Drunken Crayfish

Do you know that?
Brunehaut Brewery was founded in the Belgian village of Brunehaut in 1890. Brunehaut is the name of the paved Roman road running between Amiens, France, right down to Cologne, Germany.

The company produces three excellent ranges of beers: St Martin Abbey beers, Organic beers, and Regional beers.

St Martin Abbey beers were previously brewed (since 1096) in the St Martin’s Abbey in Tournay. Brunehaut’s brewmaster uses the recipes developed by the monks, following the same spirit and using the purest ingredients.

St Martin Abbey beer family includes St Martin Blond, St Martin Dark, St Martin Triple, and St Martin Cuvée de Noël. Let’s taste the first of them, St Martin Blond.

Hazy gold with a creamy white head, St Martin Blond is a yeasty, slightly spicy and fruity beer of 7% alc. vol.

Its perfect taste has won a number of important awards  the silver in World Beer Championship 2007, a Superiour Taste Award in 2007, and the bronze medal in the Australian International Beer Awards 2008.

Keep it up and cheers!

World: More than 50% of global beer market held by the four largest brewers

The world’s four biggest brewers now account for over half the global market for beer, researcher Plato Logic communicated on February, 8.

Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, London-listed SABMiller, Dutch Heineken, and Denmark’s Carlsberg have moved ahead of the rest of the pack led by China’s Tsingtao Brewery in fifth place.

“The new Big 4 have established a clear lead, with combined market share estimated at just over 50 percent (pro forma 2009),” Plato said.

Budweiser-brewer AB InBev had beer volumes of around 350 million hectolitres in 2009, well ahead of Miller-brewer SABMiller at just under 250 million, Heineken at just over 200 million, and Carlsberg around 125 million, while Tsingtao trailed at just over 50 million hectolitres a year.

In sixth place was North American Molson-Coors Brewing Co, while Mexico’s Grupo Modelo, China’s Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co Ltd and Japanese brewers Kirin Holdings Co Ltd and Asahi Breweries Ltd made up the rest of the top 10.

Plato said the world beer market grew less than 0.1 percent in 2009, but expected it to pick up in 2010 to growth of about 3 percent.

“While this may appear quite optimistic, we would expect growth to resume in some emerging markets,” Plato director Ian Pressnell said.

Latest beer production statistics show variable results

The majority of brewers in Europe, North America and Japan have reported bad results for 2009, an analysts report summed up on February, 1.

South America, Africa and Southeast Asia showed variable, but mostly positive results.

Where output figures were negative, the large brewing groups of the world managed anyway to show profits due to price adjustments and severe cost-cutting measures, analysts said.

Bulgaria’s beer production declined by 11% last year, initial estimates of the Czech beer output show a 10% decline (domestic sales  minus 7%, export  minus 12%). Beer production in Denmark dropped by 8% in 2009, in France by 0.8% to 14.3 mln hl. Germany last year produced less than 100 mln hl of beer for the first time in recorded history as output declined by 2.8% to 99.983 mln hl. The nation’s domestic sales declined by 2.1%, exports fell by 7.2%. UK’s beer production dropped by 4.2% in 2009, it is reported.

Russian brewers reported a 4.2% decline in output (result has been improved artificially by large December sales ahead of the tax increase in January). Ukraine’s beer output dropped by 6.2%, that of the US  by 2.2%.

Brazil is expected to report a total output of 107 mln hl, as sales in January  November showed an 11% increase. Colombia and Peru produced 6% and 1% more beer respectively last year, according to SABMiller’s estimates. Japan’s beer production declined by 2.1% in 2009, whereas China produced 406 mln hl in January  November last year (+6.4%).

There is no beer without hops

In the beer making process, hops act as a preservative and a flavouring agent adding a bitter taste that offsets the sweetness of the maltose or malt suger. Hops also add an aroma that resembles a piney come citrus smell, Beverage Answers informs.

Beer making has not always included hops and their use as an ingredient only came about in Europe around 1100 AD. The use of hops helped to produce more beer from the same amount of malt.

As a preservative, hops allow for a lower alcohol content to be present, whilst serving to keep the beer fresh enough to be consumed after more than a few weeks.

Since the alcohol in beer is the product of fermentation of barley grain, adding hops to the mixture allowed for the use of less barley grain to make the same amount of brew, thus reducing the grain cost and the overall beer production costs.

Hops also act as a flavoring agent and contribute to the overall flavour in multiple ways. The fruit of the hop plant contains compounds called alpha acids which when heated become bitter.

Hops, like many plants, also contain oils that add distinctive aromas. Since aroma and taste are closely related, the addition of a herbal or piney like smell can greatly influence the perceived taste of the final product.

Some of those oils will vaporize during heating, so it is not unusual for additional hops to be added all through the brewing process, even right at the end solely to add additional aroma and flavor. The technique is commonly used when brewing ales, contributing to their more heady nose and flavor over many lagers.

Hops even possess a mild antibiotic that helps suppress some of the organisms in the wort (the liquid fermented to make beer), allowing the yeast to carry out the fermentation process more efficiently.

Today, there are many basic varieties of hops together with numerous sub types.

Considering that hops have practically no other commercial use beyond their application to beer making, the world is fortunate that clever brewmasters exist that can turn a limitation into such delightful advantage.

Serve beer at home in a correct way

Here is the perfect way to serve a beer at home, as recommended by the Union of Belgian Brewers:

First of all, bottled beer should be stored in a dark, dry place.

In order to properly cool the beer, place the bottles in the fridge at least 24 hours before serving.

The serving temperature for thirst-quenching beers is +/- 3°C, that for gourmet beer +/- 6 to 8°C.

Clean glasses with cold water in which a good detergent is dissolved and rinse thoroughly with water. Glasses for gourmet beers should be dried.

If you choose thirst-quenching beer, pour it all in one go. Tip the glass slightly to one side and then raise it gradually to an upright position. Let the froth flow over the sides and then skim off the surface bubbles of the froth with a clean knife. Rinse the outside of the glass.

Gourmet beer is served slowly so as to create a rich foamy head. Leave some beer in the bottle so the glass can be topped up afterwards. For beers that are refermented in the bottle, leave the yeast deposit in the bottom of the bottle and present the bottle with the glass.

Cheers!

Leonidas offers a new way to enjoy real Belgian chocolate

Always true to its principle of surprising us with increasingly refined chocolate treats, Leonidas, the famous Belgian chocolate magician, now gives us Pyramids, a new way of making hot chocolate.

Pyramids by Leonidas are a new way of making velvety smooth hot chocolate. All you need to make our favourite drink is to plunge a succulent Pyramid into hot milk. The Pyramid dissolves, releasing irresistible aromas and forming a creamy foam. The preparation process is in itself a genuine treat for the senses and a delicious moment of luxury we can all enjoy.

High quality plain chocolate Pyramids by Leonidas are available in three flavours: Caramel Chocolate, Classic Chocolate and Cappuccino Chocolate. They come in boxes of five Pyramids. These boxes can in turn serve as refills for the presentation box which contains an assortment of no fewer than fifteen Pyramids. It is also something beautiful to place in front of your guests at snack or dessert time!

Focus your sights on a chocolate-flavoured ritual of relaxation and wellbeing. Enjoy and be happy!