Belgium is a small country but there is nothing small about their production of beers and ales. In fact, since the Middle Ages Belgium has had a reputation for producing quality beers, and they have influenced beer and ale production in many other countries, including the United States. 

By conservative estimates, there are over four-hundred-fifty different types of beer brewed in Belgium. If you take a Belgium beer tour vacation, you can visit brewery after brewery and sample just about every kind of beer.  Beer that is brewed in Belgium includes white beers or blanche beers. These are also called wheat beers and sometimes have a bit of a taste of citrus. 

Lambic beer is a regional beer that can be found in and around Brussels. This draft beer is described by the Brussels’ tourism accounts as being a “non-malted wheat beer, fermented by wild, airborne yeasts.” The Belgians have also taken this Lambic beer and combined two versions together to make Gueuze, which is said to have a sparkle much like champagne.

Still other Lambic beers are Faro and Kriek–Faro is more or less a light Lambic beer, while Kriek is a Lambic beer that is fermented further with the addition of raspberries and cherries. Belgium is also famous for brown beers, red beers, and golden beers. Brown beers have a unique blend of caramel-like sweetness mixed with a sour taste that comes from many months of aging. Red beers come from red barley–they too combine sweet and sour tastes in a unique blend that is sometimes described as fruity.

Golden Beers are somewhat like a pilsner lager, but they are obtained from pale hops and malts and ale yeasts. The original pilsner beer came from Bohemia, which is located in the Czech Republic. It is highly carbonated and has a thick white head. The taste is somewhat tangy with a bit of bitterness. A pilsner usually has five-percent alcohol content.

The oldest beer brewers in Belgium are actually the Trappist monks, who use methods and recipes that have been passed down through the centuries to make distinctly Trappist beers. There are six different Trappest monasteries that currently support themselves by brewing beer. These include Orval, Achel, Chimay, Westyleteren, Rochefort and Westmalle. The beers they make usually bear the name of the monastery.

There also Abbey beers which are produced in Belgium. In most cases, the beers are not produced in monasteries but there may be a business relationship where an abbey contracts a commercial brewery to produce a certain beer. Abbey beers include Duvel, Leffe, Kwak, Affligem, Corsendonk, Grimbergen and Karmeliet.

Currently, Belgium has around one-hundred-twenty-five different breweries producing close to five hundred beers. They are sold in both small cafes that may have only a few brands to much larger bars that might have a thousand or more kinds. The Belgians are masters when it comes to beer brewing and having an appreciation for quality pilsners, beers, ales and lagers. You can find just about any flavoring too, from strawberry or raspberry to chocolate. If you can arrange it, give yourself a real treat and try some of these Belgian brews.

For more info go to

www.EuropesBestBeer.com

Some of the people who use red wine may have a doubt. They are okay with red wine but confused with the colour of the wine being red. The colour of the red wine is red since the colour for the wine is accomplished from different varieties of grapes which range form reddish, a deep purple and even to beautiful blue.

The grapes which give colour to the wine is classified on the basis of colour like almost black, garnet, light red, dark red, ruby red, deep violet, opaque purple, maroon and so on. The skins of the grapes are responsible for providing the distinct spectrum of colours to the red wine.

The skins of the grapes remain in contact with the juice of the grapes even while the fermentation is happening. This causes the tannins as well as the colours to disperse into the wine.

The specific red hue of any individual wine is entirely dependent on the type of grapes which is used for fermentation as well as the period of time the pigmentation of the skin remains in contact with the grape juice. One can see about fifty varieties of red wine in the market.

Some of the varietals of red wine which occupy the top slot are:

Cabernet Sauvignon
Zinfandel Merlot
Pinot Noir
Cabernet Francs
Syrah
Petite Sirah
Sangiovese
Shiraz
Grenache as well as
Malbec.

The red wines are usually known by their common regional names. In France, the red wine is Bordeaux which is manufactured primarily from Cabernet Francs, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot varietals of grapes.

