Brewers Seek To Rekindle Belgium's Love Of Beer

By RAF CASERT, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle: World
Fri, 04/18/2014 - 3:10am

Serving local geuze, triples and pils beers for generations, the pub has embodied what the drink means to Belgians — bringing together families and friends with cheers of "sante" and "gezondheid," gulping down tasty suds before ordering more. [...] the tables are often empty, a sign of the hard times many pubs have fallen upon as Belgians have stopped drinking beer like they used to. The Belgian beer federation is trying to rekindle local interest in the drink with a "Proud of our Beers" public awareness campaign, including a tricolor national flag with the middle yellow turned into a glass of beer. "Belgian beer made in Belgium but not drunk in Belgium is not really Belgian beer anymore," said Gert Christiaens, the owner of the Oud Beersel brewery, which won a silver medal at the World Beer Cup last week with his geuze, a sour beer made through natural fermentation. Sven Gatz, the head of the Belgian Brewers federation, says the overall trend is not good for the local industry. "Oh, we had more than 50 cafes in Dworp," she said of the bucolic village 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of Brussels, part of a hilly area of pastures whose landscapes, and beers, figured in the paintings of the famous artist Breughel. Next door to Dworp is Buizingen, where Kloris Deville and his dad, Bart, have turned Den Herberg — "The Inn" — into a thriving little pub over a half-dozen years with a heaving weekend clientele, partly because they started their own microbrewery in the back. Bart Deville says he's produced up to a dozen new beers and is finding huge demand — he has a huge storage room full of a new brew for which he still has to find a fitting name.

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