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A tradition of beer and fun, a history of pleasure
Beer is an alcoholic fermented beverage, originating in Babylon (around 3000 BC). The brewing of beer is a complex chemical process, but the main ingredients are simple: water, cereal grain, hop and yeast. Depending on the flavour one desires, the brew master will change the type and amount of ingredients where necessary.
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- Water is the medium of beer. It used to play an important role in the choice of beer style. Today, however, many breweries can change their water to their liking. Of course, having your own water spring is ideal for the quality of the beer.
- Cereal grain provides the necessary starch to convert fermentable sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The extent to which malted barley is dried or even roasted also plays an important role in the colour of the beer. (barley, wheat, rice, maize, buckwheat, spelt,…)
- Hop is a homogamous climbing plant, the female hops of which contain lupuline, a yellow powder between the bracts of the hops. Among other things, this substance gives beer its bitterness and shelf life. With regard to this ingredient as well, the brewer has a choice of several varieties, depending on whether he wants to make the beer more bitter or more aromatic. In addition, it has a preserving effect. The brewer must try to achieve an ideal ratio between the hop and wort, a good 'marriage' as he calls it, taking into account the properties of the various hop varieties. He also determines the precise time at which to add the hops, since this makes a huge difference as well.
- Yeast procreates thanks to oxygen. This single-celled plant allows different types of beers to be brewed. In the absence of oxygen, it eats the fermentable sugars in the wort (the non-fermented beer) and converts them into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Again, the brewer can use various types of yeast!
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| Beer consumption through the years
Belgium is not only the beer country par excellence due to its more than 600 great beers, but because it is the only place where brewers still apply the four traditional fermenting methods (top, bottom, spontaneous and mixed fermentation). Concretely, this means that all beer types can be found in Belgium. Moreover, beer is also an important ingredient of Belgian gastronomy, from grandmother's stew to complex dishes for true connoisseurs.
In 2006 the beer consumption of an average Belgian was estimated at around 90 litres per person. Consumption has shrunk somewhat over the years, but with this amount Belgians are still worthy of being called great beer drinkers. Our forefathers were even greater beer drinkers, with an estimated consumption of a whopping 300 litres per person per year. Around 1500, one to two litres of beer could be consumed per person per day in Mechelen. In those days, hardly any water was drunk and there were no soft drinks, coffee or tea yet. Wine did exist, but was only meant for the top class of the population. Drinking water was a risk, since all the cleaning and washing waste ended up in rivers and canals. To purify the water, it was boiled and used to make some of the most delicious beers…
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