On July 30th, we talked all about Belgian beer culture and did a whistle-stop tour through several different Belgian beer styles.
To listen back, find a recording of the session below:
Video: Beer Culture in Belgium
In 2016, UNESCO declared Belgian beer culture part of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity“. Instead of starting off with a long list of style descriptions, I think this video is a helpful way to immerse yourself in Belgian beer culture visually.
A few things to call your attention to (besides the beer, of course!) are the importance of glassware and the importance of cooking with beer.
A brief history of Belgian beer
We’ve got two short articles to read here, as neither quite tells the full story.
The first gets a few dates wrong about the introduction of hops and doesn’t mention the revival of Belgian brewing in the 1920s and 1930s (post-WWI), but you’ll find more on those two topics in the second article.
https://www.visitflanders.com/en/themes/belgian-beer/a-brief-history-of-belgian-beer/index.jsp
https://belgibeer.com/en/blog/the-history-of-belgian-beer
And now, an overview of Belgian beer styles
This article’s a long one, but it makes for a friendly introduction to the many different styles of Belgian beer.
http://allaboutbeer.com/article/belgium-diverse-beer-styles-delectable-brews/
PS. For more on the legal definition of an ‘Authentic Trappist Product’ and a list of the 14 current Trappist breweries see below. (We’ll go into more detail on all this during the session.)
https://www.trappist.be/en/about-ita/atp-label/
https://www.trappist.be/en/products/beers/#
See you on Thursday, July 30th at 6:30pm BST to talk and taste our way through the beers of Belgium!
Natalya Watson, Beer Sommelier 