First Homebrew Taste and A Tasty Tidbit About Belgian Beer

Today marks two weeks since I bottled my first homebrew. And with a pop of the cap, I knew it just wasn't ready for consumption. There was the tiniest whisper of fzzsst as the cap tumbled off and onto the counter. But there's nothing I can do once it's open, so down my gullet it went (and is going)! What I'm waiting for now, is for the carbonation to build up. A small amount of corn sugar was added to each bottle as food for the live yeast still in suspension in the beer. As they eat up the sugar, a final, very small scale fermentation takes place in the bottle to create carbonation. Two weeks should have been a good amount of time for this to occur, but every beer is different. Additionally, it has been pretty darn cold in my apartment. Temps where I keep my beer have been around 58 degrees. Colder temps slow the yeast down, which means it will take longer for the carbonation to build up. There's not a lot I can do about it. I just need to be patient. =)

In the mean time, I've been drinking other seasonal brews and filling my head with whatever tidbits of information I can find about beer. Every now and then, I'll stumble across something profound that makes me think, "Why have I never heard of this before? It makes so much sense!". I had one of those moments just minutes ago, and am eager to spread the word. 

So! I have wondered, especially while trying to categorize beer into specific styles for a beer menu, why Belgian styles (tripel, saison, strong dark ale, etc.) are only vague indicators for what kind of experience hides inside the glass. I have often tasted a Belgian beer, and was completely surprised about how it actually tasted. I think I've even blogged about that in the past. But today, I finally discovered the reason for this type of reaction... 

"Belgians rarely stay within the guardrails of specific beer styles. That’s one of the things that makes the Belgian brewing process so great -- they create the beer, then decide what style it is." - Keith Villa, founder of Blue Moon (find the full article here)

Instead of shoving their beer into a cookie-cutter shape, they let it be whatever it is, and categorize it after they have a product. Brilliant! I've decided. The next country I visit has to be Belgium. I must! I will! Someday...