Words by Breandán Kearney
Photos by Ashley Joanna
Published by Luster Publishing
Launch date: September 2024
This is a behind-the-scenes snippet from the making of Hidden Beers of Belgium, a book which will take readers on a journey of discovery through some of Belgium’s most interesting but under-appreciated beers. Read more here.
As we traipse from taproom to brewery, from farm to industrial zone, we’re encountering beers presented in all types of receptacles: the ribbed pintje; the stemmed chalice; the bulbous tulip; and the witbier tumbler. Some of the glasses aren’t even made of glass, with a handful of breweries opting for ceramics. At least no-one has presented us a beer in a plastic beaker. Yet. Belgian beer glassware is an often delightful and sometimes ridiculous element of the culture here: part aroma enhancer, part dubious marketing, and part ruthless branding. How a beer comes dressed to your hand can tell you something about that beer, in the same way that the clothes a person is wearing can reveal some part of their character.
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