When John Major spoke of the joys of watching cricket on a village green with a warm beer to hand, on a sunny day, I thought you could forget all of it except the sunshine. Beer is one of those self-indulgences I've never enjoyed. It's just too, well, beery. But then I went on a three-day breaks to Bruges and discovered Belgian beer. It tasted, as so many holiday drinks do, like ambrosia. But the retsina I enjoy so much in a Greek taverna tastes like petrol back home; Campari - tremendously sophisticated in a Parisian cafe - is neat mouthwash when you try it in England. So I assumed Belgian beer didn't travel either. But the good news is: it does.
In a local off-licence, I found a bottle of Hoegaarden - the very best of Belgian white beer. It's made from wheat, not hops, and has none of the bitterness of an English beer without being sweet. It's also delightfully lacking in that Coca-Cola type fizz that seems to characterise so much lager sold here. If Hoegaarden isn't available, a very good second is Leffe - not quite as creamy but with just as much flavour.
The biggest seller over here is Duvel. It's not a wheat beer, but still has that distinctive cloudy appearance and clean taste. At all costs, though, avoid the flavoured ones. Huyghes chocolate beer or Cantillons cherry beer taste just as horrible as you'd think. But if you like a darker beer, Hoegaarden's Forbidden Fruit has the right colour and a stronger taste. The other thing I should mention is that most Belgian beers are fairly strong, but since they're also very filling you can't drink too many of them. And they taste so good, you don't need endless packets of crisps or dry-roasted peanuts with them. So you get drunk quicker. Hic. Vivent les Belges!
