A great recognition for Belgian Beer
Last November Belgian Beer has become a cultural experience thanks to its addition to the Unesco cultural heritage list. From now on, drinking a cold glass of beer is tasting history in the mouth. But there are dangers involved in drinking too much…
Belgian beer is a worldwide famous drink with several different tasts for each of its consumers. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has recently added the Belgian beer to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This list also designates world heritage sites at places of historical and cultural interest worldwide.
Different kinds of beer for summer, winter, autumn and spring “have been a part of our society since ever”, Brussels politician Rudi Vervoort told Associated Press. The AP also reports that brewers within the country have compared the honour to winning the World Cup.
Unesco has declared that the election of Belgian beer as a historical item is a matter of more than drinking the beer. Beer is also used by communities for cooking, producing products like beer-washed cheese, and paired with food. And it is not only about consumption but also about the way they make it and their proud feeling of seeing in someone’s face a piece of satisfaction.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were 3,000 breweries in Belgium, and each village had at least one brewery,” explains Jean-Louis Van de Perre, President of the Belgian Brewers association in an interview with France Info. It was just a matter of time to be on that list.
It is also important to understand that these kinds of beer are for ‘good drinkers‘, the ones who like to sit and enjoy their beer, the taste, the flavour and the way it wets the tongue. It is not for people who like to drink in order to get drunk.
“A responsible use of beer is what makes you enjoy the beer” — That is a little advice from Niels Houbrix, a Belgian Pharmacist interested in the subject.
He declares that Belgian beer is a part of Belgian people and their traditions, and it is a grateful feeling to see a foreigner enjoying it. The problem is when people, and not only from another countries, use these drinks as a way to make their holidays a “drunk-trip”.
“One of the main problems with beer is that society has the feeling that it is not vodka and it is not harmful… but it can be. There are several factors that add to the distribution of this attitude, seeing beer as a successful companion that makes life easy, an image that has been created by advertising.”
“Also the smooth taste of beer, compared to other alcoholic drinks, makes people believe that it can not be as bad as a gin tonic.” Research has shown that just with the taste of beer, and not because of the alcohol, dopamine is released into our brain.
“Dopamine not only helps the brain to find the benefits, but also strengthens the motivation to perform certain actions and get a reward. It is the brain chemical that is related to addiction problems, and it causes relapses in people with addictions”.
Some of the effects and consequences of drinking beer irresponsibly are addiction, alcoholism, problems and physical deteriorations, psychological dependence, family deterioration, labour and social complications,…
There are several things to keep in mind, and some of them are the ones you learn at school, but it seems that some people forget about them during the years. “The addiction to beer appears later than with other alcoholic drinks, but it is also one of the most difficult to treat.”
Houbrix explains that there are several cases of people with an extreme addiction to alcohol, and not all of them are adults. Some of them are still teenagers. “The family deterioration that alcoholism can provoke is something extremely difficult to fix.”
It is clear is that if we have a responsible way of drinking, Belgian beer can be a “must do” if you have the chance to travel to the small country.
