(VOVworld)- Beer culture in Belgium was inscribed on November 30 on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The recognition shows how beer culture lives in the daily life of the Belgian people and at their festivals.

Belgium filed an application in April 2014 to have beer culture added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. The application was supported by the German-speaking community and beer makers in Belgium.

According to UNESCO, Belgium has applied effective measures to preserve its beer culture, including its vocational training in this field. UNESCO praised Belgium’s efforts to protect the environment and maintain experimental breweries for fans of beer-making.

Belgium has long been famous for a variety of beers made from diverse materials including oats, fruits, and fruit syrup. Belgian beer ranges from light yellow to dark yellow with different tastes: sweet, bitter, and sour.

In Belgium, beer is not just a beverage. It’s an important part of Belgian society, culture and tradition. Its 1,500 varieties of beer, many of them global favorites, are a living heritage of the Belgian people. The diversity of beers, flavors, colors and processing steps has become a source of pride for the Belgian people. In many parts of the world, drinking beer has become a culture. In Belgium, local people drink beer in cafes, which usually offer 20 to 30 kinds of beer. Some sell more than 50 kinds of beer, which should drunk from an appropriate style of glass. For Belgians, beer is not just for drinking, but for enjoying. It replaces wine at meals.