Belgian Beer Weekend 2011 Live Stream, Webcam Feed

Event Information:

Looking to tickle your taste buds and sample some truly wonderful Belgian Biers, then this festival is for you. Held annually at the Grand-Place, you are guaranteed to be impressed with a wide range of distinctive beers. At least 50 breweries, ranging from small, medium-sized to large Belgian breweries, participate to present you their best selections of beers. Belgium offers you a unique range of biers having the most contrasting tastes and flavours. Nowhere else in the world you can find a larger choice of regional, authentic and colourful biers.

Beer in Belgium varies from the popular pale lager to lambic beer and Flemish red. Belgian beer-brewing's origins go back to the Middle Ages. There are approximately 125 breweries in the country, ranging from international giants to microbreweries, which produce a wide range of beers. In Europe, only Germany, France and the United Kingdom are home to more breweries. Belgians drink 93 litres of beer a year on average. Beer has been made in Belgium since at least the Middle Ages. It is believed today that beer was brewed at some monasteries during this period; however, no written proof exists.[citation needed] The Trappist monasteries that now brew beer in Belgium were occupied in the late 18th century primarily by monks fleeing the French Revolution. However, the first Trappist brewery in Belgium (Westmalle) did not start operation until 10 December 1836, almost 50 years after the Revolution. That beer was exclusively for the monks and is described as "dark and sweet." The first recorded sale of beer (a brown beer) was on 1 June 1861.

The Grand Place is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse (French: Maison du Roi, Dutch: Broodhuis). The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels, along with the Atomium and Manneken Pis. It measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 360 ft), and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Grand Place continued to serve as a market until November 19, 1959, and it is still called the Grote Markt or Great Market in Dutch. Neighbouring streets still reflect the area's origins, named after the sellers of butter, cheese, herring, coal and so on. The Grand Place was named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1998. One of the houses was owned by the brewers' guild, and is now the home of a brewers' museum.

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