Japanese love Belgian Beer!

[SushiShin]

Japanese love belgian beer, that i saw on belgian tv on my laptop.

It seems that the unknown characters nello and patrasche from belgium are very famous in Japan.

In honor of this a guy who has a brewery sells beer to japan called:

Nello's blonde and Patrasche.

The brewer of this beer is very happy he says: my beer sells like ramen in japan (meaning of this it sells very good)

in japan the meaning isn't known but they all know a dog from Flanders (an anime)

 

[nice gaijin]

Belgian beer is good, but I have not seen the brands you mentioned here yet.

 

[frostyg02uk]

Ive never heard of them either, neither in Japan of the UK.

 

[undrentide]

It is the story 「フランダースの犬」 "A Dog of Flanders" by Ouida (Marie Louise de la Ramee) which is very famous in Japan because it was made into anime on TV, but I don't think many know that it is a story in Belgium.
フランダースの犬 - Wikipedia
A Dog of Flanders - Wikipedia

There are some restaurants and bars which are specialized in Belgian beer in Japan and it is possible to find them on sale, but Belgian beer in general is far from popular - some imported beer such as Heineken, Budweiser, and Guiness are recognized but people don't know any brand of Belgian beer except those who are really interested/like Belgian beer.
I've never heard of the brand you mentioned, though I admit I'm not a connoisseur of Belgian beer myself.

I've tried Belgian beer several times, and I like it - De Verboden Vrucht (nice name!) by Hoegaarden and Bell-Vue Kriek (I like cherry) in particular.
I hope they'll be more popular in Japan in the future...

 

[RockLee]

It's weird in a way, as Belgian Chocolate and Belgian waffles are popular. There are lots of beers in Belgium that are worth tasting. Such as Kasteelbier (Castle beer), Leffe Blond / Bruin (brown), Jupiler...

 

[Davey]

It is the story ﾂ「ﾆ稚ﾆ停?ｰﾆ停?愴胆ﾂーﾆ湛窶堙固陳｢ﾂ」 "A Dog of Flanders" by Ouida (Marie Louise de la Ramee) which is very famous in Japan because it was made into anime on TV, but I don't think many know that it is a story in Belgium.
フランダースの犬 - Wikipedia
A Dog of Flanders - Wikipedia

Lot of Japanese also think that it is a Dutch story... close though.

There are 2-3 Belgium beer cafe's here in Kobe, I haven't been there yet but I am looking forward to drink some Belgium beer again.

 

[RockLee]

There are 2-3 Belgium beer cafe's here in Kobe, I haven't been there yet but I am looking forward to drink some Belgium beer again.

You just know it's better than that miserable Heineken *blink*

 

[Mars Man]

I have purchased a few brands which claim to be Belgium at least--only I can't recall the names at the moment--they were very good, and if the price had only been a bit lower, I would always have them on hand !!

 

[Anohito]

My partner likes Kwak, but it is not easy to get.

http://www.bestbelgianspecialbeers.be/main_eng.html

 

[SushiShin]

Ano....sakuranbo is delicious i love cherry flavoured beer! although in Belgium they say its more for girls and women

But i don't care! Kanpai!

 

[Seon-a Kim]

Bump...I wasn't around here

It's about beer, so I have to reply ^^

I agree mostly with RockLee as those are one of the best worth tasting...and have to add Rodenbach to that as well (very unique flavour...sour and sweet at the same time...you wont find anything that even comes close to this)

My ultimate favorite is Kasteelbier...it's brewed in this little town I live here and started as local beer, but sells on large scale now. (also one of the heaviest beers with 11%)

Duvel can be great on a hot sunny day outside..just chillin' with a cold one like that in your hand ^^

@Herbal Shin: Well I can't be arsed about that either Kriek Premium is my second favorite, so yeah...let them say what they want, we know what tastes good ^^

And isn't like Jupiler (pils) selled like everywhere? It is the best pils available and I am not even a pils drinker.

 

[centrajapan]

Everyone loves Belgian beer. The question one often get is beer or wine? 1 trip to Belgium and I can guarantee that you will say beer over wine.

When that said. Japanese beer is not bad at all.

 

[Seon-a Kim]

Everyone loves Belgian beer. The question one often get is beer or wine? 1 trip to Belgium and I can guarantee that you will say beer over wine.
When that said. Japanese beer is not bad at all.

Depends, but to get wasted...yeah ^^

With food most still prefer wine though (kind and brand depending on what's to eat) But a typical Belgian dish can be good with some beer to. For example fries with Stoofvlees Carbonade. The last is even made with dark beer as well and everyone uses a different kind, I prefer Rodenback or Leffe, but can be good with the non-alcoholic Piedbeuf as well.

Also a little extra to know, is that we here use a different glass for each brand of beer...so you can't just take a longdrink glass and poor it in, nope...each beer has it's own glass in it's unique shape.

Example:

 

[Homerduff]

I'm not a big beer drinker but I do like Belgian brands as Jupiler and Corsendonk. I also tought Buddweiser is ok and I also like Guinness. I've tried Asahi beer once in Japan and I must say I tought it was pretty bad.

The fact that Belgian beer brands aren't known to the big public is because beer companies here have decided not to conquer the international market immediatly. It will take some more time but eventually I'm sure that brands like Jupiler should be able to get as known as Heineken. A clear difference between Dutch and Belgian companies: Dutch companies are careless and very ambitious (resulting in internationaly known brands as 'Heineken' and 'Philips') while Belgian companies are carefull and don't want to take too much risks in the beginning. Belgian chocolate (Godiva) and Belgian waffles (Manneken) on the other hand are very populair in Japan. It's nice to know that I can always pleasiour my Japanese friends with a box of Godiva chocolates (knowing that they are quite expensive in Japan. some chocolates are even sold by piece).

about Nello and Patrasche, the funny thing is that while it's so populair in Japan most Belgians have never heard of it before. There's a small town near Antwerp (not far from where I live) named 'Hoboken' that is supposed to be the town were the story took place. There's a statue Nello and Patrasche there and every year tons of Japanese tourists come to see this statue. Also the Cathedral in Antwerp gets many Japanese visitors because Nello eventually died there while watching to paintings of Rubens. I've seen small parts of the series on the internet, and to me the surroundings actually seems to be more Dutch (except for the part that is taking place in Antwerp) because there are windmills and the girls are clearly wearing traditional Dutch clothes.

Recently the story of Nello and Patrasche appeared in the Belgian media because some Belgian people have made a documentary about the story and the history behind it.