Personal Review — Beers in Belgium: the thirst to know more
Our group of international students coming from Mexico, Serbia, Austria, Holland, Spain, and France visited the Beer Museum in Bruges on November 19. This visit blew us away, we knew that beer was major in the flat country, but none of us expected what we discovered and experienced.
Trappist beers, Flemish red, Abbey beers, Tripel… So many different types of Belgian beers, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and lost. Before coming to Belgium, I had no interest in beers and did not know a single thing about the national drink, but how can one embrace Belgium’s culture without learning how to love and understand its beers?
Imagine yourself, drinking a true Belgian beer while savoring fries with mayonnaise in a typical pub with your friends, this is how you experience, live, and learn to love the Belgian culture.
Since I came to Kortrijk, I have been trying to like the strong taste of beer; in order to “fit in” my new country, I was forcing myself to drink “real Belgian beers” with an important percentage of alcohol in them. 2,000. In Belgium, you can find over 2,000 different beers, staggering, isn’t it? With this number of beers in the country, why was I forcing myself to drink strong beers?
Beers in Belgium are ubiquitous, anyone could find the favorite beer to drink in a pub thus embrace the Belgian culture.
Pouring is an art. Pouring in special branded glasses is part of the culture. To fully enjoy a beer, it is crucial to pour it the way it is supposed to. Even though my love for beers is surely doubtable, I have always been immersed in this beer culture because of my dad. Nevertheless, the pouring of a beer never ceases to amaze me.
Hence, pouring is important, but why is choosing special branded glasses crucial for the process? Each beer has its own characteristics, some have finer or thicker bubbles, others have thinner or creamier heads. These specific characteristics require specific glasses, each glass is made for one beer, its shape varies depending on the characteristics of the beer.
The pouring has not started yet, and still, there are already many rules to follow. The choice of the glass is fundamental, as well as its angle. Indeed, the glass must be at a 45° angle while pouring the beer into the glass, however, the neck of the bottle should never touch the froth or the glass. As you can see, there are many rules to follow in order to taste a beer in optimal conditions but ensure to try this at home and reach out to the Belgian culture.
When you think about the rules to pour a beer, you know it is likely possible to have rules to taste it as well. Undoubtedly. Looking, smelling, and tasting. Those are the steps to properly taste a beer.
What do you see?
Lager, amber, brown… The colour talks to you, it tells you about the age and the fermentation of the beer. If you are fonder of light beers like me, you could be able to know whether you like a beer or not, depending on its colour.
Can you smell that?
The visual characteristics of a beer are a good starting point to the process of tasting, but other senses must play their role as well. Smelling. You may do that naturally when you have a glass of beer in your hands, but it may not be as effective as it should be. To do so, take the glass in the palm of your hand and gently swirl the beer to release the aromas of hops, malt, and yeast.
I will have to admit, this part of the tasting process is hard for me, some people can smell many different aromas, and others can’t distinguish them.
How does it feel?
Now, you can finally taste it. The beer is imbibing your tongue and palate with its aromas. The tongue is the core element in this, it is stimulated in different areas when tasting. Sweetness is tasted on the top of the tongue, saltiness on the front side, sourness on the backsides, and bitterness in the middle of the back of the tongue and in the throat.
What you taste while drinking a beer is not its real taste, the aftertaste is the essential component of any beer, it persists in the throat and gives you an idea of the beer’s taste.
Having the chance to discover the culture of a country through its specialties is one of the best ways to experience it. Beers in Belgium are one with the culture and the rules and traditions around them are awe-inspiring. I started on the wrong foot with beers, but I am pleased that my stay here in Kortrijk is altering this.
