Try searching for the ‘beer capital of the world’ and Google will throw up everything from Munich to Milwaukee. The 21st century has seen a record increase in ‘Beer Tourism’ and a host of cities queuing up for some of the action. Beer nerds might disapprove, but there’s a new wave of beer snobbery on the rise — it’s no longer about just guzzling down at the local pub with your mates. Belgium’s beer culture is quite similar to the French obsession with wine. You don’t drink beer in Belgium, you taste it.
Maybe it was all these ‘Johnny come latelies’ — the sudden emergence of beer cities all over the globe — that prompted the Belgians to shed their inherent reticence and set the record straight about their beer traditions. It began in the Middle Ages; the monks in Southern Europe received special privileges to drink stipulated amounts of wine. The quality of drinking water was deemed unsanitary and the monks in Belgium chose beer over wine. The abbeys became hubs for experiments and, soon, beer discoveries like Hoegaarden — the wheat beer that was first brewed in 1445 — were made.
It wasn’t until 2007 that the Belgian Family Brewers, a close-knit group of 20-odd family-owned breweries, was formed. Each of these breweries (mostly in the Dutch-speaking Flanders region) boasts at least 50 years of uninterrupted brewing.
I got my first ‘taste’ of the Belgian traditions at Timmermans, located at Itterbeek, just outside Brussels. Possibly the world’s oldest Lambic brewery (founded in 1702), its original name was La Taupe. Yeast was an unknown entity then, and Timmermans used spontaneous fermentation (without yeast) to craft their Lambic beers in a tradition that continues till date. Ask the brewers here about their most important ingredient and chances are they’ll say ‘air’. Timmermans is one of the many breweries that now welcome visitors who are interested in beer-making techniques or just finding a quiet corner in their bar. Their brews are served with
Not all beer accompaniments are that uncomplicated. In the ’70s, restaurants like Himmelhof pioneered the art of beer gastronomy. It wasn’t just food crafted for beer but also food that used beer as ingredient. The late ’70s were an important time for Belgium’s beer industry. The abbeys lost their exclusive privileges just after the French Revolution, which saw the rise of a whole new generation of beer entrepreneurs. The Revolution was soon eclipsed by the beer revolution of the 19th century — production breakthroughs like yeast culture and Czech pilsners coupled with technological advances. In no time about 3,000 breweries had mushroomed all over Belgium; almost every village had its own.
The fizz didn’t last forever; the first blow was the World War I. I made an unscheduled stop at Ieper, one of the fierce battlegrounds of this war where thousands (large numbers of Indians too) lost their lives. The conquering Germans requisitioned almost all the copper vats, bringing the industry to a virtual standstill. Almost every corner of Belgium has stories of how entire villages helped hide large vats and equipment to escape the attention of the Germans, suggesting that Belgians love their beer as much as their lives. The Great Depression was the next big blow. The downward slide continued till the ’60s, when the flower power generation made many things, including Belgian beer, cool. The tipping point had to wait till the ’70s; Beer guru Michael Jackson (equally revered as MJ in the drinking circles) put the spotlight back on the Belgian brew. Not all beers are rooted in the past; breweries around Belgium are also innovating.
It’s a balmy Saturday morning and I’m sipping out of a glass that resembles a champagne flute in a cosy salon at Buggenhout, a village about an hour from Brussels. Except, this is no sparkling wine but one of the many innovative beers that are winning a lot of attention even outside the country. This was the residence of the Bosteels, a seventh-generation family brewery set up in 1791. It’s now reserved for special guests and is located just next door to their brewery.
The DeuS Brut des Flandres is probably where beer meets champagne — a blend of sparkling wine techniques like disgorging (lees removal process) blend with beer-making. Bosteels calls them ‘divine grain bubbles’, I merely nod in approval. Bosteels’ most famous brew, however, dates back to the days when the stagecoach owned the road. Kwak was developed as a ‘coachman’ beer in a unique tall glass designed for those who sipped their ‘one for the road’ on a stagecoach. Every single beer in Belgium comes with a unique glass — at last count there were an assortment of at least 1,500 types of beer glasses in Belgium. Not easy if you’re Delirium Cafe; this Brussels landmark stocks 2,000 varieties of beers.
Delirium is the brainchild of Alain de Laet, the ambitious CEO of Huyghe Brewery, another family-owned brewery an hour from picturesque Ghent. This beautiful, picture-postcard town does not get the same attention as Bruges but is probably more charming. The large student population adds an interesting vibe and so does being low on hype. An ancient canal winds through stunning buildings, offering scores of photo opportunities, while Etablissement Max serves the most delectable Belgian waffles. Huyghe is one of the most visitor-friendly breweries with a tiny museum and a bar with an enthusiastic crew. I got a crash course on the ‘how to pour a glass of Belgian beer with two fingers of foam’. Huyghe has taken the speciality beer route with a portfolio that includes organic, fair-trade and gluten-free labels. There’s also room for an ‘Abbey-style’ beer — Averode, a tribute to the country’s historic abbeys.
Not all Belgian Family brewers are boutique breweries, Duvel (translates to ‘devil’) is Belgium’s third largest beer manufacturer and has cult followers all over the world (India included). This company has successfully managed to find the sweet spot between a craft brewery and a large facility. Duvel’s beers go through an additional six-week cold fermentation process, which doubles its production time but the results are well worth it — their signature beer is remarkably pale for a brew with 8.5 per cent alcohol. Duvel’s Moortgat facility has taken beer gastronomy to another level. A range of handpicked cheeses are paired with speciality beers; snobbish wine sommeliers might nod in approval.
Travel log Getting there : Almost all the best breweries are within a couple of hours from Brussels. Jet Airways operates direct flights to Brussels from Mumbai and Delhi. You could also connect via Dubai or Abu Dhabi (On Emirates or Etihad from all major Indian metros). Getting around : Hire a car or take a train to get from one brewery to the next. No brewery is more than a couple of hours away from the other; you should be able to cover good ground in two-three days. Stay : Hilton Brussels Grand Palace ( www3.hilton.com ) makes the perfect base. It’s just across the road from the Brussels train station and close to the city’s major museums and attractions. Explore : If you don’t have time to drive around, take one of the half-day Belgian Craft beer tours (www.brusselsbeertours.com) in Brussels that cost approximately €50 each. BLink Tip : Not all breweries are open to the public. You can check for visitor details on the Belgian Family Brewers website, which has links to all the breweries ( www.belgianfamilybrewers.be ) |
Ashwin Rajagopalan is a lifestyle writer based in Chennai