Belgian Beer Part 1
Belgium is the beer lover’s paradise. There are 125 breweries in the country. The largest brewery in the world, Inbev, calls belgium home. In total, there are over a thousand types of Belgium beers. With so many beers its a good thing Belgium also has literally thousands of pubs, or “cafes”, as they are called in Belgium.
So the numbers are pretty staggering. It makes me thirsty just thinking about it. What is just as amazing is the diversity of all the beers. From Pils to Lambics, I’ll introduce you to the beauty of all the Belgian Beers.
Pils
The Pilsner-style lager, or Pils, is often call “table beer” in Belgium. While the region is famous for its unique ales, the pils makes up almost 75% of the their beer production. The Belgian Pilsner is a light colored, smooth tasting, bottom-fermented beer. The best knone pils from Belium is Stella Artois. However the Belgian drink more Jupiler than anything else.
Witbier
Wit mean white, bier mean beer. Its a pale golden color, tart, and wheaty. Its generally got stuff floating around the bottom (sediment). You’ll certainly taste the wheat in a witbier. If you’ve had a German hefewiesse you’ll taste a similarity except witbiers generally have coriander, and orange. To describe the witbier in one word, the word would be “refreshing”. As an example, there is the ever popular Hoegaarden.
Trappist/Abbey Ale
Trappist ales are brewed almost exclusively in Belgium. In fact they are brewed exclusively brewed in 7 abbeys, or monasteries. They are Westmalle, Westvleteren, Chimay, Rochefort, Orval, Achel, and La Trappe. They are all in Belgium except La Trappe, which is in the Netherlands. Abbey ales mimic Trappist ales. Some are licensed under a monestary but can’t use the trappist name since it not brewed by or supervised by a trappist monk.
I’ll tackle the rest of the beer types in the second installment. Stay tuned
