Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

282 TRAVELLERS’ NEEDS

Belgian Beer

Belgium makes more beers, and in a
greater mix of styles and flavours, than
any other country in the world. The
nation’s breweries produce over 400
different beers, and even small bars will
stock at least 20 varieties. The Belgian
citizen drinks on average 100 litres
(200 pints) a year. Even the cheerful peas-
ants in Brueghel the Elder’s 16th-century
medieval village scenes would have been
drinking beer from the local brewery, as most small
towns and communities have produced their own beer
since the 11th century. By 1900, there were some 3,000
private breweries throughout Belgium. Today, more than
100 still operate, with experts agreeing that even large
industrial concerns produce beer of a fine quality.

TRAPPIST BEERS

The most revered of refreshments, Belgium’s Trappist beers have been

highly rated since the Middle Ages when monks began brewing them.

The drink originated in Roman times when Belgium was Gallia Belgica,

a province of Gaul. Beer was a private domestic prod-

uct until the monasteries took over and introduced

hops to the process. Today’s production is still

controlled solely by the five Trappist monasteries,

although the brewers are mostly laymen. Trappist

beers are characterized by their rich, yeasty flavour.

They are very strong, ranging from 6.2 to 11 per cent

in alcohol content by volume. Perhaps the most famous

of the five brands is Chimay, brewed in Belgium’s largest

monastic brewery in Hainaut. This delicate but potent

bottled beer has three different strengths, and is best

kept for many years before drinking. The strongest

Trappist beer is Westvleteren, from Ieper.

LAMBIC BEERS

The unique family of lambic beers has been made
for centuries in the Senne valley around Brussels.
The beers are brewed by allowing the yeasts pre-
sent in the air to ferment the beer, rather than by
adding yeasts separately to the water and grain
mix. Containers of unfermented wort (water, wheat
and barley) are left under a half-open
roof in the brewery and fermented by
airborne yeasts that are specific to this
region of Belgium. Unlike the sterility
of many breweries, lambic cellars are offi-
cially exempt from EU hygiene regula-
tions, and deliberately left dusty and
uncleaned in order for the necessary
fungi to thrive. Matured in untreated
wooden casks for up to five years, the
lambic is deliciously sour to drink,
with a strength of 5 per cent alcohol.
Young and old lambic beers are
blended to produce the variant gueuze.
A tiny bead, distinctive champagne
mousse and a toasty, slightly acidic
flavour are its characteristics. Bars and
restaurants lay down their gueuze
for up to two years before it is drunk.

Detail from The Wedding Dance

by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Gambrinus,

the legendary

Beer King

Chimay label with

authentic Trappist mark

Label for Westmalle

Trappist beer

Brewer sampling beer from the vat at a brewery

in Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels

Chimay served in

its correct glass

Lambic

cherry beer