Next time you raise a glass of Belgian beer, rest assured: It's a cultural experience.

UNESCO is adding Belgian beer to the list of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity."

Belgium is known throughout the world for its wide array of tastes, from extreme sour to bitter, produced in just about every city and village across the west European nation of 11 million people.

How to sound like a craft beer expert

The history of Belgian suds stretches back centuries to medieval monks and has been celebrated in paintings by Pieter Brueghel and in countless songs since.

Brussels regional leader Rudi Vervoort said Monday that beer "has been a part of our society since time immemorial."

Loading....

It is not all history with Belgian beer though. Only this year, one brewer, Brugse Zot, moved very much with the times, building a beer pipeline out of the medieval center of Bruges to a bottling plant on the outskirts out of environmental and architectural concern.

And at a time when many pubs are closing or falling on hard times as overall beer consumption declines, such international recognition is more than welcome.

Sven Gatz, who went from being head of the Belgian Brewers Federation to becoming Culture Minister for the northern region of Flanders, compared the recognition to winning the World Cup.

"We love our beer and appreciate the endless diversity within it, something that can't be equaled anywhere else in the world," Mr Gatz said. "In Belgium, beer doesn't have to give way to wine or other drinks in terms of quality and diversity."

In days when alcohol abuse becomes an ever bigger concern, UNESCO said it was about more than just drinking.

"Beer is also used by communities for cooking, producing products like beer-washed cheese, and paired with food," UNESCO said in a statement.

The poshest beers Show all 10 1 /10 The poshest beers The poshest beers Budweiser Budweiser, famous for its bullfrog adverts, came in 5th. 38 per cent of those who buy the beer are middle class. Spencer Platt/Getty Images The poshest beers Peroni Italian beer Peroni topped the list, as 50 per cent of its customers are middle class Jason Carter Rinaldi/Getty Images for Peroni The poshest beers Heineken Dutch beer Heineken came second. 45 per cent of its customers are middle class. Getty Images The poshest beers Kronenbourg 1664 Tastemaker Alex James joins the celebrations of the 350th anniversary of the first Kronenbourg brewery at Le Cafe Du Marche Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Kronenbourg The poshest beers Beck's Beck's, a German beer, came 4th with 38 per cent of its customers being middle class The poshest beers A Belgian beer, Stella Artois came 6th with 36 per cent Mark Renders/Getty Image The poshest beers 35 per cent of the customers of Dutch beer Grolsch are middle class Piutus/Flickr CC The poshest beers Fosters lager Australian beer Fosters came in 8th. 33 per cent of its customers are in the AB social group GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images The poshest beers Carling 31 per cent of Carling customers are middle class Graeme Robertson/Getty Images The poshest beers Carlsberg came join last with Carling, with 31 per cent. Niklas Morberg/ Flickr CC

Also added to UNESCO's list of "intangible" heritage was Cuba's sensual rumba dance.

The UN body gave the nod to the rumba, which it said evokes "grace, sensuality and joy". The Cuban delegation to the Addis Ababa meeting dedicated the rumba's selection to longtime leader Fidel Castro, who died on Friday aged 90.

The list of "intangible" cultural treasures was created 10 years ago, mainly to increase awareness about them, while UNESCO also sometimes offers financial or technical support to countries struggling to protect them.

On Tuesday, the UN body designated Ugandan traditional music, which is dying out partly because it requires materials from endangered species, as intangible heritage "in urgent need of safeguarding".