Beer in Belgium

trademark

beer brewed by Trappist breweries

Lambic ( ; ; ) is a type of beer brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium southwest of Brussels since the 13th century. Types of lambic beer include gueuze, kriek lambic, and framboise. Lambic differs from most other beers in that it is fermented through exposure to wild yeasts and bacteria native to the Zenne valley, as opposed to exposure to carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeast. This process gives the beer its distinctive flavour: dry, vinous, and cidery, often with a tart aftertaste.

beer style

beer from Belgium

thumb|250px|Brasserie Château d'Or produced gueuze in Vilvoorde until 1954 thumb|160px|Brasserie de la Couronne, Uccle, Brussels

thumb|Dupont Brewery|Saison Dupont Vieille Provision, the archetype for modern saisons

thumb|right|Westmalle Tripel

The term dubbel (also double) is a Belgian Trappist beer naming convention. The origin of the dubbel was a strong version of a brown beer brewed in Westmalle Abbey in 1856, which is known to have been on sale to the public by June 1861. In 1926, the recipe was changed by brewer Henrik Verlinden, and it was sold as Dubbel Bruin. Following World War Two, abbey beers became popular in Belgium and the name "dubbel" was used by several breweries for commercial purposes.

Belgian beer style

Belgian beer style

beer flavored with fruit

the whole of both the variety of beer types and the method of brewing in Belgium.

thumb|Belgian framboise Framboise is a Belgian lambic beer fermented with raspberry. ( is the French word for raspberry, pronounced .)

thumb|right|Flemish estaminet Le Blauwershof ("the den of fraudsters") in [[Godewaersvelde, Nord, France.]] An estaminet is—in Picardy, French Flanders, Luxembourg, and Brussels—an establishment that serves various types of drinks, sells tobacco, and offers traditional games. The estaminets are part of the cultural heritage of these regions. In Brussels, a three-hundred-year-old estaminet is still open.

__NOTOC__ right|330px The High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers (Dutch: Hoge Raad voor Ambachtelijke Lambiekbieren, HORAL) is a non-profit organisation that brings together the gueuze brewers and blenders of the Pajottenland and Zenne Valley in Belgium.