Beer is one of the worlds oldest beverages dating back as far as ancient Egypt and by the 7th century Monastaries in Europe began producing and selling beer and as they say........the rest is history.
Terry and I like just order a "bier" when we visit a new town, that we get to taste the popular beer for that region. At our hotel in Trier we were served an URPILS, the waiter brought us our foaming beer glasses along with a coaster underneath the beer........I was studying the motto of the beer printed on the bottom of the coaster, I asked the bartender, hey what does this say, he replied very slowy U-R-P-I-L-S. I said I can read THAT, I mean this saying on the bottom.....DAS HAT WAS......OH! he said that means "just have one"
Beer is an important part of European life, trust me on this.
Over here there are long standing mostly unspoken "rules" to follow. For instance, one must know how to pour, what size glass to use, and how much foam is topped on the beer. You won't see beer served in a pitcher, why? Because then there wouldn't be FOAM............
The Germans treat the beer like the Pacific Northwest treat their coffee, by that I mean if a beer is poured and sits too long............it gets dumped and fresh beer added......mit foam! There is a glass for just about every brand and size of beer and you should use the proper glass for the proper beer........ALSO there is a line located at the top of the glass, beer gets poured to that line and then the rest is foam......once the beer reaches that mark, the bottle is rolled or shaken and then the foam is poured on top to make a "hat". This techniique is a little bit different in the Netherlands.
The Dutchies want their beer served with the foam strait acrooss the top, a knife removes the excesss neat and clean. Probably the most famous of Dutch beers is the Amstel. The Amstel glass has the logo on the front, half of the logo is red the this is the "line" where the beer stops and foam begins.
Belgium beer could be a whole blog all on it's own, in Belgium there are over 600 count em 600 brands of beer. Our friends Kevin and Melissa visited a city called Bruges, here they saw a bar on wheels. You needed four or five guys on both sides of the bar to peddle and keep it moving. Fun or what? I think perhaps Kerry and Rit might want to add this to their list of must see er must drink list for their trip to visit us this October.
Terry and I like just order a "bier" when we visit a new town, that we get to taste the popular beer for that region. At our hotel in Trier we were served an URPILS, the waiter brought us our foaming beer glasses along with a coaster underneath the beer........I was studying the motto of the beer printed on the bottom of the coaster, I asked the bartender, hey what does this say, he replied very slowy U-R-P-I-L-S. I said I can read THAT, I mean this saying on the bottom.....DAS HAT WAS......OH! he said that means "just have one"
love and miss you all
6 comments:
Just have one.... humm, is that ALL you can have? I would venture to say NOT. I am sure it is a way to get the hook in the fishy's mouth, so to speak. Of course this girl being a non-beer drinker and an ex-barkeep was taught the foam is not such a good thing (however, the mustache it leaves behind is entertaining for sure). I know my beer lovin' man, Patrick would be in Heaven there. How's that song go? 'In Heaven there is no beer, thats why we drink it here and when we are gone from here; all our friends will be drinking all the beer!'
More than good head (on the beer silly!) I know Mom, BAD BECCA!
Very interesting!!!!
I would say Kerry & Rit must see the bar on wheels, I'd like to see it moving.
lycb
I thought I knew about beer! Makes me want to spend a month or 2in Belgium and try all 600. Perhaps a documentary could be filmed along the way to chronicle the events. "An American Beer Drinker in Belgium" has a nice ring to it. So if you have 2 German beers, 2 Danish beers, and 2Austrian beers what are you? European!!!!
I do believe a bar on wheels could be part of the "must see" list...
How to choose, with only two weeks there and so much to see and do!
Love the history lessons you've been sending, SO looking forward to October~KJ
Lizzie, you did it again. A fantastic blog/history on European beer, and beer drinkers. I understand from my Belgium friend that cities and towns in Belgium actually have annual contests to see where the best beer in Belgium comes from. One would believe that there could be a high rate of DUI,s. "ING", is a huge Belgium beer maker, they are also the same company that now owns the majority of, guess what?? Budweiser!! Cheers/Proost
Hey Honey,
I´m not really sure if your bartender spoke English but that´s not the translation for the slogan! Stupid German hihi... It says; it has something! He sells the beer and doesn´t even know what the slogan means... Pfffff!
And by the way; Belgian beer is the best!!!! ( Look how´s talking :) )
Love ya!!!
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