Page 280 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

278  tr a vellers ’ 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
peasants 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 Detail from The Wedding Dance by Pieter
even large industrial concerns produce beer of a fine quality. Brueghel the Elder
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.
Chimay label with authentic Beer was a private domestic product until the monas-
Trappist mark teries took over and introduced hops to the process.
Today’s production is still controlled solely by the five
Trappist monasteries, although the brewers are most-
ly 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 differ-
ent strengths, and is best kept for many years before
Label for Westmalle drinking. The strongest Trappist beer is Westvleteren, Chimay served in its
Trappist beer from Ieper. correct glass

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 unferm ented 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 officially exempt from
EU hygiene regulations, 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
Lambic restaurants lay down their gueuze Brewer sampling beer from the vat at a brewery in
cherry beer for up to two years before it is drunk. Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Practical template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.7)
Date 5th March 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm