Our diplomats at work

Promotion of Belgian Beer in China is of course often by the beer companies but the Belgian embassy and its partners actively promote the different brands. As per a near general rule, events at the embassy (or consulates) have Belgian beers for the guests, through sponsorship.
An example: “International Beer Day” by WalloniaAndChina, see the original article in French. Here the translated version.

7 August 2020, was International Beer Day, a special day for Belgium, which is the world’s leading exporter, ahead of Germany and the Netherlands. Belgian beer is known for its many varieties and for its superior quality. In 2016, Belgian beer was listed as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.
The brewing sector makes a major contribution to the Belgian economy. It directly and indirectly employs more than 50,000 people. There are now more than 260 breweries in Belgium, for a total production of more than 20 million hectoliters per year. 30% of Belgian production is intended for own use while 70% is intended for export. Domestic market consumption in 2018 was more than 7 million hectoliters.

Belgium is particularly known for its Trappist beers. A Trappist beer is a beer brewed in a Cistercian abbey, under the supervision of Trappist monks. Beer must be produced with a view to social and charitable solidarity. Of the twelve producing Trappist abbeys in the world, six are in Belgium, and three in Wallonia: Chimay, Rochefort and Orval.
Since 2017, a 290-kilometer hiking trail has linked these three abbeys, to the delight of sports enthusiasts and beer lovers.

The best known Trappist in China is probably Chimay. It is produced at the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont, and comes in four versions: amber (red capsule, 7%), triple (white capsule, 8%), brown (blue capsule, 9%) or golden (capsule golden, 4.8%). The abbey was built during the second half of the 19th century and currently has 13 monks aged 45 to 99. Its dean, Father Bernard de Give, died in January 2020 at the age of nearly 107.

In Rochefort, the monks of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy abbey brew three types of beer: “6” (red capsule, 7.5%), “8” (green capsule, 9.2%) and the “10” (blue capsule, 11.3%). The discrepancy between the figure attributed to beer and the percentage of alcohol is explained by the use of an old unit of measurement of alcohol, the “Belgian” degree. The Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy abbey was erected in 1230 and the brewery has been operational since 1889.

The mythical Orval is tasted in the province of Luxembourg and has a content of 6.2%. The Notre-Dame d’Orval abbey was founded in the 11th century in the middle of the great Ardennes forest.

Beer Big Bang

On 16 October 2020 our Belgian ambassador Jan Hoogmartens presided the opening of the Belgian beer stand in SOHO Sanlitun in Beijing.

A number of Belgian beers were promoted, such as Lindemans, Hoegaarden, Delirium, Rochefort, Kasteel and others.

Since 1100s

Old tradition of Belgian beer means there is a lot to talk about and of course it’s famous.
Opinions differ on how many beers and how many breweries we really have in Belgium. See here some of the estimates.

Duvel (Devil) and Mort Subite (Sudden Death), two famous beers

The country has been in the brewing tradition since the 1100s, before it even was a country.
The region’s interest in beer began when the Catholic Church sanctioned the use of abbeys to brew and distribute beer to raise money for upkeep near the end of the 10th century. Another reason was that most drinking water was polluted and the beer offered a safe alternative.
Over the years, the nuns in the abbeys began pioneering new ways to brew, strengthening the diversity that was available to the locals in brewing villages. At the turn of the 20th century, there were over 3,000 breweries in Belgium, but the two World Wars had a devastating effect on the Belgian economy that reached deep into the brewing industry.

Over centuries of experimentation, Belgian beers have become world-famous for their unique qualities, such as their strength, sourness, or their uniqueness in that many have been brewed in churches by monks! Also, with over 3,000 types of beer, there is a beer for any preference.

Belgium has more individual styles of beer per capita than any other country in the world. With a population barely scraping past 11 million, they produced a whopping 1,132 distinct types of beer in 2011. Fast-forward to 2013 and that number is a mind-blowing 3,043 beers that were brewed among all 10 provinces of Belgium.

Big industry

The Netherlands was the largest EU exporter of beer and second worldwide after Mexico in 2020 according to a Dutch source.
According to a Belgian source, Belgium was the biggest exporter in Europe. It has created a big gap over its direct competitor, Germany, followed by the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.

More about Belgian beer:

“Belgian Beer–A Centuries-old Tradition” by BelgiuminChina, dated 1 November 2021. More about that in a next post, looking at some of the more famous styles.

and

“10 Ways Belgium Will Change The Way You Drink Beer” by Andrew Handley, October 27, 2014.

In this site, many sections:

• Spontaneous Fermentation (Lambic)
• Beer Cocktails
• The Longest Bar In The World
• The Bruges Beer Pipeline
• The Farm Brewery
• Trappist Beer
• World’s Largest Beer Menu
• Unholy Consumption

The secret of classic Belgian beers?

Medieval super yeasts! According to VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology), in a 21 October 2019 article.
An international team of scientists, led by Prof. Kevin Verstrepen (VIB-KU-Leuven) and Prof. Steven Maere (VIB-UGent), has discovered that some of the most renowned classic Belgian beers, including Gueuze and Trappist ales, are fermented with a rare and unusual form of hybrid yeasts. These yeasts combine DNA of the traditional ale yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, with that of more stress-resistant feral yeasts such as Saccharomyces kudriavzevii.
Mixed origins
“These yeasts are hybrids between two completely different species” says Dr. Jan Steensels (VIB — KU Leuven Center for Microbiology), who coordinated the lab work of this study. “Think of lions and tigers making a super-baby.”

Beer!

Belgium beer is famous, so are chocolates and diamonds, among other.
I have been posting about our national treasure including some stories.
Our Page of Belgian Beer is now updated with the new list of the beers!

Yes I drink other beers!

While we may make jokes about other countries, we do appreciate other beers, such as from Holland and Germany. I am also a regular at some of the locally micro-breweries, often for American style IPA and other.

Where to find Belgian beer

Amazingly one can find a vast choice in bars and even more online. Even Westvleteren, not for sale in retail in Belgium, can be found here. It is actually considered one the the very top beers in the world. Yes, the price is not cheap…

Some of the obvious locations: Morel’s Restaurant, Heaven Supermarket, and many other restaurants and bars. Some shops that sell wine, whisky and other alcohol often have a wide range of imported beers, including supermarkets such as April Gourmet and Jenny Lou.Some of the outlets go bust, new ones appear so one needs to look around.

Online, so much!
As always Taobao sells about anything you want, including a wide range of Belgian beers. But you really need to use the Chinese language platform…
See here some screen shots of what you can order.

Another platform is “Beer Hub”, located in Wenzhou, Zhejiang
See some screenshots.

Beer Hub started like many other businesses: 2 guys drinking Belgian beer in Europe and wondering why this isn’t available in China. Now 5 years later they boast a great variety of over 200 beers from the United States and Belgium.
The company extended warehouse locations to 3 main cities in China, they serve 15 major cities.