Belgian beer added officially to UNESCO list.
It is official, Belgian beer belongs to UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The nomination occurs last November, after that the German-speaking community of Belgium submitted it to UNESCO, and made official on 20th May 2017 when the UNESCO representative in Brussels, Paolo Fontani, delivered the certificate during a ceremony in front of the city hall of Brussels in Grand Place, with the representatives of the three Belgian communities: the Wallonian community, the German community and the Flemish community.
Belgian beer: tradition and culture
Belgian beer has been inscribed to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, happens after that the commission has positively evaluated the diversity and the intensity of beer culture as fundamental part of Belgian daily life and the Belgian know-how in the beer production.
In fact, as we can read in the website of UNESCO in a news of 23rd May, the combination of tradition and passion displayed by today’s brewers in seeking the perfect beer made Belgium the country of amazing beers.
Belgian beer is not just a simple beer, but it is a cultural element that represent the identity of a whole country that plays a key role in the lives of the population itself, even with the ability to put together the Belgian communities that are, as everyone knows, really jealous of their own roots. But the Belgian beer is the common denominator that characterizes each corner of the country and finds everyone in agreement.
Belgian beer: why is it unique?
Belgian beer is unique, above all because it relies on a unique ancient brew tradition that gave life to exceptional beers as a Lambic, Gueuze, Kriek, Saison, Witbier or the “Spéciale Belge”, passing through the unmissable Trappiste.
Besides the quality of the beer, we are also talking about a kind of respect of the product itself; in Belgium you will never drink a Trappist beer out of a lager glass, without mentioning the fact that you won’t never drink a beer in a plastic glass, if they can avoid it. Look at the bar counters, if you are in a Belgian city, they have an infinite quantity of different glasses, one for each type of beer.
Belgians love well-balanced beers, always innovative but avoiding crazy experiments, because here they don’t order just one glass!
Belgian beer: where it is possible to drink it
Clearly, it is possible to drink a good beer in every corner of Belgium, but we want in any case to suggest you some places that you should absolutely visit if you go to Brussels and surroundings. Delirium Cafè in Brussels, just few steps away from the amazing Grand Place, there is the brewery with the pink small elephant that boasts an endless list of tap beers, there are more than 3000 beers. Always in Brussels, there is the restaurant, Fin de Siécle, where you can eat a special Carbonadde or an amazing pork shank paired with a traditional Belgian beer, join the queue because it is pretty popular in the weekends, but it worth the wait! Just outside Brussels, in the area of Anderlecht there is Brasserie Cantillon, a historic family-run brewery that is also the Brussels Museum of the Gueuze.
Drinking a Belgian beer means not only tasting an excellent product but also living a entire territory.
