Beer in Belgium: history, traditions and breweries
Since 2016 Belgian beer culture has been part of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. Hardly any country has so many distinctive beer styles.
History
The area of today’s Belgium was already beer country in the Middle Ages. Towns such as Bruges earned money from the right to sell gruit, a herb mixture used for flavouring, and monasteries and villages brewed for their own needs.
Belgium never had a purity law. So spices, fruit, sugar and wild yeasts remained allowed, and styles such as witbier, saison, lambic and the strong abbey beers developed.
After the French Revolution many monasteries were dissolved. In the 19th century the Trappist monks returned and started brewing again, for example in Westmalle (1836), Westvleteren (1838) and Chimay (1862).
From 1919 to 1983 the Vandervelde Act banned serving spirits in cafés. This helped make strong beers particularly popular in Belgium.
Lambic survived in the Pajottenland and in Brussels: beer that ferments spontaneously with wild yeasts from the air and matures for years in wooden casks. In 2016 UNESCO declared Belgian beer culture part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Traditions and drinking culture
Almost every Belgian beer has its own glass, and many cafés offer beer lists with hundreds of beers. Beer is drunk with food and also used in cooking, for example in the beef and beer stew carbonade flamande.
Every September the Belgian Beer Weekend on the Grand-Place in Brussels celebrates the country’s beer culture.
Fun facts
- Westmalle brewed the first tripel in 1934, a pale, strong abbey beer that is now brewed all over the world.
- Duvel means “devil”: in the 1920s a taster is said to have called the new beer “a real devil”.
- The Kwak glass has a round bottom and stands in a wooden holder. Legend has it that it was meant for coachmen who wanted to fix their beer to the carriage.
- The monks sell Westvleteren 12 only by reservation and in small quantities – and they do no advertising.
- Lambic brewers traditionally brew only in the cool season, roughly from October to April. In summer there would be too many unwanted microbes in the air.
- Since 2016 beer in Bruges has flowed through a pipeline over 3 km (about 1.9 miles) long under the old town, from the De Halve Maan brewery to the bottling plant.
Typical beer styles
Beer cities and their stories
Antwerp
Legend has it that the giant Druon Antigoon demanded a toll from the boatmen on the Scheldt and cut off the hand of anyone who refused to pay. The hero Brabo defeated him and threw the giant’s hand into the river – “hand werpen” (throwing the hand) is said to have given the city its name. The hand is still the symbol of Antwerp and also appears in the logo of the De Koninck brewery (since 1833): it goes back to a stone toll hand near the inn the brewery grew out of. In Antwerp you simply order its beer as a “Bolleke”, after the round glass.
Bruges
The lords of Gruuthuse held the right to tax gruit, the herb mixture used to flavour beer before hops. Their palace is now a museum. The De Halve Maan brewery, owned by the same family since 1856, has been pumping its beer through a pipeline about three kilometres (about two miles) long under the old town to its bottling plant since 2016.
Ghent
At the Dulle Griet beer bar you only get the big “Max” glass against a deposit: one of your shoes, which is hoisted up to the ceiling in a basket. The noose (“strop”) is a symbol of the city: in 1540 Ghent’s leaders had to beg Emperor Charles V for mercy with ropes around their necks, which the beer “Gentse Strop” recalls. Since 2009 the Gruut brewery has again been brewing beers flavoured with gruit instead of hops.
Brussels
Lambic is brewed in the area around Brussels. The Cantillon brewery (since 1900) still ferments it spontaneously in the old way and is also a living museum. On the Grand-Place stands the brewers’ guild house with a brewing museum.
Leuven
The Den Hoorn brewery is mentioned in Leuven as early as 1366. Sébastien Artois bought it in 1717, and in 1926 Stella Artois was created here, first as a Christmas beer – “Stella” means star. Today AB InBev, the largest brewing group in the world, has its headquarters in Leuven.
Mechelen
Beer has been brewed in the Great Beguinage since the 15th century, today by the Het Anker brewery. Its Gouden Carolus is named after the gold coins of Emperor Charles V, who grew up in Mechelen. Later the emperor even had Mechelen’s brown beer brought all the way to his monastery in Spain.
Westvleteren
The monks of the Abbey of Saint Sixtus have been brewing since 1838 and only as much as they need to support themselves. Many consider their Westvleteren 12 one of the best beers in the world; the bottles have no label, and the beer is mainly sold directly at the abbey.
Orval
Legend has it that Countess Mathilda of Tuscany lost her wedding ring in a spring, and a trout brought it back. She named the place “Val d’Or”, golden valley. The trout with the ring is still the emblem of the Trappist beer Orval.
