Why do you see a Viking ship on the Piraat label, is a question asked many times. The shores of Flanders from Dunkirk (now France) to Breskens (now the Netherlands), and mainly what is now West Flanders in Belgium, were dominated by the Vikings for about 200 years, between 800 and 1000 AC. Although the aboriginal German tribes feared and fought the Vikings, over time the Vikings settled along the coast and deeper in land along the rivers. They build castles, that became later villages and cities. The Vikings mingled with the locals. The West Flemish pronunciation of several words is very close to, or the same as, the Danish pronunciation of the Danish word meaning exactly the same thing.

Anyway, for a long time the Flemish coast was know and feared for it’s many Pirate nests. First established by the Vikings, these small ports outlived the original Vikings. The Flemish sailors, as they became known after 1000 AC, established trade routes over sea all around the British Isles, South to the Azores and into the Mediterranean Sea, and North up to the German cities in the Baltic Sea.
Flanders became the center of the Western World in the 13th and 14th century. Trade, culture, science, religion, politics, ... all were performed at world class level.

Trade in that time was dangerous and the difference between merchants and pirates was very slight. A merchant ship had to be protected against other ships, but merchants would not hesitate to capture another ship’s load when the opportunity emerged. A pirate ship was however, purely focussed on attacking other ships. That same ship, with the same sailors, could easily become a merchant ship in another trading project. Sailors would turn merchant or pirate depending on the work load. The politics of the time, with the ever shifting powers between France, England, Spain, Portugal, the Low Lands ... left the Flemish sailors sometimes fighting against England and the next decade against France, and then against Spain ...

What has all that to do with our Piraat Beer? Well, the style of our Piraat ale goes back to these times, when people started to live on the sea for many weeks at a time. As you know, nobody drank water, since that was contaminated in the villages and the cities. People had to rely on alcoholic beverages to survive, as alcohol kills all germs. On the dangerous voyages on the seas, strong ale like the Piraat was highly prized by the seafaring captains for its keeping qualities and its high and healthy food value. The daily distribution of a pint of this ale kept the pirates and sailors in good health and gave them the spirit to survive the hardships of the sea. Drink a pint of Piraat and feel for yourself the warmth building up from inside, and the feeling that you can win the world! (Or at least, that ship appearing on the horizon.)
(Newsletter April 1999)