From The Inside, What makes it Belgian Bert Van Hecke BOMBrewery - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

From The Inside, What makes it Belgian

Bert Van Hecke BOMBrewery Belgium

Before we get started, what is Belgium? As a country

• Belgium have been occupied by all kind countries (and sometimes twice)
• Belgium is small with 5 surrounding countries
• We are NOT travellers but we speak more as one language
• The UK and Germany are both close
• We love simplicity, except for the country

Before we get started, what is Belgium? As brewers

• Old brewers are all family
• We drink and we pay taxes if needed
• There are Catholics & Liberals and mayors
• Beer is cheap and to keep you away of being sick, its a labor drink
• Brewers = Old Farmers

Before we get started, what is Belgium? Home brewers

• Home brewing until the year 1995: hippies and old men
• Craft brewing? We are Craft brewing in Belgium since > 100 year
• New wave of homebrewers give a “new” wave to more crafty beers
• 60’s: Hoegaarden Witbier
• 80’s: De Dolle brouwers / Brewery Achouffe
• 90’s - 2016: Start of a new vibe due to “craft” contract breweries

What makes it Belgian beer?

• The 4 elements : Water, Earth, Wind, Fire
• Brew Gods
• Or just something else, a kind of magic

Element Water Water

• No real global special Belgian water
• Its water = we can brew a beer = natural Selection
• Special waters in Belgium: from near Seawater to the perfect pilsner water

The water God

Charles Darwin (Natural Selection)

Conclusion: Element Water

• Water is not really the Belgian factor, but we use salts because we are “free-

brewers”

• no Reinheitsgebot
• Homebrewers for Belgians:
• Use some salt, seasalt for the dubbels and the quads
• Learn from the online water compositions, but do it yourself

Element Earth Malt

• Belgian Malt is in between of UK and German malt, but far away from US

malt (Belgian factor I)

• Not anymore a real Barley type, the history repeat itself
• Not anymore malted for each brewery individual (except for Trappist and
• thers?)
• Slow brewing, step infusion is needed (see Element Fire) (Belgian factor II)
• Specialty malts is not only a Belgian thing (except for Special B?)

The malt God

the malt truck driver, or the malt whisperer

Element Earth Sugar

• Not enough Malt or too high taxes = use sugar
• Taxes was during a period based on the mash tun size
• Advantage: we got sugar (was cheap), it makes the beer drinkable, 8% beers

as session beers

• Specials: Cassonade, Candy sugars,…
• Sugar is a very important Belgian factor (Belgian factor III)

The Sugar Devil

Willem II (Germany, WWI)

Element Earth Hop

• Belgian Hop is European / classic (other aroma due to cupper)
• Hop farming was nearly lost as a good Farmers Job
• Revival is happening, but always sold out
• Aroma hops, a waste of money, use them 10 minutes before the end of

boiling…

• Hop got a Terroir
• Not really a Belgian factor, except for the moment of use?

The Hop God

Jean De Clerck (a general Belgian brew god )

Element Earth Herbs

• A background of Gruut beers, but not anymore the reason
• Thanks to the Witbeer revival?
• Depending from the part of the country
• Cheaper as hops to get aroma (origine)
• Brew ad Coriander and wait 6 months and you have a good beer
• Coriander & Orange peel (Belgian Factor IV)

The Herb God

Pierre Celis (the homebrewer, the inventor of the Wit)

Conclusion Element Earth

• I: Belgian malt is not equal as malt from other regions
• II: Belgian malt gives us slow brewing and step Infusion
• III: Sugar is a key to create drinkability and complexity
• IV: Coriander and Orange Peel rules
• Homebrewers for Belgian: use step infusion, white (candy) sugar for drinkability,

dark cassonade sugar for the dark beers, you can do nothing wrong with C&O unless you hate the flavour, make mistakes and you can still can make it, use your hops until 10 minutes of the end of brewing, keep it simple with max 2 special malts.

Element Wind Yeast

WHERE IS BELGIAN YEAST COMING FROM?

Element Wind

Yeast

Scotland!!!

Element Wind Yeast

• There is no such thing as Belgian Yeast, but it is at the same time (Belgian factor V,

but I hate it)

• Leffe – Hoegaarden – Achouffe –Lefebvre – Others?
• Duvel – Westmalle – Others?
• Orval – Brasserie de Bastogne – La Rulles - .Others?
• First beer was bubblegum, banana, sour,…
• Its not Belgian because…
• Brewers re-use > 1000 times until it is what it is

The (infamous) God of the Wind

Raymond Moureau (Martens Romania)

Element Fire Brewing

• Decided by the malt
• Germans: Decoction
• UK: One step infusion
• Belgium: Multi step mashing, boiling water additions (Belgian factor VI)

Slijm methode for small mash tuns (Belgian factor VII)

• Direct fire: not real Belgium
• Simple brewing = Belgian?

The God of Fire

The carpenter and copper smit of the Tomsin Brewery

The God of Fire

The carpenter and copper smit of the Tomsin Brewery

Conclusion Element Fire

• There are two brewing methods who are really very Belgian
• Step Infusion by hot water = every temperature step is made by just adding

boiling water.

• Slijm methode = at 62°C a part of the wort is filtered to the kettle, hot

boiling water is added, at 72°C a part of the wort is filtered to the kettle, hot boiling water is added … (can be found in Geuze breweries)

Short case: Orval

• First brewer was a Belgian Brewer = add hot boiling water for temperature steps
• Second brewer was a German brewer = don’t clean the tanks, keep the beerstone

and have Bretts (on purpose?)

• Third brewer was guided by Jean De Clerk = clean the tanks, lose the beerstone and

Bretts, curse and start over again to have the brett back. Use hops afterwards if you want to have aroma

• Have a very simple recept with an own malt
• Have a magic Ingredient (Belgian factor VIII)

I misted an other element or a secret ingredient?

• Such as Bottle referementation
• Its certainly more a yeast strain X, Y and Z
• Or its a real hidden ingrediënt nobody wants to talk about?
• Just think about this when you brewed your first Belgian but failed, think

about the ancient brewer (chance the words from Noodle to beer…)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4J2ceDp-7w

THANKS! And keep brewing