Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
bring out their flavor, different beers are served at cold, cool, or
room temperature, and each has its own distinctive glass. Whether
wide-mouthed, tall, or fluted, with or without a stem, the glass is
meant to highlight the beer's qualities. A memorable Belgian beer
experience is drinking a Kwak beer in its traditional tall glass. The
glass, which widens at the base, stands in a wooden holder, and
you pick the whole apparatus up—frame and glass—and drink.
As you near the end, the beer in the wide bottom comes out at you
quickly, with a “Kwak! Kwak! Kwak!” Critics say this gimmick
distracts from the fact that Kwak beer is mediocre at best.
To get a draft beer in Bruges, where Flemish is the dominant
language, ask for
een pintje
(ayn pinch-ya; a pint), and in Brussels,
where French prevails, request
une bière
(oon bee-yair). Don't insist
on beer from the tap. The only way to offer so many excellent beers
fresh is to serve them bottled, and the best varieties are gener-
ally available only by the bottle. “Cheers” is
proost
or
gezondheid
in Flemish, and
santé
(sahn-tay) in French. The colorful cardboard
coasters make nice, free souvenirs.
Here's a breakdown of types of beer, with some common brand
names you'll find either on tap or in bottles. (Some beers require
a second fermentation in the bottle, so they're only available in
bottles.) This list is just a start, and you'll find many beers that
don't fall into these neat categories. For encyclopedic information
on Belgian beers, visit www.belgianstyle.com.
Ales (Blonde/Red/Amber/Brown):
Ales are easily recognized by
their color. Try a blonde or golden ale (Leffe Blonde, Duvel),
a rare and bitter sour red (Rodenbach), an amber (Palm,
De Koninck), or a brown (Leffe Bruin). The last surviving
Bruges beer is the prize-winning Brugse Zot (Bruges Fool),
a golden ale.
Lagers:
These are the light, sparkling, Budweiser-type beers.
Popular brands include Jupiler, Stella Artois, and Maes.
Lambics:
Perhaps the most unusual and least beer-like,
lambics
are
stored for years in wooden casks, fermenting from wild yeasts
that occur naturally in the air. Tasting more like a dry and bit-
ter farmhouse cider, pure
lambic
is often blended with fruits to
counter the sour flavor. Some brand names include Cantillon,
Lindemans, and Mort-Subite (“Sudden Death”).
r it
lambics
include those made with cherries
(kriek)
,
raspberries
(frambozen)
, peaches
(pêche)
, or black currants
(cas-
sis)
. The result for each is a tart but sweet beer, similar to a dry
pink champagne. People who don't usually enjoy beer tend to
like these fruit-flavored varieties.
White
(Witte):
Based on wheat instead of hops, these are
milky-yellow summertime beers. White beer, similar to a
Hefeweizen in the United States, is often flavored with spices
