Belgium – A Little Country Known as "The Fatherland of Beer"

By Troy L. Williams, aka "The Sarge" & "O Beer 30"

My name is Troy Williams, a Silver Fox Twin and beer aficionado affectionately known by coworkers as “The Sarge.”

My other moniker is "O Beer 30," a nickname for me at 11:30 p.m., near the end of my shift at the Brunnsum Commissary in The Netherlands talking about enjoying a tasty beer upon arriving home. Having lived in Europe for three decades and sampled plenty of beers,  I have  become an expert on beer. A retired member of the U.S. Air Force, American beers can’t live up to the quality and taste of beers here in Europe.

The Sarge is on his 31st year Serving America in Europe....and I love the beer here... especially Beer from Belgium and Germany!   

I have sampled plenty of beers while living in Belgium, Germany and currently in the Netherlands. But I must say Belgian beer is my favorite, followed by German beers. My love of Belgian beer isn’t skewed by the fact that my wife, Hilde, is from Belgium.

I have always loved Belgian Trappist beers made by monks for centuries. My son, Thomas, and I were excited to introduce my identical twin brother Roy Williams, and his wife, Patrice, to the taste of European beer while they visited us for two weeks this fall.  

During their visit, we sampled beers in many of the 10 cities we visited in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. We even attended an Oktoberfest at a small German town near my home in Kerkrade, the Netherlands (and of course drank beers there.   

According to Eupedia.com, there are over 800 types of beer brewed in Belgium. https://www.eupedia.com/belgium/belgian_beers.shtml#google_vignette

For a country of 11.8 million people and only the size of the state of Maryland, that’s a lot of beer.

Drinking beer is a social way of life in Belgium, both in public and private. Belgians offer beer to guests in their homes and relax by enjoying beer with friends in pubs and restaurants.

The love of beer in Belgium dates back to the 12th Century, when monks brewed beers to raise money for their church – backed by the Catholic Church. The beers were also a sanitary alternative to poor drinking water in the region.

CNN did a spotlight in March 2017 about the history of monks brewing “Trappist” beers in Belgium. Of the 11 Trappist beers made worldwide, six are made in Belgium, one in the U.S., two in the Netherlands, and one each in Italy and Austria. One of the Trappist beers made by monks dates back to the Abbey of Orval, a 885-year-old monastery located in the Gaume region of Belgium.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/world/trappist-beer-monastery/index.html

In the early 20th century, Belgium was estimated to have over 3,000 breweries and more than 200,000 cafés—a café for every five homes. With such a beer heritage dating back to the 12th Century, no wonder many beer experts refer to Belgium as the “Fatherland of beer.”