hmm - what is polypins & firkin?
I hope you dont mean those plastic bottles, 'cause they are awefull
In Germany, cans are quite passe' due to recyceling laws.
So you get beer in bottles (which i prefer) with a deposit of 8 cent/€.

A firkin is a metal (or sometimes wooden) cask of beer containing 72 pints (35 litres)

A polypin contains 32 pints (20 litres) and tends to be made of a collapsible polythene bag inside a cardboard cube. The reason that this is beneficial is that, in the UK, beer goes through a secondary fermentaion process after it has left the brewery - thus, it is ALIVE when you drink it. Because the polypin collapses, it doesn't need to draw air in as you use up the beer - hence it doesn't become contaminated with nasty bacteria. This means that polypins keep for up to three weeks instead of just a few days.

By the way, the process of secondary fermentation means that carbon dioxide is disolved into the beer (known as "conditioning"), meaning that you don't need to add carbon dioxide to make the beer "fizz". The alternative approach (as used for most bottled beers and all cans world-wide) is to kill off the yeast (by pasteurisation) before it leaves the brewery. This is the reason that English beers do not travel well. The way around this problem is to buy bottle conditioned beers which are still alive and where the secondary fermentaion happens in the bottle instead of a cask. It's not quite as nice as cask conditioned, but it'll do if your stranded on a desert island!

This is why I always drink what the locals do wherever I am in the world...

hi Bv
well you have Duvel, but that is not in Brussel nor Leuven, but i'm surprised
that you can not visit Stella Artois..strange
when you come to belgium we will have to meet , Sticky Fingers meets IORR :-)
Belgium , aka Beercountry :-)
Peter
-------------------------------------------------------
> Talking about Beer and Belgium... I am supposed to
> be in Brussels for the tour start next year
> (European leg that is). Out there in Leuven they
> don't allow people into their enormous production
> plants of Stella Artois. Are there any other
> recommended brewery tours or brands in Brussels
> downtown city center area? Well I have been at
> Grand Place so I am ready for something more
> "cultural" you know...
>
> PS. Most people probably don't know. But I don't
> think there is any other place on earth where
> there are as many beer brands as in Belgium.
> Measured by size of the country etc. Hundreds and
> hundreds for sure.
>
> Bjornulf

btw,
draft is nice,

but here in Belgium, most beers can not be put on draft, so i go for the draftbeers yes and the canbeers yes
ycagwyw , would love to see one day Duvel on draft, but that is a dream..

Peterdv,

Why no Duvel draft? I have had Duvel and approximately 20 other Belgian beers on draft at this place, in the US.

www.sharpedgebeer.com

Karl

Thanx for the insite sjs12.
I get wiser every day on this board.
I could consider to get myself a life ;-)

As a Guinness part time drinker: what is left inside the can? It´s not a tooth of mine. So what is left? And for what purpose?

KSIE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Peterdv,
>
> Why no Duvel draft? I have had Duvel and
> approximately 20 other Belgian beers on draft at
> this place, in the US.
>
> www.sharpedgebeer.com
>
> Karl


huh , dear Karl, i assume you had to many Belgian Beers and then Duvel, no way Duvel is available on Draft, just checked this site you gave, impressive (and expensive , sadly) but no Duvel on draft
and i know, as i'm a Duvellover :-))
Pete

Peterdv Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> huh , dear Karl, i assume you had to many Belgian
> Beers and then Duvel, no way Duvel is available on
> Draft, just checked this site you gave, impressive
> (and expensive , sadly) but no Duvel on draft
> and i know, as i'm a Duvellover :-))
> Pete
>
>


Pete, are you accusing me of drinking to the point of intoxication??? :-)

I am perhaps mistaken, and you would be the expert on this. Cheers!

Karl

In Belgium some years ago they still did a guided tour at the Cristal Alken brewery in Waarloos. Don't know if they still do it, it may be worth trying.

Tap for Guinness.

ooops, hick hick, too much beer..






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-10-13 18:07 by Peterdv.

> Pete, are you accusing me of drinking to the point
> of intoxication??? :-)

intoxication, what is that ?? pratice my friend, pratice LOL

>
> I am perhaps mistaken, and you would be the expert
> on this. Cheers!

i'm not the expert, but check out the Duvel site, the problem is that Duvel is fermentating after it has been put in bottles and therefor can not be put on draft..

www.duvel.be and click international :-) Duvellovers are better lovers :-)

one hell of a site, very cool screensavers and stuff :-))))
Pete

The fact that Duvel ferments in the bottle means that it one of the beers that we can taste in the UK the same as everywhere else.

However, although I don't know much about European beers (and by that I mean non British beers), I would imagine that you could do a secondary fermentation in a beer barrel, the same as British real ales do... Hence, Duvel on draft.

Actually, I have a question for Euro beer experts - when you get a draft beer in, say, Belgum, do they use CO2 to liven it up or is it conditioned?

(One of the perks of real ale is that you get a glipse of the bar-maids cleavage when she is pumping away...)

> Actually, I have a question for Euro beer experts
> - when you get a draft beer in, say, Belgum, do
> they use CO2 to liven it up or is it conditioned?

yes CO2 is used to get the pressurized beer out the barrels to the draft (don't know the word, but the device on the bar, the handle you pull and then the beer flows out )
>
> (One of the perks of real ale is that you get a
> glipse of the bar-maids cleavage when she is
> pumping away...)

hehe LOL

bv Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Talking about Beer and Belgium... I am supposed to
> be in Brussels for the tour start next year
> (European leg that is). Out there in Leuven they
> don't allow people into their enormous production
> plants of Stella Artois. Are there any other
> recommended brewery tours or brands in Brussels
> downtown city center area? Well I have been at
> Grand Place so I am ready for something more
> "cultural" you know...
>
> PS. Most people probably don't know. But I don't
> think there is any other place on earth where
> there are as many beer brands as in Belgium.
> Measured by size of the country etc. Hundreds and
> hundreds for sure.
>
> Bjornulf

Bjornulf, in Brussels you can (and you should) visit in Cantillon Brewery:
[www.cantillon.be]

>
> Bjornulf, in Brussels you can (and you should)
> visit in Cantillon Brewery:
>
>
aha, kriek lambic, yep , possibly the best one on the market :-) although the liefmans kriek is also very very good :-)

Pete

all i know is bottles of guiness are pretty crappy.

J.J.Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> all i know is bottles of guiness are pretty
> crappy.


not if youre already shitfaced...lol

TRUE! LMFAO!