Enough of Belgian players, let's talk Belgian beer instead

H

hellonewman

New User
Ok, Justine is coming back. Kim has won the US Open. Great news!
Wonder if they both like drinking their country's famously great beers? :)

Anyone here have their favorite Belgian beer?
I actually was visiting Belgium while the US Open was ongoing, and here's a slideshow of the numerous beers I sampled. Enjoy!

Beer-tripping in Belgium
 
hellonewman said:
Ok, Justine is coming back. Kim has won the US Open. Great news!
Wonder if they both like drinking their country's famously great beers? :)

Anyone here have their favorite Belgian beer?
I actually was visiting Belgium while the US Open was ongoing, and here's a slideshow of the numerous beers I sampled. Enjoy!

Beer-tripping in Belgium
Click to expand...

Orval, Chimay, Golden Draak...hell give me any Belgian and I'll be happy!

EDIT: forgot Duchesse de Borgogne! one of my all time favorites
 
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I tried several dark - or as they call them, "black" - beers on my last visit a few years back. And they were the best beers I've ever had. But I can't remember the names. Heck, I can barely remember anything from those nights on the town. Guess that means the beer was better than I thought. ;-)
 
Great pics and some great beers, would like to try the Westvleteren particularly

Ones I like..

Rochefort 8 or 10
Chimay Blue (don't like the white so much)
Affligem Tripel (not that rare or special but I like it.)
Duvel (again, not that obscure but a nice beer imo, drinking one now actually)
Westmalle Tripel

Avoid (always), bottles of Hoegarden or Leffe.

I also like German Weissbier a lot, Paulaner and Weltenburger, and Franziskaner on draught (not so into the bottles of it, ok but not that great.)
 
Xenakis said:
Great pics and some great beers, would like to try the Westvleteren particularly

Ones I like..

Rochefort 8 or 10
Chimay Blue (don't like the white so much)
Affligem Tripel (not that rare or special but I like it.)
Duvel (again, not that obscure but a nice beer imo, drinking one now actually)
Westmalle Tripel

Avoid (always), bottles of Hoegarden or Leffe.

I also like German Weissbier a lot, Paulaner and Weltenburger, and Franziskaner on draught (not so into the bottles of it, ok but not that great.)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. I like your choices :)

Any reason for avoiding Hoegaarden - ? Bec. they're Inbev?
 
Re Hoegarden, partly the Inbev issue but also I just don't like the spicy sort of flavour, I tried one a while ago and ended up pouring most of it down the sink.

I didn't check the bottle but is it even bottle conditioned? (I'm suspicious of it as it's Inbev, if it doesn't say bottled conditioned on it, it almost certainly isn't.)

Leffe is pretty nasty imo, especially the 'blond' (the brown isn't quite as bad.) Like a bad pasteurised impression of a proper Belgian beer.

I'm in the UK but have some family in Belgium so I should get over there and drink some beer, much cheaper there than here (a small bottle of Rochefort 10 costs about £4 from a specialist off-licence, some others are better value like Duvel which Tescos have for £1.48 a bottle.)
 
I became a huge Belgian beer fan after our holiday trip to Belgium (Antwerpen, Bruges, Brussels) in February 2008. My favourites are:

1, 2, 3: The three Westvleterens
4: Orval
5: Westmalle Dubbel

After those five there are several very good ones, I especially like Lambic Gueuze (Mariage Parfait etc). :) And Westmalle Dubbel tastes the best from the tap at the restaurant right next to the Westmalle abbey (see photo below). ;)

27-elina-ja-westmalle.jpg
 
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Elina said:
I became a huge Belgian beer fan after our holiday trip to Belgium (Antwerpen, Bruges, Brussels) in February 2008. My favourites are:

1, 2, 3: The three Westvleterens
4: Orval
5: Westmalle Dubbel

After those five there are several very good ones, I especially like Lambic Gueuze (Mariage Parfait etc). :) And Westmalle Dubbel tastes the best from the tap at the restaurant right next to the Westmalle abbey (see photo below). ;)

Thanks!
Never had lambic gueuze before, will try to find in NYC. :)
Click to expand...
 
adding a few more....

