Belgium is celebrated for its rich, complex beers. But, boy, they pack a punch, writes Jamie Smyth
BEER IN BELGIUM isn't like beer elsewhere. I found that out to my cost on my first visit to one of Brussels's many estaminets, or small cafe-style pubs. Like most Irishmen, I'd always prided myself on my ability to down several pints of the black stuff without falling off my stool. But after six glasses of a brew called Chimay Bleu I could barely stand, never mind talk.
This was my first encounter with Trappist beer. It gets its name from the monks who make it near the town of Chimay, in southern Belgium. (They make Belgium's best-known Trappist beers; the others are Orval, Westvleteren, Rochefort, Westmalle and Achel.)
The Bleu is a dark brown ale that contains a meaty 9 per cent alcohol and has delicious hints of pepper and sandalwood. Like other Trappist beers, it demands a more contemplative drinking style than most Irish people are used to.
"Drinking Trappist beer is more like drinking wine, and you should be careful," says Philippe Moortgat with a laugh. He is managing director of the Union of Belgian Brewers, one of the world's oldest professional organisations; it can trace its origins back to the 16th century. "But people here drink all types of beer. It is in our culture to try different beers at different times. When you sit at a terrace in summer, people drink refreshing Pils or a white beer; in winter, people like stronger beers, with alcohol, taste and character."
The Trappist monks began perfecting brewing in Belgium during the Middle Ages; selling the results provided welcome funds to build and maintain their monasteries. But the country's beer-making tradition dates back more than 2,000 years. It was first chronicled by Julius Caesar, who rode through Belgium with his army in the first century BC. The country is also home to the world's biggest brewer, InBev, which owns household brands such as Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe, Becks and even Bertie Ahern's favourite tipple, Bass.
But it is the sheer variety of beer available in Belgium that attracts the attention of enthusiasts from all over the world, many of whom spend their holidays visiting the country's 120 breweries to view the latest process or technique. Those 120 breweries make about 470 beers, in almost a dozen styles. Besides Trappist ales and Pils, the most popular with the "beer hunters" - typically, middle-aged men searching to discover the secrets of Belgian brewing - are abbey beers, fruit beers, wheat beers, red beers and wild, or lambic, beers (which use airborne rather than cultivated brewer's yeast).
"You just don't get beer like this any more," says Richard Burke, a beer lover originally from Skibbereen, Co Cork, as he downs a glass of gueuze, a type of lambic beer, in the tasting room at Cantillon, a brewery nestled in a working-class district of central Brussels. "Nowadays everything is so mass-produced and standardised. You can taste the difference in this. It's a bit like the beer we got 30 years ago in Gerald O'Briens pub on Main Street in Skibbereen. I could become addicted to this," says Burke, who used to brew beer as a hobby and visited many breweries when he lived in Canada.
Gueuze is made by blending two or more lambics to create a secondary fermentation. The original "beer hunter", the late British author Michael Jackson, described this process as adding a "champagne-like sparkle" to the brew. The result is dry, tart and fruity, with 5 per cent alcohol.
The gueuze and other lambic beers brewed by Jean Van Roy at Cantillon use organic grain and benefit from a clean, fresh lemon taste that is a welcome relief from the sugary sweetness of many mass-produced beers.
"We produce about 200,000 bottles per year, which is really quite small, and so we rely on visitors to the brewery to make us commercially viable," says Van Roy, who recently took over the brewery from his father. (Van Roy snr still helps out with the 30,000 annual visitors.)
The Cantillon brewery provides an insight into the history of brewing. Before Louis Pasteur got to grips with the micro-organisms, such as yeast and bacteria, that float around us in the air, all beers were lambic. It was only in the mid 19th century that brewers began to add their own yeast, to help fermentation and create a standard product.
"There are just a handful of lambic breweries left, because it is financially very difficult beer to make, and tastes have changed, with people seeking sweeter beers in the last 20 years. It takes us two years to produce our beer; many commercially brewers make new batches in a few weeks," says Van Roy, pointing to a large mashing tun where he crushes wheat and malt barley before adding warm water to create wort, which is transformed into beer when hops are added and fermentation is complete.
Unlike the sterile environments found in modern breweries, Cantillon uses old wooden spatulas to mix the ingredients. Cobwebs and mould cling to the stone walls and the roof, producing bacteria that are another essential ingredient of the fermentation process.
"When we replaced the roof we made sure we used a third of the old tiles, because of all the wild yeasts that exist in the building," says Van Roy, who calls the fermentation room in the brewery a special sanctuary that creates the distinctive taste of his beers.
