Or a nice Blanche (eg Hoegaarden) in the summer!!
It’s always a bit strange for us Belgians to see that craft breweries are considered as special in other countries.
True, there has been a boom in special beers (which is what we call the beers that usually aren’t on tap) since the 1980’s. It’s just that we’ve always had amber beers, trappist ales, sour beers and the like in every pub in the country.
And most of our local beers have always been special beers. After all, there’s not much you can do with lager. If you want flavor, you need top fermentation.
Anyway, it is somewhat nice to be able to walk into any pub in the country and to know they’ll have at least a dozen or so special beers to choose from.
I come from Birmingham uk and there are plenty of local brewers there, often in the back of a pub producing some great beer, the midlands have a brewing tradition so that helps. I now live in the Lake District and there are a few specialist brewers up here, the scenery helps too!
Like you I don’t class lager as beer.
Must be nice, having a good beer and watching those vistas.
Biggest difference with our beers, though is that our special beers have a relatively high alcohol volume percentage. Last time I was over in the UK someone recommended a “smashing local IPA”. I forgot the name. The volume percentage was only 3.8. Wasn’t a good experience.
That said, I’ve drunk some wonderful real ales in the UK.
IPA if memory serves me correctly stands for India Pale Ale. It was designed for the troops out there and as such was low alcohol as a refreshing drink in the heat but to prevent them getting drunk. I guess you discovered that for yourself!
True of the original English IPA’s exported to India but the modern craft beer IPA originated in the USA and is very hoppy and high alcohol. My favourite is 7.4%.
True. In Belgium though, we’re used to higher volume IPA. It was introduced in Belgium in 1909 when John Martin, an Englishman, set up a brewery in Antwerp.
As far as I know these Pale Ales have always had a volume percentage around 6%.
It’s a strange experience to drink something with a comparable taste but with something undefinable missing.
Sláinte!
Real Ales… apparently something steeped in politics!
England used to drink ale which was made from vegetation pretty much. No grain bill here - fermented herbs, berries, road kill (ok maybe not). Apparently it was sickly sweet and tasted horrific. But it did the job - drink enough and forget about how miserable life is. Apparently Henry VIII sent spies over to Europe to find out about this stuff called beer - it was all very hush hush because Henry was falling out with the Church and Europe and it wouldn’t sit well with the locals apparently. Beer (the good old water, malted grain, yeast, hops) became the drink of the royal court. They started introducing an adapted form of it into wider consumption but kept the original name - Ale.
So yes we call it “real ale” but the real stuff apparently was horrid.
These days I have my trusty Grainfather going - @Mike_O_Neill - haven’t had anything from the “Big Boys” in about 5 years I don’t think. When travelling I always seek out the local craft brews or micro breweries. In SA I did used to drink Carling Black Label, mainly because it wasn’t popular but at that time you had SAB and later on Namibian as your choices.
Beer Wars is an interesting documentary about the big boys vs craft. There are actually a few decent documentaries on the rise of craft beer and breweries.
Pale ales I believe were less volume here traditionally. They were taxed at a lower rate than stronger beers like stout which I think is why landlords started mixing them and made Black and Tan.
When trying some cider from a jug in a pub in Herefordshire and a rugby mate from the area said ‘there’s a bit of rat in there’. On questioning he stated and the brewer confirmed that a bit of meat helps the fermenting process.
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Though we have some truly horrible beers (over 1600 varieties, there’s bound to be a few crappy ones) I don’t think we’ve got meat based beers.
We do have some excellent beer infused dry sausages though.
Dried sausage and beer sounds perfect to me!
Carling Black Label was, probably still is. The largest volume in SA. It’s an SAB brand BTW, originally Canadian but licensed to SAB years ago
In SA, the majority of beer (85%) + is bottled in 750 ml “quarts” , there is often no price differential between brands and hence % alcohol. CBL is 5.5%, compared with its fellow beers at 4.5 or 5% hence in the main market it’s bang for bucks.
The craft market in SA i tiny tiny . Even Windhoek, Namibia is a very small brand . SAB used to produce 25 million x 100L units annually , not sure since I retired, big volume for a population of 63 million who stats show only 31% drink !
No chemical or biochemical logic to that , I believe the hygiene standards cause it along with CO2 causing rats to fall in open fermenters , UGH …
Please note I have no knowledge of the process personally!
Brewing has plenty of tall tales , I have no doubt it happens , marketing and the like. It’s unlike it significantly changes the fermentation. Cider and beer yeasts are quite different, and yes amino nitrogen is vital for a healthy fermentation but meat doesn’t provide amino nitrogen, just higher molecular weight proteins …
Don’t fear to much the pH of beer is so low no pathogenic bacteria can survive .
Beer and wine is obviously common as a marinade for preparing meat , due to that low pH
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Lovely. I’m learning new stuff. Thanks guys.
Other weird bits of beer knowledge: the traditional local beer in the region where I live (to the west-south west of Brussels) can only be brewed locally. This Lambiek beer ferments because of the airborne wild yeast that only occurs here (and for full disclosure in one other part of Flanders).
These Lambieks are then blended to produce Geuze (or Gueuze). These beers can be cellared for long periods. If you’ve got the patience, buy some in a cork-stoppered bottle and tuck it in the cellar for 10 years. It’s amazing.
Spoken like a true master brewer, I’m from a brewery town and know one or two. I served the mandatory spell or three in two breweries. I never graduated beyond rolling barrels and working on the canning line.
Interesting that it is the highest volume - although thinking it through not so much. Growing up there was no choice other than SAB. It was marketed to a sector of the population - which wasn’t the sector I was in. Hence the appeal. It was my “rebellion”.
Brazil is the world’s third largest beer market (after China and the US); not to mention that Inbev, the world’s biggest beer maker, is almost totally managed by Brazilians.
As for craft breweries, they are all over the place in the country, with some excellent boutique production particularly from the Southeast. Brazil is currently the second most innovative craft beer market in the globe:
Just a few examples: