Future daze

Belgian Beer

Out now on PopMatters, and only two weeks overdue, my continuing love affair with all the delicious and varied beers of Belgium. Choice quote:

I've experienced trouble keeping track of all these beers, and I haven't even begun to sample the specialist beers made by various small breweries around the country. Leffe comes in four varieties and Chimay in three colours (each deliciously different and successively stronger); there's a stable of 'kriek' lambics and diverse white beers that all blur into a lazy haze of malty hops and foam. I've a stack of scribbled coasters with notes, stars, and underlinings of various names but very few criticisms and memories; and there've been a few times already that I'll walk into a supermarket or bottle shop and recognise a label or two, like someone who looks vaguely familiar, like I might have had a deep and intimate discussion with the night before but now cannot match to a name. It's embarrassing for all concerned. The coaster might say 'hallelujah, I've found my brand' and I might have dragged all my friends to the bar to meet and greet it, but a week or so later I'm not so sure any more. Another beer has come between us.