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Would you visit Italy, France or Spain without sampling the grape
of the region, in its fermented form? What about the fermented grain?
Which European countries make the greatest beers? Bordering on the
wine nations there is a similar east-to-west belt of beer countries.
The Czech towns of Pilsen and Budweis inspired the international
style of golden lager. The Germans have the most breweries, but
their beers are rendered similar by strict guidelines.
The European country with the greatest diversity of beers is Belgium.
Its beers are the most colourful, individualistic, even idiosyncratic,
anywhere in the world. They are not lagers; they have more in common
with the ales and stouts of Europe's other great brewing nations,
Britain and Ireland. You wouldn't ask for a "dry white" in France;
never ask for "a beer" (or "a lager") anywhere in the world, but
especially Belgium. If you do, you'll get a Pilsener-style brew
like Stella. Nothing wrong with that, but you could have found it
in your own local.
Here are some classics: "Wild" beers are regional to the Brussels
area. To the immediate West of the city, a loop on the river Zenne
almost isolates the town of Lembeek ("Lime Creek"). The town was
once a brewing centre, independent of provincial laws. The beer
of this area is variously spelled Lambiek or Lambic. It is brewed
from barley-malt and about 30 per cent raw wheat, but its defining
characteristic is "spontaneous" fermentation by airborne wild yeasts,
sometimes reinforced by cultures that live in cobwebbed galleries
laden with wine barriques full of beer. While an excellent ale can
be made in three weeks, and a very traditional lager in three months,
a lambic can take three years. Straight Lambic, almost still, and
tasting somewhere between dry sherry and cider, is hard to find.
Young and old are blended to achieve a Champagne-like sparkling
version called Geueze.
Fruits, notably the local morello cherry (called a Kriek in Flemish),
are used as a flavouring. An authentic Kriek beer employs whole
fruits, gaining almondy dryness from the stones, rather than pulps,
juices or essences. The commercial versions are sweetened, the most
traditional "Old" method is indicated by the words Oude (in Flemish
and Vieille (French).
A gentle introduction: Just off Brussels' Grand' Place, head down
an alley at 11 Rue Tabora for A La Bécasse, serving Lambic variations
from ceramic pitchers as in Bruegel's Day. The house snack, a plate
of sharp local cheeses, is the perfect accompaniment. At the opposite
corner of the square, walk all the way through the Royal St Hubert
shopping arcade to A La Mort Subite ("Sudden Death"), at 7 Rue Montagne
aux Herbes Potagères. This classic café was built in about 1880
and restored in 1926. It gives its name to a nationally marketed
range of Lambic variations. The other national range is Belle-Vue,
from Interbrew, makers of Stella. Belle-Vue has a brewery and tasting
room in Brussels' Molenbeek neighbourhood (43 Quai de Hainaut, tel
02-412-4411).
Connoisseur's choice: Very dry, traditional Lambics at the museum-like
Cantillon brewery, not far from Gare Midi, in Anderlecht (56 Rue
Gheude, tel 02-521-2891).
Day out: Six miles from Brussels, the small town of Beersel, with
a castle, has several renowned Lambic cafés. The most famous is
Drie Fonteinen (3 Teirlinck Plein), which brews its own Lambic and
serves dishes prepared with beer. At weekends, reservations are
recommended (02-331-06-52). Not to be missed.
White Beers are traditional to the towns east of Brussels, such
as Leuven (also the home of Stella) and
Hoegaarden (which gives its name to the best-known example). Witbier
or Bière Blanche uses 50 per cent wheat. This grain made for very
cloudy beers in the days before modern filtration techniques. This
revived style is usually served unfiltered. Wheat also imparts a
quenching tartness. The Belgian style of wheat beer is typically
brewed with Curaçao orange peels and coriander seeds. Summery, but
also good with fruity desserts. Almost every café has a "white"
on its beer-list.
Almost every brewery makes one, some with "recipe" variations.
Steendonk has a touch of cinnamon; Wittekerke the smoothness of
oats.
Brown
and Red Beers. The historic town of Oudenaarde, in the "Flemish
Ardennes", is known for toasty, nutty, slightly salty, brown ales.
