Lost Beers
The history of beer from Belgium, The Netherlands (Holland), and elsewhere. Looking for beer types that have vanished, and for the stories behind well-known styles, from IPA to gueuze, from saison to lager.
Historic beers by Roel Mulder
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Flemish brown, red or red brown? How Michael Jackson invented a beer style out of thin air
6 July 2020 by Roel Mulder - No comments
Nowhere in traditional literature on Belgian beer is there even the slightest mention of a ‘red’ beer. So where does ‘Flanders red’ come from?
Berliner Alt: it sounds German, but it’s a Dutch lost beer
‘Do you know this beer style?’ Marco Lauret, brewer at Duits & Lauret, asked me. So what exactly was this Berliner Oud?
Five ‘lost’ Belgian beer brands that came back on the market
Discontinued long ago, outcompeted by Stella and Jupiler, but not forgotten.
Five lost Belgian beer styles that you still can drink regardless
Luckily, once in a while a Belgian ‘lost beer’ is brought back to life. Which is nice, because historic beer is at its best when you can drink it.
Fig beer from the Borinage region
Forget saison: fig beer is what they drank in the Belgian countryside, apparently. Or at least, that’s what they did when they didn’t brew actual beer…
Beer riots in 19th century Brussels
Climate protests, angry farmers, yellow vests… So far, I haven’t seen beer lovers on the barricades, but even this used to happen once in a while. In 19th century Brussels for instance.
The memoirs of Jef Lambic
In his ‘Mémoires de Jef Lambic’, a mysterious writer from Brussels described the beer and the pubs of his youth, in a late 19th century setting of gaslight and horsecars. But who actually wrote it, and what of it is true?
Lyon: a brewing island in a sea of wine
I love writing about the beer history of France. This time: Lyon. Europe’s southernmost traditional brewing city had a beer style of its own.