Lambic beers are coming back into favour as consumers change their habits and look for more complex beers, says Moortgat, of the Union of Belgian Brewers, while sampling a dark abbey beer in the bar of the small beer museum on Grand Place in Brussels.
"Wine is often viewed as an aristocratic, upper-class drink in Belgium, while beer for years was seen as working class. But we are introducing more sophisticated thinking for beer as well now," he says. "Each beer in Belgium is served in its own glass, with the right width of neck to keep a good head on the beer and allow people to smell the beer properly. We also organise beer-festival weekends and tastings for the public."
Beers also make up an important part of traditional stews, sauces and even some desserts served in Belgian restaurants.
But, for me, you can't beat the simple pleasure of ruminating over a Chimay Bleu in a smoky estaminet. And after two years of living in Brussels, as The Irish Times's European Correspondent, I've learned to respect Belgian beer and its brewers. It's not how many you drink that counts but the way that you drink it.
Go there
Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus. com) flies from Dublin to Brussels twice a day. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies from Dublin to Brussels South Charleroi Airport, 45km from the city, twice a day during the week and once a day at weekends. It also flies from Shannon on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Where to enjoy a beer in Brussels
À la Mort Subite, or the Sudden Death pub, shares it name with the lambic beer brewed by its owners, the Vossen family. Try the refreshing raspberry lambic on tap, order a plate of cheese and salami and sit back and enjoy one of Brussels's most welcoming pubs. Rue Montagne-aux-Herbes Potagères 7. www.alamortsubite.com.
Cirio feels a bit like the old Bewley's on Grafton Street in Dublin, with its laid-back atmosphere and reputation as a place to watch the world go by. Famous for its half-and- half cocktail (half champagne and half white wine) this cafe, with its art-nouveau decor, offers the abbey beers Grimbergen and Leffe on tap and dozens of bottled beers. Next to the stock exchange at Rue de la Bourse 18-20.
Delirium claims to stock more than 2,000 beers. Located 100m from Brussels's main visitor attraction, Grand Place, this 18th-century basement pub attracts a lot of tourists. But for sheer variety of beers, both Belgian and foreign, it cannot be beaten. Impasse de la Fidélité 4A. www.deliriumcafe.be.
In't Spinnekopke, or the Spider's Web, is a traditional Belgian restaurant that serves a range of beer-containing food, including desserts.
You can wash down Belgian specialities, such as waterzooi or veal-head casserole, with one of the more than 100 artisanal beers on the menu. To finish, try the cherry-beer sorbet. 1 Place Jardin Aux Fleurs. www.spinnekopke.be.
The Cantillon brewery, just a five-minute walk from Brussels's main train station, Gare du Midi, provides a fascinating insight into lambic brewing. 56 Rue Gheude, www.cantillon.be.
10 top Belgian brews
1 A perfect summer beer with a sour taste, which has been mellowed by oak-cask ageing during fermentation. Green apple and redcurrant add a nice fruity flavour.
2 Westmalle Dubbel My favourite Trappist beer is reddish brown and has a dry aftertaste. It also makes your tongue fizz. As it is 7 per cent alcohol, drink it with care.
3 Chimay Bleu The cause of one of my biggest ever hangovers comes from the best-known Trappist brewery. It is refermented in the bottle.
4 Cantillon Kriek A good summertime beer, sour yet fresh, with the cherry flavour coming through at the end. Contains a modest 5 per cent alcohol.
5 Grimbergen Blonde A popular abbey beer (brewed in a stand-alone brewery rather than in a monastery). Golden in colour and sweet in taste, it is 7 per cent alcohol.
6 Jupiler Pils This is Belgium's most popular beer and sponsor of its football league. Sold cheaply in most bars, it is a standard, easy-to-drink beer.
7 Leffe Blonde Probably the best known abbey beer, Leffe is fragrant, sweet and fruity, with about 6.5 per cent alcohol. Leffe Brune has a deeper, richer flavour.
8 This Trappist beer has acquired a cult status. It is also rationed, sold only from the monastery shop. Each car is limited to taking away a single crate.
9 This world-famous wheat beer is almost white, with an alcohol content of 4.8 per cent. It is a summer favourite in Belgium and abroad.
10 Its name comes from the Flemish word for devil, and Duvel is indeed a wicked beer, with 8.5 per cent alcohol. A golden ale that commands respect from drinkers.