The best-known example is the strong (.8-8.5 per cent) Liefmans
Goudenband. This is the perfect brew with which to prepare (and
accompany) the classic beef-in-beer stew Carbonade Flamande. Farther
West, there are redder, more acidic beers of a similar style, aged
for up to two years in fixed, ceiling-high, wooden vessels. The
most spectacular brewery in this style, with nearly 300 of these
tuns, is Rodenbach,
in Roeselare, West Flanders. A "must see" for the beer-lover; no
other brewery in the world has anything like so much oak.
Amber ales, similar in style to an English bitter, are made in
several parts of Belgium. A revered example is De Koninck, the local
beer of Antwerp. This soft, soothing brew is at its best on draught,
and always served in a bowl-like glass known as a bolleke (pronounced
bollocker, to the amusement of the British). Pub
crawl: Opposite the brewery, shot-glasses of yeast are available
on request, with a bolleke, at the Pilgrim, a cosy, basic, Belgian
pub (8 Boomgaard Str). De Koninck also features at the city's best-known
café, Den Engel, on the Grote Markt. Antwerp is full of great pubs.
In just one short thoroughfare, Reynders Str, you find a chapel
and chamber music at De Groote Witte Arend, jazz and blues at De
Herk; Belgian gins at De Vagant and a Belgian Beer Shop.
Golden
Ales. It is a myth that pale-coloured beers are lower in alcohol
and dark ones higher. If you think that, you are going to get very
drunk with Duvel (the name means Devil), at 8.5 per cent. If you
have already tried this ale, you might want to sample some other
"wicked" brews. Names range from Lucifer and Satan to Brigand, Boucanier,
Piraat. I tasted them all, and finished with Delirium Tremens (9
per cent). There is even a 10 per cent version called Malheur ("Misfortune").
Trappist and "Abbey" Beers. Several abbeys of other orders have
beers made on their behalf by conventional breweries. As recently
as 1996, farm buildings at the Cistercian abbey of Val-Dieu (between
Liège and Maastricht) were rented to a brewery, and its beers are
served at a tavern in the former stables. A further new brewery
has been established at the ruins of Abbaye D'Aulne.
The term Trappist may be used only by monasteries of that order.
There are six in Belgium, and each has a brewery. The sextet was
completed in 1998, when Achel installed a brewhouse. The abbey had
lost its kettles during World War I.
ACHEL: The world's only Trappist brewpub. That means you have to
visit the monastery to taste the beer. There is a terrace, and an
incongruously modern bar, in the monastery dating from 1845. The
most delicate, and least assertive, of Trappist beers. Achel (with
a guttural "ch") is in the Belgian hamlet of the same name, in the
community of Hamont, just across the border from the Dutch city
of Eindhoven.
CHIMAY:
Best known of the Trappist breweries, on the French border near
the town of Chimay. The port-wine character of Chimay is found in
the red-top or Première version (7 per cent) and more especially
the blue-top or Grande Réserve (9). Try the latter with Roquefort
or Stilton. The white-top or Cents (6) is leaner, much drier, and
more of an aperitif.
ORVAL:
Intensely dry and the most complex of the Trappist beers. Only the
one product is marketed, and it makes a wonderful aperitif. The
most beautiful of the Trappist abbeys, and in its present form the
youngest, built in the 1930s. Also the oldest, tracing its history
to 1070. Near Florenville, in the Belgian province of Luxembourg.
ROCHEFORT: In charcuterie heartland, in the Ardennes, East of Namur.
Rochefort's beers are rich, fruity and chocolatey, especially the
10°. Rochefort is the only abbey without an adjoining auberge, but
the town has inns.
WESTMALLE:
Near Antwerp. This abbey is famous for its Tripel (widely imitated,
but not yet equalled), a golden ale of 9 per cent, with a teasing
interplay of perfumy hoppiness and yeasty fruitiness. "What wine
could you drink with asparagus? Drink my beer!" I was told by brewer
Brother Thomas just before he retired. A life of denial?
WESTVLETEREN: Near Ypres, the war graves, and hop country. A new
blonde beer is powerfully hoppy, but the abbey is better known for
dark and malty brews, especially its 12°, sometimes known as Abt
(Abbot). The beers are served at a café called De Vrede, opposite
the abbey. From ten o'clock each morning beer is available by the
case from a sales window at the abbey.
Michael Jackson is the world's leading writer on beer (www.beerhunter.com).
His book The Great Beers of Belgium is published in English, Flemish,
French and Japanese by MMC of Antwerp, Prion of London, and Running
Press of Philadelphia.
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