St Bernardus Tripel, Delirium Nocturnum/Tremens

and i have to give a special mention to an american made belgian style

Cru D'or made by one of my favorite breweries, north coast brewery (old rasputin ftw!)...pretty decent shot at a belgian dubbel. and its organic for those of you who care about that. it was originally only sold at whole foods supermarket.
 
Re wife beater, Stella is a cheap and fairly nasty lager in the UK (it pretends to be a quality continental beer though), there are rumours or suggestions that drinking a lot of it makes you violent and, perhaps, not responsible for your behaviour (a load of rubbish but there you go.)

Legal people know this as the 'Stella defence', i.e. 'I punched so and so because I had 10 Stellas and that stuff makes you mental' (or words to that effect.)

One reason why they have tried to re-brand themselves as 'Artois' (though I think they may have ditched that idea now, not sure.)

To bad call, don't judge Belgian beer based on your experience of Leffe, it's rubbish. Not sure that is the situation but if it is..., try some proper Belgian beer (see the previous recommendations/favourites.)

It's a bit like wine in my view (or from a British perspective), you shouldn't drink pints of the stuff, just a few glasses (it's not a 'session' ale.)
 
I've tried two Kwak and Chimay. Forget which one was served in a really long thin glass. Strong stuff for beer.
 
Chimay Blue - excellent

Xenakis - drinking Chimay Blue now and it is quite a brew. truly a treat which could bankrupt me if left unchecked. anyway thanks for the recommendation and the little microbrew store has a good selection of Belgian beers as well. maybe St Bernardus ABT 12 next as one patron recommended to me.

cheers...slowly. :)
 
Glad to hear you liked the Chimay bad call, the red is nice too (not very into the white though.) Hope it doesn't turn you into an impoverished alcoholic though :-)

Incidentaly, how much did you pay for your bottle of blue?.

Not tried the St Bernardus btw, post your thoughts in this thread when you try it perhaps.
 
Xenakis - got the little bottle for 4.99. tho the larger bottle is a better value at 8.99. how much over there?

i could see sipping these different brews on a monthly basis(once a month)...and for sure will post.
 
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Stella Artois is delicious!!! I'd like to have Henin, Clijsters, & that Yaninna girl over for some. They can bring their favorite hometown brew. ;)
 
AAAA said:
I've tried two Kwak and Chimay. Forget which one was served in a really long thin glass. Strong stuff for beer.
Click to expand...

That would be Kwak, It is named after an 18th century innkeeper and brewer, Pauwel Kwak.
Chimay on the other hand is part of the Trappists brewed under control of Trappist Monks, only 7 can use the name Trappist (6 in Belgium and 1 in the Netherlands)
These are very high quality beers but very different in taste.

Belgium has a wide variety of beers in all styles, bitter, sweet, fruity, malt, sparkling, you name it...
 
bad call: A small bottle of Chimay blue was £2.85 last time I looked, so just slightly less than in the US (presume that's where you are.)

Not seen the large bottles for sale here.
 
Thanks bad call, I've seen the various bottles on the Beers of Europe site but never in the flesh, unfortunately
 
ericsson said:
That would be Kwak, It is named after an 18th century innkeeper and brewer, Pauwel Kwak.
Chimay on the other hand is part of the Trappists brewed under control of Trappist Monks, only 7 can use the name Trappist (6 in Belgium and 1 in the Netherlands)
These are very high quality beers but very different in taste.

Belgium has a wide variety of beers in all styles, bitter, sweet, fruity, malt, sparkling, you name it...
Click to expand...

Definately great beers. I couldn't ski properly the next morning, couldn't work out why until I walked past the same pub in the evening.
 
Xenakis - tried the St Bernardus 12 ABT. like the Chimay Blue more. the SB is very smooth but has a little bit of bitter in it which overshadowed the other flavors somewhat.
 
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