Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

SPECIALITY BELGIAN BEERS

WHERE TO EAT 283

BLANCHE BEERS

Belgium’s refreshing

wheat beers are known as

blanche, or white beers,

because of the cloudy

sediment that forms when

they ferment. Sour, crisp

and light, they are rela-

tively low in alcohol at

5 per cent. Blanche is

produced in the Brabant

town of of Hoegaarden,

after which the best-

known blanche brand

is named. Many people

now serve them with

a slice of lemon to add

to the refreshing taste,

especially on warm

summer evenings.

HOW TO DRINK BELGIAN BEER

There are no snobbish distinctions made in Belgium

between bottled and casked beer. Some of the most

prestigious brews are served in bottles, and, as with

casks, bottles are often laid down to mature. However,

the choice of drinking glass, is a vital part of the beer-

drinking ritual. Many

beers must be drunk

in a particular glass,

which the barman

will usually supply.

These range from

goblets to long thin

drinking tubes. Beers

are often served with

a complementary

snack – cream cheese

on rye bread and

radishes are a popu-

lar accompaniment.

Duvel De Verboden

Vrucht

Chimay Brugse Tripel Kwak

Speciality beers are common in Belgium, where
the huge variety of brands includes unusual
tastes and flavours. For a characterful amber ale,
Kwak is a good choice. Fruit beers are a Brussels
speciality but are available throughout the coun-
try. The most popular, kriek, is traditionally made
with bitter cherries grown in the Brussels suburb
of Schaerbeek. Picked annually, these cherries
are added to the lambic and allowed to macerate,
or steep. The distinctive almond tang comes from
the cherry stone. Raspberries are used to make a
framboise beer, or frambozen.
Strong beers are also extremely popular. These
include the pilseners De Verboden
Frucht (The Forbidden Fruit)
and Duvel (Devil). Leffe
Radieuse holds 8.2 per cent
alcohol by volume, while
at 10.5 per cent, Hainaut’s
Bush beer ranks among the
strongest. The bestsellers,
Jupiler and Stella Artois,
are also good-quality beers. The façade of a beer emporium in Brussels

The traditional drinkers’ snack of

fromage blanc on rye bread

Fruit beer mat of

Chapeau brewery

Hoegaarden