If you want to order a wine while you are in Italy, the most popular name will be Chianti, which is made from Sangiovese varietal of the grapes.

You know that you have got a problem with booze when:

1. before every party or social occasion your partner asks you “not to drink too much tonight”.
2. you feel that everyone in your company drinks too slowly or doesn’t know how to let their hair down and have a good time – like you.
3. you are having extra drinks when you go to the bar, because (see number 2).
4. you hate going to any social occasion if there is no opportunity to drink.
5. you think about drinking constantly, can’t wait to finish work to go and have a drink, can’t wait to be finished ..anything.. to go and have a drink.
6. you hide alcohol around the house, garage, office, wherever.
7. you lie about how much you drink and how often you are drunk, always minimising the amount.
8. you can’t, or find it difficult, to set a limit on the number of drinks and keep to it.
9. you drink too much at inappropriate times, embarrass your family, friends and self.
10. you feel guilty about the night before and have difficulty looking people in the eye.
11. your hands shake in the morning
12. you feel sweaty on waking and for most of the day
13. the previous night’s drinking is a bit of a blur, or worse still a blank.
14. your partner increasingly criticises your drinking
15. your friends increasingly criticise your drinking
16. your co-workers and/or boss increasingly criticise your drinking
17. you don’t count your money in dollars or ponds but in the number of drinks that it will buy
18. you are always the last of your group to leave the bar and the first to suggest another bar or another drink somewhere else.
19. you find it increasingly difficult to talk to people or socialise without having had a drink.
20. you want a drink as soon as you wake up

If you experience a couple of them occasionally it does not necessarily mean that you have a problem with booze. It is when these signs are regular features of your drinking that they are significant. We can all overindulge on occasion but if these occasions are becoming more frequent and you are experiencing an increasing number of these signs then maybe you need to take a hard look at your lifestyle and your drinking. Also you do not need to be experiencing all of these signs to have a problem, a few of them is more than enough. If you do feel that you need help check with your family doctor sooner rather than later. Like most problems, drinking problems are easier to treat when they are detected early.

Excessive consumption of alcohol has various effects on social environment. Consuming alcohol in the inappropriate times such as, while driving, or operating machines, or in working hours can lead to accidents, loss of work, and may be even more fatal.

Problems Raised By Alcohol Abuse

There are many consequences of abusing alcoholic beverages on social environment, which varies from one another.

• Alcohol abusers are often in the state of drowsiness. They couldn’t perform any work properly.

• As alcohol addiction disables a person to earn, they couldn’t pay bills or credits timely and couldn’t keep good track record of credit history.

• It causes huge damage in production rate and reputation of an organization due to illness of employees

• Driving under the influence of alcohol substances causes accidents.

• Alcohol consumption leads to more absentism for school and college students.

• There would be much absentism at workplace causing loss of valuable man hours

• Due to alcohol abuse, many school and college students are unable concentrate on their studies, which is drawing them towards poor quality of education.

• Alcohol consumption spoils the abusers career and reputation in the workplace and society.

• Chronic consumption of alcohol causes several health problems such as, obesity, liver disease, infertility and if neglected can lead to death.

In such a way, consumption of alcohol has various consequences that may result to get involved in illicit activities. Apart from the effects on social environment, excessive consumption of alcohol leads to become lazier and disregard their health. It disables to act fast and make good decisions. It impairs to perform accurate tasks as it decreases the capabilities of acting and thinking. Moreover, it causes to be unstable amity, inadequate support in any activity and living alone. Alcohol consumption can results to unemployment and will be restrained in to low-income group, which may push them to commit crimes.

This information gives an idea about the major problems caused by alcohol consumption on social environment. With the awareness of these consequences, there can an increase in health care, welfare, and criminal justice and prominently in job performance and family relationships.

 Tequila was first distilled in the 1500-1600′s in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Guadalajara is the capital of Jalisco and the city of Tequila was established in about 1656. This is where the agave plant grows best.

