The Lawspeaker
10-03-2018, 01:21 PM
Simeon Joffe | Beerology: Exploring the unique beer culture of Belgium (https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/simeon-joffe-beerology-exploring-the-unique-beer-culture-of-belgium,539962)
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The most common or well-known Belgian beer types are the Trappist and abbey beers.
Photo provided by The Associated Press
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Posted Friday, May 18, 2018 2:42 pm
By Simeon Joffe
In general, the beer world with its ale versus lager dichotomy could be divided, in terms of classic beer countries, between England and the continent. By the continent, in this case, we are really talking about Germany and Bohemia.
The two traditions are at the root of most of the beer culture that spread around the world. Germany and Bohemia are responsible for lagers, light and dark. England, on the other hand, is responsible for the ales that have colonized the world, pale ales, IPAs, stouts and so on.
You've heard all of this before, at least from me. But stuck in between these two great beer traditions, at least geographically, is Belgium with its own unique beer culture. By and large, the Belgian beers have not been exported, as much as these two other traditions, and Belgian styles are only recently being interpreted outside of Belgium. This might have to do with the absolutely idiosyncratic nature of their beers and beer culture.
The little country in northern Europe is home to a host of beer types, including, but not limited to, abbey beers; Trappist beers; wit beers; blonde ales; lambic beers (including gueuze and fruit lambics); tripel; dubbel; Flemish red; Oud Bruin; quadrupel; saison; Bi re de Garde; Champagne beer; stout and the list goes on.
Belgian brewing methods can be pretty quirky compared with established brewing techniques. For example, in addition to top-fermented beers (ales) and bottom-fermented beers (lagers), the two categories that dominate the world of beer, in Belgium they have also have beers fermented through"spontaneous" fermentation, as well as through "mixed fermentation."
The term spontaneous fermentation refers to letting things take their natural course, without actually pitching any yeast. Usually in breweries (and often in wineries, too), after the wort has been cooled down, yeast is added, and a pretty controlled fermentation is all but assured. But in Belgium, with lambic beers, the wort is added to barrels, where natural yeasts and bacteria lay waiting, and the fermentation process begins on its own.
In mixed fermentation, after part of a beer is fermented (top fermentation), part is pumped into barrels, where those lactic bacteria and wild yeast go to work. The beer is often then blended with young beer.
I think the most common or well-known Belgian beer types are the Trappist and abbey beers. They are similar in their many substyles, the difference being that authentic Trappist beers are actually brewed by monks in Trappist monasteries, abbey beers need not be brewed in a monastery at all. Trappist beers are a general category and actually come in a range of styles, including dubbel (usually dark, slightly bitter and sweet 7 percent alcohol); tripel (7 to 10 percent alcohol. Blonde, malty and alcoholic tasting, refermented in the bottle); quadrupel over 10 percent alcohol and otherwise.
Lambic is an old style of beer that is also the base of gueuze and fruit beers (for example, kriek). It is brewed with a portion of unmalted barley and a generous amount of older hops. It is left to cool out in the open (an old technique long abandoned by most brewers) and fermented in wooden vessels that inoculate the beer with a wide variety of microorganisms. It can take quite a long time to finish fermentation.
Gueuze is a blend of young lambic and older lambic, refermented in the bottle. Faro is a blend of young lambic and light beer with some brown sugar added for sweetness.
Kriek and other fruit beers are produced by adding fruit to lambic and causing a secondary fermentation.
Another anomalous Belgian beer style is the Flemish red (and Oud Bruin). These have mixed fermentation, mentioned above, and are often stored for up to three years. They involve blending older and younger beers, and adding sugar. The brown version is maltier than the red versions, but both of them are slightly sour.
I really have only scratched the surface. There isn't enough time or space to explore all of the different styles. I hope to do another column soon that explores this a bit more, and I will be doing some more research toward that, one bottle at a time. Feel free to go out there and start researching for yourself. It is really much easier to learn about beer styles if you taste them. Belgian beers are fun, though often high in alcohol, and so you might have to enlist some friends or colleagues to help out.
There is one more thing that cannot be ignored when you talk about Belgian brewing. The largest brewer in the world is AB Inbev. In the 1960s, the Belgian brewery Artrois started buying other Belgian breweries, until its thirst could be satisfied only with foreign beers and its consumed the Canadian brewery Labatt. The flood gates opened, and it bought huge brewers all over the world, including Anheuser Busch, in 2008. It is now the largest brewery and most, but not all, of its product line is filled with light "international pilsner"-style of beers, including Budweiser and Stella Artois. So, the home of all of those idiosyncratic beer styles is also the home of the biggest producer of generic international style beer.
Simeon Joffe is a master brewer and winemaker who lives in New Marlborough. Send your beer-related questions via The Berkshire Eagle at 75 S. Church, St., Pittsfield, MA, 01201.
