for FIFA World Cup, one Capitol Hill pub is offering fans a chance to connect with the country's brewing traditions.
The Belgian team is using the Seattle Sounders' training facility in Renton as its home base throughout the tournament.
Meanwhile, inside Capitol Hill's Stumbling Monk, owner Rob Linehan continues a decades-long focus on Belgian beer culture.
Rob Linehan, owner of the Stumbling Monk in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. (FOX 13 Seattle)
A Belgian beer destination in Seattle
Tucked away on a Capitol Hill corner since 1998, the Stumbling Monk is filled with bottle caps, barrels and beer memorabilia.
Linehan described it as a "unique little space" and noted that it was never intended to be a sports bar.
The pub specializes in Belgian beers, a passion Linehan has had since he first visited the country on a backpacking trip.
Linehan said he believes Belgium produces some of the world's best and most interesting beers.
For a country of its size, he said, Belgium offers an impressive variety of brewing styles, from barrel-aged lambics to beers brewed by monks in abbeys.
Continuing a family legacy
For Linehan, the business is also a connection to his family's history.
He said photographs displayed in the pub once hung in his grandmother's pub in Ireland.
According to Linehan, his grandmother operated her own pub for 68 years.
That experience helped shape the Stumbling Monk, which he said was influenced by Irish pub culture while maintaining a focus on Belgian beer.
Bottle of Westmalle, a "Trappist" beer produced in a Catholic monastery in Belgium.
No watch parties planned
Linehan said he plans to attend Belgium's match against Egypt next week, but fans hoping to watch games at the Stumbling Monk may want to make other plans.
He noted that the pub has only a small television and that watch parties are not in the works.
Still, visitors can stop in for a Belgian beer and experience a piece of Belgium without leaving Seattle.
MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE
21-year-old charged with human trafficking at Bellevue, WA 'OnlyFans house'
Troopers arrest teens for climbing Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Seattle nurse, US park ranger dies on duty climbing Mount Mckinley in Alaska
2.9 magnitude earthquake strikes near Oak Harbor
Kittitas deputy arrested: Sheriff announces felony charges
No phones allowed for Phoebe Bridgers concert in Seattle this fall
22-year-old crashes into Kitsap County deputy's patrol car
To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.
The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Lauren Donovan.