The agave is not a cactus as rumoured, but belongs to the lily family and has long spiny leaves (pincas). The specific plant that is used to make tequila is the Weber blue agave. It takes 8-12 years for the agave to reach maturity. During harvest, the leaves are cut off leaving the heart of the plant or pina which looks like a large pineapple when the jimadors are done. The harvested pina may weigh 200 pounds or more and is chopped into smaller pieces for cooking at the distillery. Tequila was first imported into the United States in 1873 when the first load was transported to El Paso, Texas. In 1973 tequila sales in the US topped one million cases. There are two basic types of tequila, 100% blue agave (cien por ciento de agave) tequila and mixto. The 100% blue agave tequilas are distilled entirely from the fermented juice of the agave.

All 100% agave tequilas have to be distilled and bottled in Mexico. If the bottle does not say 100% blue agave, the tequila is mixto and may have been distilled from as little as 60% agave juice with other sugars.

Grades of Tequila:

• Blanco: 100% agave tequila that is un-aged and untreated with additives.
• Reposado: 100% agave, “rested” tequila that has been stored in oak between two months and one year.
• Anejo: 100% agave, aged tequila that has been stored in oak at least one year.
• Mixto blanco: mixto tequila that is unaged.
• Mixto reposado: mixto tequila that has been stored in oak between two months and one year.
• Mixto anejo: aged mixto tequila that has been stored in oak at least one year.
• Joven abocado: mixto tequila that has been treated with additives to achieve an effect similar to aging.

Other Brandies from around the world

Greece produces pot-distilled Brandies, many of which, such as the well-known Metaxa, are flavored with Muscat wine, anise, or other spices. Winemaking in Israel is a well-established tradition dating back thousands of years. But Brandy production dates back only to the 1880s when the French Jewish philanthropist Baron Edmond de Rothschild established what has become the modern Israeli wine industry along French lines. Israeli brandy is made in the manner of Cognac from Colombard grapes, with distillation in both pot and column stills and maturation in French Limousin oak casks.

In the Caucasus region, along the eastern shore of the Black Sea, the ancient nations of Georgia and Armenia draw on monastic traditions to produce rich, intensely flavored pot still Brandies both from local grapes and from such imported varieties as Muscadine (from France), Sercial and Verdelho (most famously from Madeira).

South Africa has produced Brandies since the arrival of the first Dutch settlers in the 17th century, but these early spirits from the Cape Colony earned a reputation for being harsh firewater (witblits, white lightning, was a typical nickname). The introduction of modern production techniques and government regulations in the early 20th century gradually led to an improvement in the quality of local Brandies. Modern South African Brandies are made from Ugni Blanc, Colombard, Chenin Blanc, and Palomino grapes, produced in both pot and column stills, and aged for a minimum of three years in oak.

Apple and Other Fruit Brandies

Normandy is one of the few regions in France that does not have a substantial grape wine industry. Instead it is apple country, with a substantial tradition of producing hard and sweet cider that in turn can be distilled into an Apple Brandy known as Calvados. The local cider apples, which tend to be small and tart, are closer in type to crab apples than to modern table apples. This spirit has its own appellations, with the best brands coming from Appellation Controlee Pays d’Auge near the Atlantic seaport of Deauville, and the rest in 10 adjacent regions that are designated Appellation Reglementee.

Most Pays d’Auge and some of the better Appellation Reglementee are produced in pot stills. All varieties of Calvados are aged in oak casks for a minimum of two years. Cognac-style quality and age terms such as V.S.O.P. and Hors d’Age are frequently used on labels, but have no legal meaning. In the United States, Applejack, as Apple Brandy is called locally, is thought by many to be the first spirit produced in the British colonies. This colonial tradition has continued on the East Coast with the Laird’s Distillery in New Jersey (established in 1780 and the oldest distillery in America). Apple Brandies that are more like eau-de-vie are produced in California and Oregon.

