Transcript Typology of Belgian Beers by analytical criteria - HelhaPHL2010-04

By Morgane Dupont, Hendrick Hanssen, Simon Lardinois,
Zina Raymaekers and Pieter Timmermans
Project supervisors: Ingrid Geirnaert and Olivier Janssens
Project manager: Evelyne Wirix



Belgium is for beer what France is for wine
±1000 different kinds of Belgian Beers
The five largest companies have a combined
area of more than 500 hectares
 And employed about 35000 employees

In America Belgian special beers are popular









Introduction
History of (Belgian) beer
The Main ingredients of beer
The manufacturing process
Lager beer
Trappist
Geuze & Lambic
‘Oude’ Geuze
Conclusion


Beer was already brewed 8000
B.C. in Palestine
17th century, many beers in
Belgian appear.
 Typology by specific ingredients
 Typology by used water


Beer conserving problem.
Each village own brewery

18th century, the French Revolution
 Put an end to the brewers guilds
 Destruction of many monasteries and abbeys

Arrival of Napoleon  brewing took off again
 Start of large scale (Industrialized) production

At the end of the 19th century completely
turn of brewing by Louis Pasteur
 Better preservation
 Improved quality of beer by
selective yeast.

Four main ingredients





Water
Barley
Hop
Yeast
Importance of water composition
 High concentration of Iron
 Water with a lot of calcium

Malted Barley
 Some brewers will use
oat, corn or wheat instead

Hop (only female hop)
 Kinds with very bitter taste
 Others give an aromatic taste
 Since the 18th century all
types of beer contain hop

It begins with malting
 (A) Barley immersed in water, Germination is initiated
 (B) 5 days of controlled germination
 (C) Interruption by heating
(will push the malt into malt sugar)
 Difference in drying time and temperature will
produce different kinds of beer.

Brewing process
 Production process of ‘wort’ begins
• Water of 35 °C to 50 °C is added to malt
• And heated to about 75 °C
 Enzymes formed by the germ process convert:
• starch into sugar
• Proteins in to amino acids
 Filtering the soup (‘must’)
All insoluble components are removed
Filtering (several times)
Remaining liquid is called ‘wort’
‘Hopdraf ‘ are the insoluble components.
Boiling the ‘wort’, al the enzymes
are destroyed and the solution is sterilized.
• In the meantime Hop is added
•
•
•
•
•

Fermentation
 after coiling down the ‘wort’
• The yeast is added
• Sugar in the ‘wort’ are now converted to alcohol and CO2
 The conversion will determine the taste of beer
 Belgian beers now 3 kinds of fermentation:
 Low fermentation
 High or traditional fermentation
 Spontaneous fermentation
(without yeast)

Maturation
 Duration depends on the type of beer:
•
•
•
•
Beer will clear up;
Yeast will lower to the bottom;
Carbon dioxide is developed;
Fragrance is improved.
 The basic process to produce beer is finished.
 The brewer can still add different substances.

Typology:
 Low fermentation
 Therefore mostly a low alcohol percentage ≈5%
 Two kind of yeast are used:
• Hallertau (is a little bit bitter)
• Saaz (pretty bitter)




Yeast: Saccharomyces carlsbergensis
Aromate is also added
Imported to include pH between 5 and 5,5.
Serving rules (specific glass+temperature)

Typology:




High fermentation beer + fermentation on the bottle
A very heavy bitter kind of beer;
Minerals in water determine the quality;
Taste and colour depends on the kind of malt
• Light Trappist  bleach malt
• For amber colour  darker malt
• If brewer wants a dark colour
 roasted malt
 Trappist is hard to digest ;
 Alcohol: from 3,5% to 11,3%
 Only 6 beers officially
recognized as Trappist
 Old cheese to complement
the complex taste

Typology:







Made by spontaneous fermentation.
‘Oude’ Geuze is only made in Pajottenland;
‘Oude’ Geuze is related to ‘Oude’ Lambic;
Taste of Lambic changes with time;
Overall Lambic is a sour fruity beer with no gas;
Alcohol percentage around 5 degrees;
Specific ingredients are:
•
•
•
•
Water;
Barley  malt
Unmalted wheat (30 to 50 %)
Perennial hop (long matured hop)
 Addition of wheat and longer
cooking time characterizes ‘wort’

Typology:
 A very fresh and fruity taste;
 Alcohol percentage around 6 %
 You can keep it conserved for well over 40 years;
• In Time the taste will become stronger.
 Made of ‘oude’ Lambic of different ages and brewage
 ‘oude’ Geuze isn’t brewed;
• ‘Steken’  mixing ‘oude’ Lambic of different ages
• The blend will be botteld
• Refermentation will go on in the bottle for over a year
• Important to control:
• Good fermentable sugar %
• CO2 balance
• Low pH

Little analytical changes in brewing:
◦ creates a wide variety of Belgian Beers;
◦ Each beer has its own typology.



Complexity and variation with less ingredients
We can say that Belgium has a rich beer culture
Belgium Deserves his international eminence for:
◦ Quality
◦ And quantity of beer
Are there any questions?