A Taste for Temperance: Economic and Historical Influences on Belgian and American Beer Consumption

A Taste for Temperance: Economic and Historical Influences on Belgian and American Beer Consumption Authors: Ranjit S. Dighe (State University of New York at Oswego, USA) and Eline Poelmans (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, campus Brussel, Belgium) This paper offers a comparative perspective on Belgian and American beer tastes and the historical forces that have shaped them. Belgian beer is among the world’s strongest in terms of alcohol by volume (ABV) and is also known for its rich flavor. The expression “Belgian beer culture” refers to both the huge variety of beer types and brands available, as well as the highly acclaimed quality and method of brewing in Belgium. American beer is famously bland and currently dominated by “light” beers. While cultural factors such as Belgium’s tradition of abbey-brewed strong beer and the massive immigration lager-drinking Germans in the nineteenth-century US are not to be discounted, we identify the temperance movement as a profound influence on beer tastes in the two countries. In this paper, the different influences of the temperance movements in both countries on the Belgian and American beer market are investigated.status: publishe