Days 21 & 22

Day 21… Today we went on a tour of Bruges. While on our tour of the city we learned that the city is shaped like an egg. It is also has lots of rivers and canals that go through the city. In older times these were used for lots of things, like protection from outsiders. Our tour guide also told us that Bruges was a center place for people trading goods. After our day of touring we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, where Kala’e and I had previously eaten lunch. Then after dinner a few of us went to grab a beer for the last night that we could justify doing so.

Day 22… Today is the last full day in Belgium. To start the morning off we all went to an art museum. It was very interesting to see how local artists (or local to this side of the world) depict different stories from history. It was also wild how risqué some of the paintings were compared with the very conservative paintings of our area. I also thought it was crazy how much detail artist put into their paintings. After the museum we all spilt our different ways for the afternoon. After picking up a few last minute souvenirs Amanda and I worked on our beer recipe. At 5 pm we all met for a last beer at Delirium (a bar with around 2500 different beers). After drinking one last Belgium beer we all went to our last supper, if you will. That is all for now, as we will be leaving early tomorrow morning.  

Days 19 & 20

Day 19… Today we started off early with a bus ride to Bosteels, a brewery that brews kwak a beer with a very special shaped glass. It is said that the glass will kwak (splash) the beer at you, if drank too quickly. While on our tour we were able to taste three beers, one of which was served in a champagne glass and tasted like liquid currywurst. After our tour we loaded the bus again and went off to our second tour of the day at Liefmans. While on this tour we were able to see their old brewing facility along with the current place they brew. We also tasted three beers here, two of which were fruit flavored.

Day 20… Today we were off again, this time we trained our way to a brewery called Domus. Here we were given a tour of their facility which was quite small in comparison to the big breweries. We learned that they don’t bottle any of their beers. They also have a quite unique system for storing their beer, it’s in a dual tank where they put the beer in a plastic bag, similar to boxed wine, then in the tanks they apply pressure to the outside of the bag to get the beer out. After our tour we were able to taste a beer they call condomus, which is a pilsner. It is said to be “the safest beer you can drink”. Then we were given a couple hours to tour the city, which turned into walking around and looking at sites. 

Day 17 & 18

Day 17… Today was a little rough. We started our day off with a bus ride that was supposed to leave at 9:00. After trying to find our bus for almost an hour, we learned that our driver was in a completely different city. After almost another hour of waiting we finally were able to leave for our first tour, which was an hour and a half drive. We arrived at Bush (not Busch) for our first tour, two hours behind schedule and sat down for what we thought was going to be a tour. After waiting around there for a little we were shown a video tour and given a tasting. We were given three beers to taste one of which had a peachy flavor. I found this flavor to be interesting but I don’t think I would drink it regularly.

Since we were already behind schedule we decided to push on and skip lunch so that we could make it to our next tour. After driving for almost another hour and a half we arrived at Carolus (I believe that’s the name of the brewery). Since we were so far behind schedule we were forced to rush through our tour. But our tour guide was very informative and comical. He told us that his previous job was to go to foreign embassies to make sure it was alright for our president to visit. We were able to see their old brewing equipment, but not their current brewing process. After our rushed tour we were able to taste two of their beers, which were of higher alcohol content then what we have become use to in Germany. Our tour guide also informed us that under their new management they have decided to make whisky. Here whisky needs to be lock up for security reasons. They need to lock up their whisky with two locks, one of which is from the company which regulates whisky. This means that every time they need to access their whisky they need to call that company to be able to unlock their locks. After returning back to our hotel we all went out for dinner at a nice local place. Despite the slow start to our day I feel that it was a success.

Day 18… Today is mostly a free day. I started off by sleeping in and enjoying some eggs, bacon and a cappuccino. Then I worked on my presentation which will be this evening. It seems like today will be a lazy day.

Days 15 & 16

Day 15… Today we traveled to Brussels. We arrived midafternoon and quickly found our hotel. Brussels seems to be a little crazier to me than Germany. While on the train we completed two more activities. We learned about fermentation and priming of beer. While in fermentation the yeast breaks down the fermentable sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Day 16… Today we woke up for a tour of the city. We learned about the pissing child statue. It is said that he peed on a bomb which saved a government building from blowing up. But this is just one story about the statue, so it may only be a myth. After lunch we went on a tour at Cantillon a local Lambic brewery. They only use natural yeast in their fermentation process. We also experienced a crowded subway. It was crazy how full it was. 

Days 13 & 14

Day 13… Today started off great I was able to sleep in again. At 2:30 we went for a tour at Pauliner where we tasted a beer during the tour. I have become a fan of the Hell beer here, it is a light lager. When we got back from our tour Keith gave a presentation on monastic brewing. It was neat to learn that monks brew beer, which seems completely backwards from my perspective. After his presentation we tasted some double bocks, which monks brew, and paired them with some local cheese.

Day 14… Today we went for a tour at a monastic brewery, Andechs. There we saw the brewing process and learned that they had moved their brewery off the top of the hill, where it was at first. After our tour we had some free time where I enjoyed some Burger King, the statue of Bavaria, and a nap. In the evening Kala’e gave his presentation on Belgium beers. Belgium beers don’t have to follow the purity law that German beers do, so it was interesting to learn how they add different ingredients to their beers. After his presentation we all went and ate at a place that served great sausage and beer from the barrel. 

Questions

1)      In my findings of people in Berlin compared with people in Munich, I would say that they are a little different. From my experiences people in Berlin seem to be a bit younger and have a more liberal stance, if that can be said. I feel that people in Munich are older, in a sense of cultural pride. They feel that they have been here longer and are a little less liking to outsiders (but they are still tolerant). The best example of this that I can think of was on our first night in Munich, when we were all out looking for a place to taste a beer. When Gudrun first asked a local man where a good place would be he told her one pub, but when he herd us speaking in English he quickly suggested another pub. This could be for a few different reasons, but being that we were Americans he changed his suggestion. In Berlin I feel that we never came across anything like this, either they knew right away that we were from America or they just didn’t care.

2)     

In both Munich and Berlin the cities all have roads leading to the center. This tells me that this is where the heart is, or the main part of the town. I would say that this area is most likely from the old part of the town. So there has been a lot of history in the building of the cities.

3)      

Water is a huge aspect of trading. In earlier times, before vehicles, waterways allowed goods to be shipped to and from different areas quickly. This is important for the growth of a city. I feel that the water system in both of these cities is a huge part of why they have become so dense in population. While water is important in brewing I don’t know how much of an impact the water in these cities had. If I had to guess, I would say that the access of water allowed for easy transportation of beer. And this is why so many brewers wished to brew in these cities. 

Brewing Process

The brewing starts with the malt, which is the grains that have been turned into malt. Then the malt is added to water and the mash begins. This is where the enzyme reactions can occur, which gives us fermentable sugars. During the boil the proteins are heated and coagulate. Hops are also added during the boil. The amount of time the hops are in the boil will determine the bitterness or “hoppiness” of the beer. After the boil the beer is cooled and sent to be fermented. This fermentation allows the yeast to react with the sugars to produce alcohol. After fermenting for a few weeks or so (depending on the beer) the beer can be filtered or bottled, depending on your liking.