Please find a small section on the styles on the bar as a full list of beers expected was not available when the program had to go to press. The list of beers will be available on the bar itself.

As usual, all the old favourites will abound, but we are also trying to get some new beers in to the bar from Belgium, as there have been quite a few new breweries start up out there.

Don’t forget, you can get most of these beers from the Bacchanalia shops in Cambridge and a lot of them from Beers of Europe in Setchey.

Please read the bar rules and Enjoy.

1. No drinking from the bottle.
2. All beer will be poured into your glass. No Glass, no service.
3. Bottles DO NOT leaves the bar opened. This is a safety measure designed to protect you, as well as the bottle costing us a deposit. Please do not ask to take an opened bottle away from the bar as a refusal often offends. Also, you can take away unopened bottles, ONLY IF YOU ARE LEAVING THE FESTIVAL AFTER BUYING THEM AND ONLY AT LUNCHTIMES. If you want some put by, then we will do this for you, and keep them for you until you leave.
   
   Please note there will be no takeaway service in the evenings as we are too busy.
4. ENJOY Yourselves. If you have any questions, and we are NOT busy, then please ask. The staff Like talking about beer !!! .

The Beer Styles

Pilsner and Helles Beer

There are excellent Lagered beers out there, unfortunately , though , not in the UK . The Germans and Czechs brew the best, with some good ones in Holland.

Unfortunately, although Jupiler ,a bland pils, is Belgian’s best selling beer, ignore it and most Belgian Pils beers. They are extremely poor. The Belgians should stick to what they do best , brewing beer .

The same of course goes for the UK, British brewed lager = Rubbish .

However, back to the decent stuff . The Germans brew many variants of standard Lagered or Pilsner beer , the main style in Bavaria is the Hell or Helles style

This is the standard beer is most Bavarian bars , and pils style in the rest of Germany, that is not to say most aren’t good, they are in fact, rather good.

Generally from 4.5 to 5% and malt accented, they conform to the German Reinhosgebot (German Purity Law). In Franconia, these beers are known as Volbier.

Other German Lagered or Pilsner beers , include Pilsner , Dunkel (Dark Lagered Beer) , Kellerbier , Marzen , Spezial , Bock and Doppelbock .

Trappist

On first mention , this would appear to sum up a special beer that is made by monks. Much of this statement is true. In order to be called “Trappist” the beers of the brewery must be made in a brewery controlled and occupied by monks of the strictest Benedictine order, although in reality, the monks have little to do with the brewing these days.

Therefore “Trappist” is not a style, but an appellation of origin. There are many good “Abbey” beers, which although brewed like Trappist beers, cannot be called “Trappist” as they do not come from said abbeys. This is vigorously defended by the only six “Trappist” abbeys (or breweries) and is in fact now law in Belgium .
The six are Westmalle (Antwerpen) , St Sixtus (Westvleteren) in West Flanders , Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourment (Chimay) , Abbaye Notre Dame de Orval, Abbaye Notre Dame de St Remy (Rochefort) and Achel all based in Wallonia . Please be careful of names as there is also an abbaye range of beers called St Sixtus , which DO NOT come from Westvleteren , the Westvleteren beers don`t usually have a label .

Usually , each brewery produces three beers , either a single or 6 , a double or 8 , and a triple or 10 . The exceptions to this are Orval , who produces only one , Chimay who does colours , red , white and blue , Westmalle which make an extra. Westvlteren 6 , Rochefort 6 and Westmalle Extra are not usually seen out of Abbaye as this beer is brewed usually for the monks . In fact , rumour has it that this is where single , dubbel and tripel came from . Single for the normal monks , double for the senior monks and triple for the abbot ! .

Sour Brown Ale

These beers come mostly from the East Flanders area of Belgium . These beers use Vienna Malts and are usually matured from the brown ales associated with the town of Oudenaarde . Properly brewed , these beers are mashed by simmering overnight , rather than boiling , then fermented in open vats for up to six weeks , before being stored in old oak casks for nine months before bottling .

The best example was Liefmans Gouldenband , but production methods have changed and it is not the beer it once was. The other excellent one is only found in a small town north of Oudenaarde called Eine . The brewery is called Cnudde , and the beer is only available on draught in the town .

Old Cherry

Very similar to Lambic style , although a lot sweeter and made using sour brown ale rather than lambic .

Sour Red Ale

Very similar to the Sour Brown , but comes from West Flanders.

Lambic

Lambic is a style of beer that dates from pre 13th Century and is only brewed in and around the capital of Belgium (ie Brussels) and a place called the Senne Valley running south east of Brussels.

Lambic is a catch all word for the collection of beers known as Lambic , Gueuze , Kriek , Framboise , Faro and other specials . These are not know as the champagne of beers for nothing . The cost of the beer seems high until you find out what goes into making it . i.e. Lambic is brewed in the following way . First of all the mash is different . It is a combination of unmalted wheat and barley . The mashing then follows a process known as De coction where the mash has portions of boiling water added.