The fruit-growing regions of the upper Rhine River are the prime eau-de-vie production areas of Europe. The Black Forest region of Bavaria in Germany, and Alsace in France, are known for their Cherry Brandies (Kir in France, Kirschwasser in Germany), Raspberry Brandies (Framboise and Himbeergeist), and Pear Brandies (Poire). Similar eaux-de-vies are now being produced in the United States in California and Oregon. Some Plum Brandy is also made in these regions (Mirabelle from France is an example), but the best known type of Plum Brandy is Slivovitz, which is made from the small blue Sljiva plum throughout Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Source: Tastings.com

United States Brandies

Brandy production in California dates back to the Spanish missions in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In the years following the Civil War, Brandy became a major industry, with a substantial export trade to Europe by the end of the century. For a time Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford University, was the worlds largest brandy producer. Phylloxera and National Prohibition almost shut down the industry in the 1920s.

Repeal started things up again, but as with the bourbon industry, the advent of World War II resulted in the brandy producers further marking time. Soon after the end of the war the industry commissioned the Department of Viticulture and Oenology at the University of California at Davis to develop a prototype “California-style” brandy. It had a clean palate, was lighter in style than most European Brandies, and had a flavor profile that made it a good mixer. Starting in the late 1940s, the California brandy producers began to change over to this new style.

Contemporary California Brandies are made primarily in column stills from table grape varieties such as the Thompson Seedless and Flame Tokay, although a handful of small new-generation Cognac-inspired pot distillers, such as Jepson and RMS, are using the classic Ugni Blanc, Colombard, and Folle Blanche grapes. California Brandies are aged for two to 12 years in used American oak (both Brandy and Bourbon casks) to limit woodiness in the palate, although the pot distillers also use French oak. Several California distillers, most notably Korbel, have utilized the Spanish solera method of maturing their Brandy. California Brandies do not use quality designations such as V.S.O.P. or stars. The more expensive brands will usually contain a percentage of older vintages and pot-distilled Brandies in the blend.

Latin American Brandies
In Mexico a surprising amount of wine is made, but it is little known outside of the country because most of it is used for Brandy production. Mexican Brandies are made from a mix of grapes, including Thompson Seedless, Palomino, and Ugni Blanc. Both column and pot stills are used in production whereas the solera system is generally used for aging. Brandy now outsells tequila and rum in Mexico. South American Brandies are generally confined to their domestic markets. The best known type is Pisco, a clear, raw Brandy from Peru and Chile that is made from Muscat grapes and double-distilled in pot stills. The resulting Brandy has a perfumed fragrance and serves as the base for a variety of mixed drinks, including the famous Pisco Sour.

source: tastings.com

Pomace Brandies : Getting to grips with Grappa

Italy produces a substantial amount of Grappa, both of the raw, firewater variety and the more elegant, artisanal efforts that are made from one designated grape type and frequently packaged in hand-blown bottles. Both types of Grappa can be unaged or aged for a few years in old casks that will tame the hard edge of the spirit without imparting much flavor or color. Marc from France is produced in all of the nations wine-producing regions, but is mostly consumed locally. Marc de gewürztraminer from Alsace is particularly noteworthy because it retains some of the distinctive perfumed nose and spicy character of the grape. California pomace Brandies from the United States are broadly in the Italian style and are usually called Grappas, even when they are made from non-Italian grape varieties. This is also true of the pomace Brandies from Canada.

German Brandies

German monks were distilling Brandy by the 14th century and the German distillers had organized their own guild as early as 1588. Yet almost from the start, German Brandy (called weinbrand ) has been made from imported wine rather than the more valuable local varieties. Most German Brandies are produced in pot stills and must be aged for a minimum of six months in oak. Brandies that have been aged in oak for at least one year are called uralt or alter (meaning “older”). The best German Brandies are smooth, somewhat lighter than Cognac, and finish with a touch of sweetness.

source:tastings.com

In the 1930s the practice of adding non-agave sugars to the aguamiel, or “honey water,” was introduced and quickly adopted by many Tequila producers. These mixto (mixed) Tequilas had a less intense taste than 100% blue agave Tequilas, but this relative blandness also made them more appealing to non-native consumers, particularly those in the United States.