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/uploads/original/20180518-144227-AP_04031005499-T5_84779.jpg (https://www.berkshireeagle.com/uploads/original/20180518-144227-AP_04031005499-T5_84779.jpg)
The most common or well-known Belgian beer types are the Trappist and abbey beers.
Photo provided by The Associated Press
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/uploads/thumbnail/20180518-144227-AP_04031005499-T5_84779.jpg
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/uploads/thumbnail/20180518-144222-AP_110119111273-T5_22609.jpg
Posted Friday, May 18, 2018 2:42 pm
By Simeon Joffe
In general, the beer world with its ale versus lager dichotomy could be divided, in terms of classic beer countries, between England and the continent. By the continent, in this case, we are really talking about Germany and Bohemia.
The two traditions are at the root of most of the beer culture that spread around the world. Germany and Bohemia are responsible for lagers, light and dark. England, on the other hand, is responsible for the ales that have colonized the world, pale ales, IPAs, stouts and so on.
You've heard all of this before, at least from me. But stuck in between these two great beer traditions, at least geographically, is Belgium with its own unique beer culture. By and large, the Belgian beers have not been exported, as much as these two other traditions, and Belgian styles are only recently being interpreted outside of Belgium. This might have to do with the absolutely idiosyncratic nature of their beers and beer culture.
The little country in northern Europe is home to a host of beer types, including, but not limited to, abbey beers; Trappist beers; wit beers; blonde ales; lambic beers (including gueuze and fruit lambics); tripel; dubbel; Flemish red; Oud Bruin; quadrupel; saison; Bi re de Garde; Champagne beer; stout and the list goes on.
Belgian brewing methods can be pretty quirky compared with established brewing techniques. For example, in addition to top-fermented beers (ales) and bottom-fermented beers (lagers), the two categories that dominate the world of beer, in Belgium they have also have beers fermented through"spontaneous" fermentation, as well as through "mixed fermentation."
The term spontaneous fermentation refers to letting things take their natural course, without actually pitching any yeast. Usually in breweries (and often in wineries, too), after the wort has been cooled down, yeast is added, and a pretty controlled fermentation is all but assured. But in Belgium, with lambic beers, the wort is added to barrels, where natural yeasts and bacteria lay waiting, and the fermentation process begins on its own.
In mixed fermentation, after part of a beer is fermented (top fermentation), part is pumped into barrels, where those lactic bacteria and wild yeast go to work. The beer is often then blended with young beer.
I think the most common or well-known Belgian beer types are the Trappist and abbey beers. They are similar in their many substyles, the difference being that authentic Trappist beers are actually brewed by monks in Trappist monasteries, abbey beers need not be brewed in a monastery at all. Trappist beers are a general category and actually come in a range of styles, including dubbel (usually dark, slightly bitter and sweet 7 percent alcohol); tripel (7 to 10 percent alcohol. Blonde, malty and alcoholic tasting, refermented in the bottle); quadrupel over 10 percent alcohol and otherwise.
Lambic is an old style of beer that is also the base of gueuze and fruit beers (for example, kriek). It is brewed with a portion of unmalted barley and a generous amount of older hops. It is left to cool out in the open (an old technique long abandoned by most brewers) and fermented in wooden vessels that inoculate the beer with a wide variety of microorganisms. It can take quite a long time to finish fermentation.
Gueuze is a blend of young lambic and older lambic, refermented in the bottle. Faro is a blend of young lambic and light beer with some brown sugar added for sweetness.
Kriek and other fruit beers are produced by adding fruit to lambic and causing a secondary fermentation.
Another anomalous Belgian beer style is the Flemish red (and Oud Bruin). These have mixed fermentation, mentioned above, and are often stored for up to three years. They involve blending older and younger beers, and adding sugar. The brown version is maltier than the red versions, but both of them are slightly sour.
I really have only scratched the surface. There isn't enough time or space to explore all of the different styles. I hope to do another column soon that explores this a bit more, and I will be doing some more research toward that, one bottle at a time. Feel free to go out there and start researching for yourself. It is really much easier to learn about beer styles if you taste them. Belgian beers are fun, though often high in alcohol, and so you might have to enlist some friends or colleagues to help out.
There is one more thing that cannot be ignored when you talk about Belgian brewing. The largest brewer in the world is AB Inbev. In the 1960s, the Belgian brewery Artrois started buying other Belgian breweries, until its thirst could be satisfied only with foreign beers and its consumed the Canadian brewery Labatt. The flood gates opened, and it bought huge brewers all over the world, including Anheuser Busch, in 2008. It is now the largest brewery and most, but not all, of its product line is filled with light "international pilsner"-style of beers, including Budweiser and Stella Artois. So, the home of all of those idiosyncratic beer styles is also the home of the biggest producer of generic international style beer.
Simeon Joffe is a master brewer and winemaker who lives in New Marlborough. Send your beer-related questions via The Berkshire Eagle at 75 S. Church, St., Pittsfield, MA, 01201.