Hoegaarden
In the late 1950s the last witbier brewery here closed. In 1966 Pierre Celis, who had helped the last witbier brewer as a boy, started brewing the beer again and made it world-famous.
Poperinge
Belgium’s hop capital is surrounded by hop fields. A hop museum tells the story of hop growing, and every three years the town holds a big hop festival.
Roeselare
The Rodenbach brewery (since 1821) matures its Flanders red ale in huge oak vats called foeders, which fill an entire hall.
Beersel
This village south of Brussels is a centre of lambic. The spontaneously fermented beers of the Drie Fonteinen and Oud Beersel breweries mature here in wooden casks.
Breweries and their stories
De Koninck
Grew out of an inn on what was then the edge of the city, next to a stone toll hand – hence the hand in the logo. The “Bolleke” is Antwerp’s city beer; since 2010 the brewery has belonged to Duvel Moortgat.
Known for: De Koninck („Bolleke“)
Cantillon
Family brewery that still ferments lambic and gueuze spontaneously in the traditional way. It only brews in the cold season, when the wild yeasts and bacteria from the air inoculate the wort well.
Known for: Gueuze 100 % Lambic, Kriek, Rosé de Gambrinus
Westvleteren
The smallest Trappist brewery. The beer is mainly sold directly at the abbey after reservation, and the bottles carry no label.
Known for: Westvleteren 12, 8 und Blond
Westmalle
Brewing since 1836, it invented the tripel in 1934. Westmalle’s dubbel and tripel are regarded as the models for their styles.
Known for: Tripel, Dubbel
Chimay
The monks have been brewing since 1862 and also make cheese. The three main beers are recognised by their red, white and blue caps.
Known for: Chimay Blau, Rot und Weiss
Orval
The brewery was founded in 1931 to finance the rebuilding of the abbey. It essentially brews a single beer, which re-ferments in the bottle with the wild yeast Brettanomyces.
Known for: Orval
Duvel Moortgat
The Moortgat family founded the brewery in 1871. After the First World War it brewed a strong ale that was soon called “Duvel” – “devil”. Today Duvel is Belgium’s best-known strong golden ale.
Known for: Duvel
Rodenbach
Four Rodenbach brothers bought a small brewery in 1821. Their Flanders red ale matures in large oak vats and tastes pleasantly tart.
Known for: Rodenbach Grand Cru
Dupont
Farm brewery whose Saison Dupont is regarded as the classic of the saison style.
Known for: Saison Dupont
Het Anker
Brews in the Great Beguinage, where beer was already brewed in the 15th century. Known for Gouden Carolus.
Known for: Gouden Carolus Classic
De Halve Maan
Family brewery in the old town with its own beer pipeline under the streets of Bruges.
Known for: Brugse Zot, Straffe Hendrik
Stella Artois
Goes back to the Den Hoorn brewery; Stella Artois was created in 1926 as a Christmas beer and is now known worldwide.
Known for: Stella Artois
Timeline
- 1366Leuven
The Den Hoorn brewery is mentioned in Leuven – the origin of Stella Artois.
- 1471Mechelen
Beer is brewed in the Great Beguinage of Mechelen. Today the Het Anker brewery brews its Gouden Carolus here.
- 1540Ghent
Ghent’s city leaders have to beg Emperor Charles V for mercy with a noose around their necks. The beer “Gentse Strop” recalls this.
- 1821Roeselare
Four Rodenbach brothers buy a brewery in Roeselare. Its red beer still matures in huge oak tuns.
- 1833Antwerp
An inn on the edge of town becomes the De Koninck brewery. In Antwerp you simply order its beer as a “bolleke”.
- 1836Westmalle
The Trappists of Westmalle start brewing. In 1934 they invent the tripel.
- 1838Westvleteren
The monks of Saint Sixtus start brewing – to this day only as much as they need to live on.
- 1856Bruges
The De Halve Maan brewery in Bruges passes to the family that still owns it today.
- 1900Brussels
The Cantillon family founds its brewery in Brussels. Its lambic still ferments spontaneously with wild yeasts from the air.
- 1926Leuven
Stella Artois is launched as a Christmas beer – “stella” means star.
- 1931Orval
A brewery is founded at Orval to pay for rebuilding the abbey. On the label: the trout with the ring.
- 1956Poperinge
Poperinge celebrates its first Hoppefeesten, the big hop festival that has been held roughly every three years since.
- 1966Hoegaarden
Pierre Celis brews witbier in Hoegaarden again – and makes the almost vanished style world-famous.
- 2016Bruges
De Halve Maan’s beer now flows through a pipeline under the old town to the bottling plant.
- 2016whole country
UNESCO adds Belgian beer culture to the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.