I had no idea but my local watering hole is doing a nice Belgian themed night on Thursday to commemorate the occasion. 6 or 7 different beers on tap and a couple more in bottles to help set the mood. Anybody have anything similar in their area or doing something on their own?
I’m sure wikipedia could help me out, but…independence from whom?
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium.
Much of the population of the south were Roman Catholic, French-speaking, or liberals who regarded King William I’s rule as despotic. There were high levels of unemployment and industrial unrest among the working classes.[citation needed]
On 25 August 1830 riots erupted in Brussels and shops were looted. Theatergoers who had just watched La muette de Portici at the Monnaie theater house, joined the uproar and windows were smashed. Uprisings followed elsewhere in the country. Factories were occupied and machinery destroyed. Order was restored briefly after William committed troops to the Southern Provinces but rioting continued and leadership was seized by more radical elements, who started talking of secession.[citation needed]
A battle took place in Brussels. Cannons were fired in the Warande Park. Dutch troops were eventually forced to withdraw because of mass desertion of recruits from the Southern Provinces, while the States-General in Brussels voted in favour of secession and declared independence. In the aftermath, a National Congress was assembled and William refrained from future military action and appealed to the Great Powers. The resulting London Conference of major European powers recognized Belgian independence. Following the installation of Leopold I as “King of the Belgians” in 1831, King William made a belated military attempt to reconquer Belgium and restore his position through a military campaign. This Ten Days Campaign failed as a result of French military intervention. Not until 1839 did the Dutch accept the decision of the London conference and Belgian independence by signing the Treaty of London.
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But of course now they are independent from all government 
Why does this seem familiar???
Would that make them the nether regions? :o
Looks like Redlight Redlight is doing ‘something’. I think ‘something’ involves putting a few Belgians on tap that normally aren’t (Chimay White, Kwak, and Ommegang Independence Ale). They usually have a few sour ales on tap (they had a ‘Sour Day’ about a month ago). Never had Kwak or the Ommegang brew.
Whenever I think of Belgian pride and nationalism (Edit: which I should clarify…isn’t particularly often), I think of James Coco’s line as the Poirot-esque “Milo Perrier” in the movie Murder By Death, where Peter Falk’s (RIP) character calls him a Frenchie. Perrier draws himself up angrily and yells “I am not a Frenchie! I’m a Belgie!”
I think this is the first year for the Ommegang Independence. It will be one of the chosen few on tap at the Taphouse on Thursday. I can’t wait to give it a go.
Too far for me to visit, but if I could, I would!
Independence from the Reinheitsgebot of course! ;D
We were in Belgium a few years ago on Independence day and all beer sales were forbidden, at least carry out. Iwas going to take some beer back to France for my FIL but nobody would sell me any.