The wort is boiled for at least three hours with aged hops that have lost their bittering power , but still retain their antiseptic properties .
Why Lambic is only brewed in and around Brussels is due to the fermentation . It is also only usually brewed from October to May as high temperatures can spoil the fermentation . Once the mash has finished , the wort is pumped up to the top of the brewery into very shallow fermenting tanks . Then special louvers in the top of the brewery are opened which allows wild yeast to flow in , to ferment the wort . There are many strains of yeast in Lambic but the main two are found in and around Brussels are known as Saccharomyces and Schizosaccharomyces yeasts . Once the wort is fermented out , usually the next morning , the wort is pumped into wooden casks , where it is left to ferment for up to THREE years .
Between 3 to 6 months , some Lambic is sold off , known as Fos or Fox lambic , which means young lambic . This then tends to be very sour , cloudy and golden yellow to orange in colour . It is very difficult to find on sale .
The brewers are not the only people in the Lambic story . To make a Gueuze , usually a blend of 2 differing years of Lambic are blended together (the oldest being 4 years). This has led rise to a Blender of Lambic , and these are rarer than the Lambic brewer , who seems to be an endangered species .
However , a well blended Gueuze such as Cantillion (brewer and blender) or Drie Fonteinen (Brewer and Blender) is probably one of the most complex , beautiful drinks in the world . Gueuze is Sharp , tart and sour , with subtle , complex undertastes . If left for a few years , subtle changes in the flavour leave a Gueuze more rounded and not so sharp , but sooooo drinkable.

Faro is a blended version of young Lambic , sweetened with caramel and Candy sugars and produces a sweet and sour taste that is rare .
Kriek and Framboise are produced by adding either geuze or lambic that is between 6 to 12 months to a cask of Cherries or Raspberries and then left to ferment for months . The fruit is slowly dissolved into the beer and tastes like no fruit drink you have ever had . Blows alcopop into the weeds !
Not everyone will like the proper , sour lambics , be warned , a lot of Belgian breweries market sweet industrial fruit beers , which from a personal point of view are nowhere as good as the sour lambics

Saison

A little known beer style from the depths of the Wallonian part of Belgium (French speaking part) . Originally designed to be a summer drink only , the beer is now available all year round . Originally , saison brewers found fermentation a tricky business during the heat of the summer , so , to combat this , brewed beers between 5 and 7% in the spring , then chocked them full of hops to survive the storage in the heat . Also , during the process , most of the sugar in the beer had turned to alcohol producing the strength of the beer (Holsten Piss eat your heart out!) .

The result is that you have a very hoppy beer that has so many different subtle tones and flavours , it is a beer to savour . Today , many of the old style saisons have been so changed to compete with mainstream beers that they are not really saisons , but fear not , there are still excellent examples of these beers to delight you .

Rauch Bier

This is purely a German beer . Known as Rauch or smoked bier , it is now only found in Franconia . The Barley malt is infused with the aroma of beechwood smoke to give the beer a burnt , burger flavour . It feels like it would go well with a good barbecue .

Weisse, White, Wit beers

Wheat beers , as the name implies , are made using all , or partial brew of Wheat . These beers are also top fermented (usually) . In Germany , the standard practise is 50% wheat and 50% barley mix.

The beer is known by different names depending on country and speaking origin . Most common are Weisse , Wit , Witbier , Biere Blanche and tarwebier . These basically all translate as either White or Wheat beer.

Mostly all around the 5% mark , the German varieties tend more toward darker spicier versions , whereas the Dutch and Belgians are lighter and more Citric . ALL wheat beers are drunk with yeast in , which is added after most of the beer is poured into the glass . There are such oddities as “Crystal Weisse” , which means the sediment has been removed , but to me , this spoils the beer.

The beers also tend toward the sweet side . The wheat used in the beers can , if unmalted , leave a stronger grainy flavour , like freshly baked bread . These beers are best served chilled , and can be very refreshing , particularly on a hot day There are also dark Weisse beers as well , although these tend towards bitterness more.

The one exception are the Berlin Weisse beers , which are rather sour , and usually have fruit syrups added to them . If you can , try Berliner Weisse without fruit syrup , very interesting !

Belgian, French and Dutch Ales

This is such a big subject that I will not go into detail . Belgium produces so many good ales , be they light or dark , . Some I have already classified , such as Trappist and Abbey styles , but there are so many sub styles . Wallonian Ales have recently taken to using spices in a lot of their beers , and a new sub set of Spiced Ales has appeared . Another section , such as old red and old brown seem to be fast disappearing .
Then there are also some oddities that stand out that do not categorise easily , such as the De Dolle Brewery products (The Mad Brewers) , but that is not to say that their beers are not good , they are !. Also De Konick , Antwerp`s brewery , which has a taste like no other ale .
Small new breweries match in with old , established breweries , and so the brewing goes on .
The best known Belgian ales , though , are light coloured , and tend to follow in the Duvel mode , which is an 8% very light Blonde ale packed full of hops .
The Dutch , on the other hand , have only recently returned to the fold of quality brewing , they got fed up with Heineken as much as we got fed up with Watney`s Red Barrel , all those years ago . However , their revolution is more in the American way , with a small handful of Micro Breweries springing up . If you are visiting Amsterdam , then do not miss Brouwerij T`ij , which is one of my favourite breweries .
The Northern French have been brewing for a long time, and have some very interesting ales, and these days are just starting to experiment.

Honey Ales

A recent fad , particularly in the Wallonean area of Belgium . Instead of using sugar , honey is used to provide the fermentation . Leads to an interesting ale with honey flavours

Kolsch Beers

This style of beer is brewed only in and around Cologne in Germany . Although it looks and tastes like a Pilsner , it is in fact , top fermented , and therefore , in fact an ale . Do not let this put you off , the beers are fantastic .

Alt Beers

These are a speciality beer from the area around Dusseldorf . Darkish and hoppy these are lovely refreshing beers with quite a malty flavour .