Complex Numbers

Beer Necessities

I don't like being predictable, but this time I just couldn't resist. Besides, if I were always unpredictable, you could predict that I will be unpredictable. Paradox!

PROMPT November 2^nd

You are curator of a museum. This museum has an area of interest to you. Take us on a guided tour of your latest exhibition.

Hello, and welcome to the Museum of Beer.

As you know, beer was one of the earliest and greatest inventions of civilization. While its exact origins are unknown, there is evidence of beer production dating back about seven thousand years.  

But you can find more about that in another exhibit. Over the millennia, brewing improved and evolved, and by the 7th century C.E., European monasteries got in on the act. Many of them still produce fine fermented malt beverages, most notably the abbeys of Belgium, and it's that country we're focusing on in this exhibit.

There is a wide variety of Belgian beer styles, not all of them produced by monks; the country has its share of microbreweries and industrial-level beer manufacturers. Now, we all know that AB/InBev, the corporate successor to Anheueser-Busch, producers of such disgusting swill as Budweiser and Bud Light, is based in Belgium. Do not allow this to confuse you. Yes, some of their corporate history includes Belgian breweries, but they do not make Belgian beer.

Okay, yes, they do manufacture Stella Artois, but that hardly counts.

No, when I speak of Belgian beers, I mean the saisons; I mean the Trappist styles like the dubbel, the tripel, the quadrupel; I mean the delicious and hilariously-labeled Delirium Tremens beer produced by Brouwerij Huyghe -- here, you can see the pink elephants   adorning the bottle. I mean the strong golden ales, the blondes, the ever-present darks. And even the sours: the lambics and the Flemish reds.

But one of the most interesting things about Belgian beers, besides the taste of the brew itself, is the artistry involved in crafting specific glassware for each beer. While Germany has its steins and the US and UK have their pint glasses and handled mugs, many premium Belgian beers have dedicated vessels for pouring and consumption. The most common of these is some variation on the tulip glass  , almost like a wine glass but with a flared rim and wider bowl. But other types exist, such as the tall, thermometer-like glass used by Pauwel Kwak  , that has to be served on a wooden rack because it won't stand up by itself. You know. Much like Kwak drinkers ourselves.

Eventually, perhaps even next year, I hope to visit the country myself and experience Belgian beer culture in all its funky glory. Until then, I can but enjoy the occasional import -- and this wing of the Beer Museum.