Belgian ABCs (Amazing Beer & Chocolate)

9/23/2013

Market Square in Bruges, Belgium

Belgians are renowned for their beers so I thought as a bartender I should take a beer lesson during our visit. I spent an afternoon reading and taking notes about the history, the brewing process, and the many different types of beer on the internet before planning our bar hop.

Famous Belfry in Market Square: Bruges, Belgium

                           

Beer was being made in Belgium before it was an independent country. Monks were given permission, by the Catholic church, to make and sell low alcohol content beer as a part of fund raising. Beer was seen as a more sanitary option than water at the time. The process the monks created was mastered over the next seven centuries and is now considered the artisan method and the only one that can be classified as a Trappist beer. To be classified as a Trappist beer it must be made in a monastery by monks who also receive a portion of the profit. Although the term Trappist does not describe a specific type of beer it just identifies where the beer comes from.  Barley, hops, and yeast are the three main ingredients in beer; but the process in which they are mixed creates the variety of beer we have in the world today.

                              

Our beer tasting bar hop was split up between two cities in Belgium; De Panne, a small coastal city, and Bruges. Below I will describe some of the Belgian beers and tell you our thoughts on the flavor. The type is in bold, the brand is in italic followed by our description.

Blonde or Golden Ale

This is the archetypal Belgian ale. This is a pale ale that is light in color and taste.

*Leffe Blonde: Light, slightly like ginger with a smooth after taste.

*Grimbergergen: warm, golden taste, very drinkable.

*Duval: The most popular Belgian blonde but our least favorite.

Dubbel is on the right

Dubble

One of the Trappist style beers, usually brown in color, with between 6-8% alcohol content.

*Bruin Dubble: Spicy, acidic and malty.

Flemish Red

In this beer the malt has been roasted, mixed with a special culture then aged in oak barrels.

*Rodenbach: Citrus fruit at first, then a mouthy crisp after taste.

Lambic

This is a wheat beer created by spontaneous fermentation in stead of like most beers that use a carefully cultivated stain of brewers yeast. Then the beer is aged for six months up to three years. There are three different types of Lambic beers. 1. Gueuze- which is when the three year old beer is mixed with the 6 month old beer. 2. Fruit- which has fruit or fruit concentrate added to it. The most common is Kriek, which is made with sour cherries. 3. Faro- made with sugar or caramel which enhances the fermentation process.

*Mort Subite: So smooth it I almost did not know it was beer.
*Kriek: Sweet and sour, similar to a wine cooler.
*Hoegarden Rosee: Raspberry, sweet, light, 3% alcohol content.

                                                                 

A beer buzz is not the only type of buzz we experienced in Belgium. Belgians are also known for their chocolate so we risked getting diabetes and indulged in way too much sugar. Chocolate shops are more common than pubs in Bruges and sweets are cheap.

                                         

 We went to at least 3 different gourmet chocolate shops and only spent about 3 euro at each for 150 grams, thats about 7 pieces of chocolate. 21 pieces of chocolate in less than one hour is hard to do even for someone with a sweet tooth like myself but we wanted to experience as many flavors as we could. 

Our favorite flavors included: dark chocolate with mandarin orange filling, caramel, orange cream filled, milk chocolate filled with whiskey and caramel, vanilla bean, crème brulee, champagne with sprinkles, coconut, and chocolate mint. Now that I have enticed you go have some chocolate and drink some beer!