FW: more on "dumbing-down" of Belgian beer

Some additional articles narrated by the head of Camra-Brussels primarily due to the Camra-UK backlash against Tim Webb's recent article on the same topic. Some interesting thoughts and facts on some famous beers. Enjoy. ~jcs ********************* A propos of the recent debate on Chimay, it's interesting to read some more opinions by respected beer writers on the current state of Belgian beers. Edward Behr, author and publisher of the excellent "Art of Eating" quarterly magazine (details: http://www.ArtofEating.com) writing in the Spring 2001 edition following his visit to Belgium when we met and spoke extensively, found that De Koninck is now all sterile-filtered, whereas ten years ago the bottles were pasteurized but the beer in the kegs was not, so a cafe was the place to drink it. In a blind tasting he found a sterile-filtered bottled version and a fresh keg to be identical, with no "middle palate" and little after-taste. Behr writes: "No doubt mainstream Belgian brewers fear competition within the country and in a more global economy. Compared with the past, they have made their beers simpler, sweeter, fruitier and less bitter. The more insipid ones have just a shadow of the aromatic Belgian taste, but in a caricature of old flavors, certain other beers are pumped up with obliterative coriander. As a symbol of these changes, Belgian beer-lovers sometimes invoke the name of Interbrew. The conglomerate owns 58 brands (......) including the biggest Belgian seller Jupiler (light lager), Stella Artois (bland ale), Leffe (bland like Stella Artois), Hoegaarden (once a highly-regarded wheat beer), Belle Vue (the largest lambic brewer)...." In his research for the article, Behr asked Michael Jackson for his views on whether there had been a "dumbing down" of Belgian beers, citing as examples De Koninck and the "all but fabled Trappist ale" from Orval. Jackson replied: "I don't think you can necessarily generalise. There's a slight dumbing down in the instance of the beers you mentioned." Behr says Jackson spoke of "minor adjustments much as I regret them. Orval is still one of the world's greatest beers" and went on to compare it with Chartres Cathedral, and "knocking a chapel two off the corner of it. It's still a great cathedral". Jackson conceded that Chimay "has lost some of its character" but pointed out that many Belgian breweries are subject to the same pressures as other businesses. The article is (c) Edward Behr 2001. (I find that such brewers as Cantillon, Fantôme, Abbaye des Rocs and Chouffe - all of which have to export the bulk of their beers to survive - have managed somehow to avoid these "pressures" and still seem to brew the same quality beers I first encountered when I moved to Belgium in 1990.) ***************** During his visit Edward Behr met Yvan De Baets, a Belgian home-brewer and beer writer. Yvan has 1500 bottles at home, including some rare specimens from the 1950s and 1960s, including Orval. He becomes almost apoplectic with rage (for such a nice man) when talking about Orval, "just another beer and a shadow of its old self". He was recently interviewed by Maria Tarantino, of "The Bulletin", the Brussels expats' weekly magazine; she writes:- "For De Baets, a good beer has to measure up to demanding criteria. It must be made without preservatives or artificial flavourings: his six personal favourites** are all special beers that ferment naturally a second time in the bottle. 'A second fermentation makes the beer taste more interesting, and these beers improve over time', he explains. "He writes off other brewing methods as being too industrial. 'These beers are dead because pasteurisation has impoverished their taste and filtering has eliminated the healthy dregs. Beers that used to take several months for the different yeasts to bring out the right flavour can now be produced in a week'." ** The six beers (and the Brussels bars where they were consumed):- * Cantillon gueuze, Le Zageman * Westvleteren 6°, Bier Circus * Cantillon kriek, Makin' Whoopee, Schaerbeek * Moinette Blonde, Au Stoemelings * Quintine Blonde, Brasserie Verschueren * Darbyste, Moeder Lambic Parts of the above in quotations (c) The Bulletin/Ackroyd Publications 2002