Beer Paradise

The small country of Belgium produces more beer styles than any other country in the world. The book "All Belgian Beers" lists 752 different beers and only 42 are lagers. The rest are top frermenting ALES.

The Belgian Tourism Agency promotes Belgium as "beer paradise", and they are absolutely right!

So whilst Belgium may be home to the worlds biggest brewing company (AB Inbev, owners of Stella, Becks, Budweiser etc), it also has a huge number of small independent and very traditional brewers. So what do these`small independent breweries produce?

• Most concentrate on producing "ales" not lagers with alcohol strengths from 3% to 12%, with colours from nearly white to black.
• There are 6 abbeys that produce beers to earn money to maintain their abbeys. And only these 6 can call their beers "Trappist".
• There are commercial breweries who produce beers named after abbeys (paying them for the use of the name) or beers brewed to taste similar to the Trappist ales.
• There are old brown beers - which are aged for several years.
• There are beers that are brewed using wheat and barley rather than just barley that are naturally cloudy and are very refreshing.
• There is a very old tradition in Belgium for using fruit, particularly cherries in the brewing proccess.
• There are very strong beers, which are more wine than beer!
• There are beers brewed by spontaneous fermentation - that's using yeast blowing around in the atmosphere
• Some breweries use herbs and spices in their beers
• And there are beers blenders who mix beers to get the tastes they want
• And we could go on

So here is some help and advice to get you started

Most of these beers are naturally conditioned in the bottle - this means the beer is not pasteurised but is still a living beer. The bottle will contain a small amount of yeast, so that the taste continues to develop in the bottle.

So during transportation the yeast may have been disturbed and will need to settle back to the bottom of the bottle. So please store upright for at least 24 hours before opening.

Don't worry about needing to drink these beers soon after buying in case they go off just check the best before dates, they will normally be a good time away (possibly several years).

Getting ready to sample a beer or two

Wheat beer must be kept in a fridge before drinking.
Blond and Amber beers should be kept in a fridge before drinking.
Dark and Fruit Beers should be kept in a COOL 'pantry' or fridge before drinking.
Remember the beer has a sediment so bottles should be poured carefully into a glass that will hold the contents of the bottle.

The custom with Wheat Beer is to empty the bottle into the glass, including the sediment. It will be cloudy, it is intended to be.

With other Belgian ales there is some disagreement but the norm is to pour the contents slowly down the side of a glass, to get a reasonable head, but leave the last couple of millimetres in the bottle so not adding the sediment to produce a clear beer.

In a Belgian bar you will be brought the beer and the appropriate branded glass. The waiter will pour the beer for you, and leave the empty bottle and filled glass in front of you with the brand logos pointing away from you, so other drinkers can see what good taste you have! We have the special glasses for some of the beers, there are many shapes and many will swear the right glass improves the taste; it may be all in the mind but!

One very important statement though - these beers should not be drunk from the bottle. They are developed and brewed to be sipped out of an appropriate glass.

Source: the Belgian Beer Shop Malta