===Beer, the Belgae, and the Romans===
[[File:Map caesar belgae.jpg|thumb|right|Historical Map of Caesar's Campaign Against the Belgae 57 BC. Source: [http://www.emersonkent.com/map_archive/map_caesar_belgae.htm Emmerson Kent]]]
After completing campaigns against southern Gallic and Germanic tribes in 57 BC, Julius Caesar moved north and west to tend to a revolt from the Belgae Gauls living between the [[An_Overview_of_Lambic#Lambic_Geography|Senne]] and Rhine Rivers in what is now modern day Belgium and Germany. Caesar noted both the ferocity of the Belgians and their connection to the Germanic tribes he had just conquered. This close cultural and economic relationship also included a close connection to beer. Unlike the Mediterranean cultural centers, the Germanic and Gallic tribes viewed wine as an effeminate beverage and banned its import.<ref name=BarbariansBeverage>Max Nelson, The Barbarian's Beverage: A History of Beer in Ancient Europe, 2005</ref>