From the 1930s through the 1980s, the bulk of the Tequila being produced was of the blended mixto variety. The original 100% agave Tequilas were reduced to a minor specialty product role in the market. But in the late 1980s the rising popularity of single malt Scotch whiskies and expensive Cognacs in the international marketplace did not go unnoticed among Tequila producers. New brands of 100% blue agave Tequilas were introduced and sales began a steady growth curve that continues to this day. This sales growth has resulted in the opening of new distilleries and the expansion of existing operations. Tequila is on an upswing.

What Bing Crosby and Jimmy Buffet Have in Common

Modest amounts of Tequila have been exported into U.S. border towns since the late 19th century. The first major boost to Tequila sales in the rest of the United States came in the late 1940s when the Margarita cocktail, a blend of Tequila, lime juice, orange liqueur, and ice was invented. Its origins are uncertain, but Hollywood actors and cocktail parties in California and Mexican resorts seem to be involved in most of the genesis stories. It is known that crooner and actor Bing Crosby was so taken with one particular brand of Tequila, Herradura, that he teamed up with fellow actor Phil Harris to import the brand into the United States. The Margarita, along with the Tequila Sunrise and the Tequila Sour, have become highly popular in the United States; in fact, it is claimed by many in the liquor industry that the Margarita is the single most popular cocktail in the nation. In the 1970s, when balladeer Jimmy Buffet sang of “Wasting away in Margaritaville,” the success of the song enticed millions more Americans to sip from the salt-rimmed Margarita glass.

The Worm Turns
The upgrading and upscaling of Tequila has, in turn, inspired Mezcal producers to undertake similar measures. In the past few years an increasing number of high-end Mezcals, including some intriguing “single village” bottlings, have been introduced to the market. Mezcal now seems to be coming of its own as a distinctive, noteworthy spirit.

Source: Tastings.com

In 1656 the village of Tequila (named for the local Ticuilas Indians) was granted a charter by the governor of New Galicia. Tax records of the time show that Mezcal was already being produced in the area. This Mezcal, made from the local blue agave, established a reputation for having a superior taste, and barrels of the “Mezcal wine from Tequila” were soon being shipped to nearby Guadalajara and more distant cities such as the silver-mining boomtowns of San Luis Potosí and Aguascalientes.

The oldest of the still-existing distilleries in Tequila dates back to 1795, when the Spanish Crown granted a distiller’s license to a local padrone by the name of José Cuervo. In 1805 a distillery was established that would ultimately come under the control of the Sauza family. By the mid 1800s there were dozens of distilleries and millions of agave plants under cultivation around Tequila in what had become the state of Jalisco. Gradually, the locally-produced Mezcal came to be known as Tequila (just as the grape brandy from the Cognac region in France came to be known simply as Cognac).

Mexico achieved independence from Spain in 1821. But until the 1870s it was a politically unstable country that experienced frequent changes in government, revolutions, and a disastrous war with the United States. Marauding bands of soldiers and guerillas extracted “revolutionary taxes” and “voluntary” contributions in kind from the tabernas and distilleries. In 1876 a general named Porfirio Deaz, who was from the Mezcal-producing state of Oaxaca, came to power and ushered in a 35-year period of relative peace and stability known as the Porfiriato.

It was during this period that the Tequila industry became firmly established. Modest exports of Tequila began to the United States and Europe, with Jose Cuervo shipping the first three barrels to El Paso, Texas in 1873. By 1910 the number of agave distilleries in the state of Jalisco had grown to almost 100.

The collapse of the Díaz regime in 1910 led to a decade-long period of revolution that inhibited the Tequila industry. The return of peace in the 1920s led to the expansion of Tequila production in Jalisco beyond the area around the town of Tequila, with growth being particularly noteworthy in the highlands around the village of Arandas. This period also saw the adoption of modern production techniques from the wine industry such as the use of cultivated yeast and microbiological sanitary practices.

to be continued…