A Beer Lover’s Guide to Belgium and Germany

Visiting an area to experience the beer culture, the history, and the cuisine is part of what is referred to as “beer tourism”. The major beer tourism destinations in Europe are Belgium and Germany, which provide a wide variety of unique beers along with ancient breweries. Both countries provide plenty of scope for enjoying the culture associated with each bottle of beer.

Exploring Belgian and German Beer for the First Time

Belgium and Germany share a common trait: Beer is best enjoyed while on the ground. You can compile a long list of varieties and breweries in advance, but it would be much more helpful to find out what to expect to see in each city and region. Here in Belgium, there is room for experimentation, be it lambics or gueuze, Trappist ales, or any of the new craft beer interpretations that are gaining popularity. 

The best way to concentrate on the local influences in Germany: try Kölsch in Cologne, Altbier in Düsseldorf, or Weissbier in Bavaria. There’s a practical side to such a trip as well. Small brewery opening hours, train times, taproom address, or menu items of a specific bar can all change at the very last minute. So, if you’re going anywhere, it’s vital to ensure that you have a good internet connection, such as an eSIM from Sinus eSIM Plus, to use maps and other useful information while on the road.

Belgium vs. Germany: Two Very Different Brewing Traditions

Belgian and German beers have their own distinctive characteristics and advantages. The main differences between the beers of these two countries are:

• German Approach to making beer: strict, traditional, more minimalist, and pure. Belgian beer is more diverse and creative, with a lot of diversity in both ingredients and fermentation techniques used.
• Lighter than the more complex and flavored Belgian beer, German beer is light, and the German beer vs the Belgian is another story.
• Only water, malt, hops, and yeast are used in making German beers, whereas the distinctive ingredients of Belgian beers are the spices, fruits, and sugar.

Belgian beer differs in kind from what’s made in Germany, as it provides more variety in the types, techniques, and ingredients used in beer making. 

From Kölsch to Gueuze: Beers to Try Along the Way

German beer styles:

• Kölsch is a low, golden type of beer traditionally brewed in Köln from Kölsch.
• Pilsner is a traditional German light beer with a bitter taste.
• Altbier is a dark beer of top fermentation.
• It is a robust brew; Bock is rich in flavor and has a fairly high alcohol content.
• Doppelbock is an even stronger beer (an ABV of 8–13%) with a rich malt flavor.
• Weissbier is a wheat beer that is unfiltered.
• Dunkel is a dark beer that is caramel or chocolate.

It is difficult to say exactly how many different types of beer there are in Belgium; there is a fantastic diversity of styles and interpretations of this popular drink. There are two main styles of ale that have come to America from this country: Belgian Ales and Belgian Blondes. Ales employ a unique variety of top-fermenting yeast and have a unique taste and flavor profile. Belgian blonde Ales are not only golden in color and have a smooth and medium bitterness, but they also have a bitter punch. Lambic and seasonal varieties can also be found in the beer halls in Belgium. A Lambic is a beer that is spontaneously fermented and has a sour character.

Saison is a refreshing, light, low- to medium alcohol, fruity, spicy beer. Gueuze is another Belgian beer made by mixing together many lambics, with varying ages. Perhaps the most popular Belgian beer is Trappist beer. Different breweries put their own stamp on their beers with ancient recipes drawn up or supervised by the Trappist monks.  A range of light beers, dark beers, relatively mild beers, and strong beers makes for a great variety of Trappist beers to try out and enjoy the long brewing history of Belgium.

A Taste of Belgium’s Historic Breweries

Every two years, at the end of spring, thousands of tourists come to Belgium to visit breweries that brew lambic with an open-door policy and join the Tour de Geuze. Although all of the Tour de Geuze breweries are mainly out of town for the general public, they still have an opportunity to educate themselves on the art of lambic brewing. Drie Fonteinen is one of the most popular breweries that offers lambic. A local family-owned brewery in Pajottenland. 

Some of its products are very popular in Belgian beer bars and are scarcely available in non-Belgian countries. In Buggenhout, the brewery is referred to as the “Bosteels Brewery.” This company has been in existence for more than 200 years. It is renowned for brewing weird specialty beers. This was one of the most popular beers, and one of the most popular was Pauwel Kwak, which was originally brewed by its owner, Pauwel, who was a tavern owner.

The Trappist Tradition: Beer Made Behind Monastery Walls

It’s hard to imagine a beer tour of Belgium without visiting its famous monastery breweries. Some worth visiting include:

• The famous Trappist brewery of Belgium is in Orval. Anybody can come to the monastery premises during the year and can also learn more about brewing and taste beer brewed by the monks.
• Chimay another famous Trappist brewery known for its wide range of beers. Its products come in exploding bottles of different sizes, including big bottles referred to as “Grande Réserve”. The characteristic beers may have fruity flavors. The brewery of the monastery has three kinds of beers today: Chimay Rouge, Chimay Bleue, and Chimay Triple.
• The Westvleteren Monastery produces some of the most sought-after and hard-to-find Trappist beers. These are sold in the monastery itself and at a handful of stores, thus adding the experience of a pilgrimage to finding them, mastering the experience. The brewery produces three varieties: Westvleteren Blond, Westvleteren 8, and Westvleteren 12.

Exploring Germany’s Historic Breweries

• Germany has many breweries that have been doing business for centuries, maintaining tradition and the same standard. Its sense of continuity gives it a unique taste and gives the drinker a chance to taste ‘bier’ being made in a custom that has been passed down from generation to generation in the local culture.
• Krombacher Gruppe. According to the beer can, it is “Beer No. 1 in Germany.” The city of Krombach in NRW is the home of the brewery. The characteristic taste is believed to be a result of the source of its spring water.
• The monastery of Andechs is an active monastery in Upper Bavaria close to Münich. The monastery’s terrace is a picturesque space, which can hold up to two thousand visitors. The monastery brewery in Andechs dominates the beer industry in Germany and supplies more than 100,000 hectolitres of beer, which is not only sold in Germany in pubs, but also exported all over the world.
• Der Hirschbräu. The brewery is situated in the south of Bavaria and was founded in 1859. The brewery’s presence was established by the Hess family, who have been around for many generations, established was.
• Munich’s oldest brewery, Augustiner-Bräu Wagner KG. It’s also in Munich that it ages its beer in wooden casks, giving it a quite distinct flavour.