Beer Tasting in Brussels
Belgium is known for a lot of things, most of which tend to be food. Chocolate, waffles, frites (fries…don’t dare call them French fries!) and beer. I don’t mind drinking beer now and then, but it’s not my drink of choice, so I wasn’t exactly jumping out of my seat when I found out we were scheduled to do a beer tasting in Brussels. But I ended up having a great time, and I actually liked each of the three beers we tried, and so an entire blog post is born. (Plus when one of my readers who comments probably more than anyone else specifically asks for a beer post, before I even left for Brussels, how could I say no?)
Chocolate and Beer
After we walked into the Spirit of Wallonia, we were led to a small courtyard in the back. As things were being set up for our tasting, our host Luc started telling us all about beer and passing around goblets of chocolate disks. Apparently certain chocolates go with certain beers. Any excuse to eat chocolate is fine with me!
Beer and Virgins
With his sarcastic demeanor and sharp sense of humor, Luc had us laughing the whole time we were learning about beer. We learned that lighter beers are malted at lower temperatures, and darker beers at higher temperatures, and that the foam actually protects the beer from oxygen. And since since Belgium doesn’t have to adhere to the strict rules for beer brewing that Germany does, lots of beers use ingredients such as coriander, orange peel, and other fruits.
He also told us that when it comes to hops, brewers only want the female flowers. Then he went on to explain that for a pils, they want the young, blond, unfertilized female hops because they make for a more bitter beer. “You want the virgins,” he told us. This got a good laugh out of our group.
Onto the Beers
Finally we got to taste the beer while being instructed to swirl the beer around in our mouths and pay attention to certain parts of our tongues. It was interesting, and I actually noticed most of the tastes he was referring to.
Each of the three beers had a higher alcohol content than your standard beers, so it was probably a good thing we didn’t have three full beers each. So what three beers did we try that evening? Here they are in the order we drank them:
Moinette – 8.5% alcohol. This one tasted good, definitely better than a pils.
Chimay – 9% alcohol. I surprised myself by liking a darker beer, and it was Andy’s favorite. Interesting fact, this one is made by Trappist monks.
Bush – 12% alcohol. (Ignore the glass it was in.) I thought this one was really good too. For me it’s a tie between this one and the Chimay. Although really, they were all pretty good.
I was pleasantly surprised by this fun evening, and I learned more than I thought I would about beer. And, I’ll admit, I had a bit of a buzz before we even got to dinner that night.
Thank you to Belgien Tourismus for hosting us! All opinions are my own.
September 6, 2012 @ 9:27 AM
What a great combination! John would love this…
September 6, 2012 @ 10:11 AM
Well, next time you’re in Brussels….
September 6, 2012 @ 1:07 PM
This was an AWESOME POST Ali:)! I never knew that the Belgians associated drinking beer with chocolate and virgins all at the same time. But who am I to stop them when they’re onto a good thing?
I agree with Andy. I think I would have gone with the Chimay as favorite and the fact that this one is the one made by the Trappist Monks only adds to my favoritism of it. The Bush looks okay but at 12 percent alcohol I may have wanted to steer clear of it for fear it may be just a bit too bitter.
Now a post on beer would totally be remiss of me if I held onto this awesome beer ad that’s just come out last week here in Australia for Carlton and United Breweries – a major mass market producer. It’s for their Carlton Draught product which to be honest with you tastes awful but their ads are always crackers. So here’s the link for it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GbHpqfv9is Enjoy!
September 6, 2012 @ 11:56 PM
I’m glad you enjoyed it Matthew! (By the way, in case you didn’t realize, you’re the reader I was referring to at the beginning.) As I said, the Chimay and the Bush were a tie for me, and I could see myself siding with the Bush simply because it’s a little lighter which means I could drink a little more. Although with that high alcohol content, maybe not. Hmm. Though it didn’t taste too bitter, I think you could handle it, especially if I can handle it.
Thanks for the youtube link, I’ll check it out when I get home from Portugal next week. Sounds like a funny commercial!
September 7, 2012 @ 12:04 AM
The ad is super funny, especially at the start. It’s 80s themed and very Australian in it’s humor. I think you’ll it.
And thank you for the mention in your article too:)
September 6, 2012 @ 3:35 PM
I actually surprised myself by enjoying beers in Germany – I am not usually a big beer drinker but I guess when you go somewhere where they take beer seriously, you get the good stuff. As for eating chocolate with it, I can definitely get on board with that!
September 6, 2012 @ 11:58 PM
Thanks Julia! Very true, definitely a good idea to have beer (or whatever really) in a place that knows what they’re doing with it. And I was more than happy to have some chocolate!
September 7, 2012 @ 2:02 AM
I would love to do a beer tasting. Tasting them side by side like this allows you to really compare the flavors. Yum!
September 7, 2012 @ 4:57 PM
It was really fun! Hopefully you’ll get a chance to do one like this someday soon.
September 7, 2012 @ 11:47 AM
Good to see you gave it a go even though you wouldn’t normally drink beer. I had a hard time trying to get my fiance to try Belgian beer with me when we were there – but she had a great time, too!
September 7, 2012 @ 4:59 PM
Thanks Simon! The thing that surprised me most was liking the dark beer, that’s usually definitely off limits for me. But it was good, and it was a really fun evening!
September 11, 2012 @ 12:54 AM
I a huge Belgian beer fan. A local restaurant here does a Belgian Beer Festival every year and they asked me to be their photographer last year. I fell in love with most of the beers I tried, especially Delirium and the Trappist beers. A trip to Belgium to do a beer tour is going to happen in the next few years.
September 11, 2012 @ 8:57 PM
That sounds like fun! Belgium is definitely the place to go for a beer tour, I really enjoyed it. I haven’t tried Delirium though, but maybe another time. I’m not sure how easy it is to get some of the Belgian stuff in Germany.
September 11, 2012 @ 10:14 AM
I love all beer! I would’ve loved to do this especially with the chocolate accompaniment.
September 11, 2012 @ 9:02 PM
It was really fun! I still can’t believe how much I enjoyed the beer since it’s normally not my thing, but Brussels may have converted me.
I love Belgian beer - Grounded Traveler
September 29, 2012 @ 2:45 PM
[…] of me with the beer. Here are the three we were given to try. The details of each beer come from Ali’s notes. I wasn’t so much paying attention to the […]
December 4, 2012 @ 3:31 AM
Great post, makes me thirsty just reading it! I hope to find myself wandering around Belgium sampling beer some day soon. They do beer like no other place!
December 4, 2012 @ 4:00 PM
Thanks Adam! Belgium is definitely a great place for beer. I”m not even a big beer drinker and I really enjoyed the beer tasting.
December 10, 2012 @ 5:13 AM
This is beer-tastic! I’m a big fan of the Chimay
December 10, 2012 @ 10:59 PM
I was so surprised I liked it since I don’t typically like darker beers. But now I want to go back to Belgium!
October 8, 2013 @ 9:55 PM
Yes please! We are contemplating a trip to Brussels next month and I was so pleased to find one of your posts detailing exactly the kind of thing I would want to do there. Looks divine – I can’t wait to eat/drink EVERYTHING.
October 9, 2013 @ 12:04 PM
I honestly don’t know if the exact type of beer tasting we did was specially arranged for our group or if it’s something that place does on a regular basis, but I’d definitely recommend checking them out first. They guy was so funny and interesting, and the beer was delicious. We love Brussels, have fun!