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Belgian Beer - History & Background

There are 125 breweries in Belgium where 500 different types of Belgian Beer are brewed each year. The art of brewing beer has been carried out in this European country since the Middle Ages and initially it was only carried out by monks in monasteries. Now Belgium is a country where the most varied number of beers are brewed each year.

The alcohol content of these particular beers is considerably higher than some of the other varieties available in Europe and in some cases it reaches a level of between 6 and 8 percent. Breweries were forced into making higher alcohol content beers because a law was passed stating that spirits (which beer was classed as) could not be drunk in public houses. However, although this law stood for many years it was finally rescinded back in 1983.

As previously mentioned Belgium now produces around 500 different types of Belgian beer and they fall into one of several different categories. Below we take a look at just what these different categories of beer are.

Trappist Beer - Only beer that is brewed in one of 6 monasteries in Belgium can be classified as being this type of beer. The whole process of brewing the beer should have either been overseen or carried out by the Trappist monks who reside at the monastery where beer is produced. Each bottle of beer that is brewed comes with a label on it clearly indicating that it is the genuine Trappist product and that monastery has complied with rules decreed by the International Trappist Association.

Lambic Beer - A very unique Belgian beer where wild yeast that grows around the country's capital Brussels is used in the fermentation process. But this is not a beer that is brewed quickly in fact the fermentation of the beer can take from several (3 to 6) months to complete to sometimes taking between two and three years to ferment.

The fermentation process used to make this type of Belgian beer provides it with a very distinctive flavor and is not to everyone's tastes. The problem is that the beer can taste dry, cidery and vinous and this results in a sour aftertaste when drunk.

Fruit Beers - These beers are a variation of the Lambic beers and are made through adding either fresh fruit or fruit concentrate to the Lambic. The most commonly produced one is known as Kriek which is made using cherries but there are plenty of others made using fruits such as peaches, blackcurrants or raspberries. The fruit when added to the Lambic beer causes a second fermentation process to take place in the beer.

White Beer - This is the final Belgian beer we are going to be looking at and is made with wheat hops and also contains spices. Most of these beers are generally made using orange peel and coriander in them but dependent upon the brewing method used and what ingredients are included within the process the various different types of white beer have their own distinctive flavors.

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It is very easy to see how belgian beer is so loved amongst beer and ale lovers throughout the world. Belgian fruit beer as mentioned above is also loved but it can be a very distinctive taste.

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