The warm autumn came to an abrupt ending this week when high winds and heavy rain hit most of Europe and also Brussels. So what to do then? Indoor activities are an alternative and there are quite a few to choose between. I decided to start with some cultural undertakings. Brussels has a lot of museums several of them are located in Mont des Arts (Kunstberg) the art town of the city.
View from Kunstberg over old town
On this small hill overlooking the city is the home of Magritte Museum, BELvue, Coudenberg (former Royal Palace), ING Cultural Centre, Church of St Jean sur Coudenberg, Museum of Musical Instruments, The protestant Chapel, Royal library, Square, Bozar, Cinematiek, Museum of the National Bank, The National Archives and Museum of Fine Arts. With the Brussels Card it is possible to buy 24-48-72 hour’s free access to over 30 museums in Brussels including the ones at Kunstberg. Included in this pass is also free transportation during the period. The card costs 20€ for 24 hours and entries are normally 5-9€.
La Maison des Brasseurs
However because beer has been kind of a theme in my blogs, I decided to make the Brewery Museum my first visit this rainy Sunday. La Maison des Brasseurs is one of the many impressive buildings at Grand Place. The Brewers’ House was built 1695-98 and is the seat of the Belgian Brewers. Beer has a long history and came from ancient Mesopotamia several 1,000 years BC then over Babylon to Egypt and finally into Spain, Rome and Greece. After the fall of the Roman Empire the Abbeys became the centre of the beer culture. The use of hops was imposed in 1364 by the Roman Emperor. The popularity of beer grew rapidly in England and Germany. The English also took the beer with them to America in 1620.
Old brewery
Louis Pasteur discovered the different types of yeast cells and found that not all of them were suited for fermentation. This started a search for the perfect yeast for the brewing industry. Today beer is the second most popular drink after tea. Together with water, malt and hops yeast will then convert sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The yeast is always propagated from a master culture to be able to guarantee constant taste and flavour. Due to the fact that yeast behave differently to temperature there are three types of fermentation top (high), bottom (low) and spontaneous.
Beer lingo: what the labels mean
Lambic
The most wine-like beer produced anywhere in the world. An acquired, but very refined taste, these beers are left in open vessels in the attics of breweries, where they ferment spontaneously because of yeast in the air.
Oude Gueuze
This is the authentic taste of Brussels and Payottenland, a bottled, sparkling blend of oak-aged lambics with a spritzy, pungent, tangy and unique taste.
Faro
A type of Lambic sweetened with brown sugar.
Wheat Beer
Cloudy, sweet and spicy, light ale (4-5.5 per cent) brewed with 30 per cent wheat.
Oude Kriek
This is a rare form of cherry-steeped Lambic largely superseded by sweet commercial versions. Using fruit to flavor the beer is thought to pre-date the use of hops.
Oud bruin
The ale is dark, medium-strength (5.5-6.5 per cent) that comes from the south-west Flanders. The best of them are acidic from blending two-year-old oak-aged ales.
Trappist beers
Generic term for beers brewed at the seven approved monastery breweries (Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren and La Trappe in Holland).
Abbey Beers
Generic term for beers brewed in a partnership with an Abbey.
Dubbel/Double
Dark, medium-strength (6-7.5 per cent) Abbey beer not brewed by monks, but intended to imitate the monastic styles.
Tripel/Triple
Amber-coloured strong (7.5-9.5 per cent) Abbey beer
Abt/Quadruple, Ultra strong beer, Abt is the darker of the two and it is primarily used to describe Trappist beers from Westvleteren 12 and La Trappe Quadruple but also the Abbey beer from St Bernardus 12.
La Trappe Tripel
The beer this week is La Trappe Tripel 8%, This is supposed to be one of the better from La Trappe however the use of coriander (not my favourite herb) gives it a spicy character. A little bit to bittersweet for my taste.
Affligen Triple
I also tested the Affligem Tripel 9,5% as comparison. This top of the line Abbey beer was more in my taste, a bit spicy with a bitter and dry flavour.
Coming weeks:
- EU continued
- In search for the best beer (an on-going quest for the perfect pint)
- More seafood
- Cheese
- Parks
- Culture, Comics
- Markets
- Politics
Facts of the week;
Drink; La Trappe Tripel 8%, Affligem Tripel 9,5%
Location: La Maison des Brasseurs at Grand Place
