Belgian Beers to try?

[Applesnmore]

Has anyone tried Buy beer online | Order craft beer, ale and beer cases ?
Ships from The Netherlands

They carry quite a range including a hoppy blond from Namur - Houppe which I enjoyed whilst out there watching some cycle races back in 2017 train tours Leige from Namur was good. Sampled Redoutable on the wall up to the old finish on the top of the hill. Sunday market is huge.

 

[AMyd666]

Has anyone tried Buy beer online | Order craft beer, ale and beer cases ?
Ships from The Netherlands

They carry quite a range including a hoppy blond from Namur - Houppe which I enjoyed whilst out there watching some cycle races back in 2017 train tours Leige from Namur was good. Sampled Redoutable on the wall up to the old finish on the top of the hill. Sunday market is huge.

I've tried ordering from their Dutch site instead of the UK site, as it's cheaper and has a better range but it won't recognise UK postcodes. I emailed them about this and they just told me to go to the UK site. Grr

 

[nickjdavis]

For anyone thinking of making a trip to the area (perhaps visiting Westvleteren or other local breweries, or perhaps visiting some of the WW1 sites) I can heartily recommend Noel Cuveliers Beer Shop. Its a couple of kilometers south west of Poperigne, just before you cross the border on the N38 into France.

Last October I took a trip to St.Sixtus to pick up my order of Westvletern beers and a friend recommended the Beer Shop to me. Its not huge (you can barely get a shopping trolley between some of the stacks of beer and going round corners is nigh on impossible in some places) but it is packed floor to ceiling with Belgian beers. Do a google image search you will see what I mean.

I probably spent an hour in there and walked out with around 70 bottles. Added to my two crates of Westys (and a few extra I had bought in the In der Vrede cafe) the French customs man at Dunkirk had a great time picking through my selection!!!

The place is easy to miss, the only signage indicating its existence is the small sign saying Beershop in red mid right of the picture...

 

[chthon]

Show off.

 

[An Ankoù]

If you're going to have a fling with these fancy continental beers, a pint of Leffe and lime's as good as anything. It'll soon put you back on the right track, in any case.

 

[trueblue]

It really is worth getting yourself over to Belgium when the current situation eases.

Even budget hotels like Ibis have amazing bars with a decent selection of beers (at least the one in Ghent did), get yourself over to Bruges and to De Haalve Maan brewery to sample some Bruges Zot or Straffe Hendrik Quadruple, also a lot of cafes do a deal where you try 4 different beers for a set price, and there's the Brugs Beertje bar with hundreds of beers.

As a beer lover, every visit to Belgium has been a heavenly experience.

We stayed in a bog standard Ibis hotel in Brugge and the bar stocked beers from 5 of the 6 Trappist brewery's

 

[Cheshire Cat]

If you're going to have a fling with these fancy continental beers, a pint of Leffe and lime's as good as anything. It'll soon put you back on the right track, in any case.

There's nothing wrong with Leffe I like it and have made a clone. I also like Hoegaarden, Kwak, Chimays, and Duval.

 

[An Ankoù]

There's nothing wrong with Leffe I like it and have made a clone. I also like Hoegaarden, Kwak, Chimays, and Duval.

Duvel's my favourite and I've made a clone of Hoegaarden which is almost spot on. Wit always makes me think I should be drinking a heffesweisenbier, though. As for the rest of them, ok to finish off a session with, but my overall opinion is that Belgian beer on the whole, is over-rated.
Edit: That needs qualifying. I've seen a few comments in various posts saying that Belgian beer is the best in the world. I've no doubt it's the best Belgian beer in the world but a lot of it is no good for drinkers like myself who won't bother wetting a glass unless four or more pints are going to go through it. Supping a 33cl of Trappist beer isn't really my idea of a night out although it may be a nice introduction or end to a session. Then again, a good barley wine or strong porter would do equally well. Poperings Hommelbier used to be a good pint last time I tried it, but there's a particular flavour contributed by many Belgian yeasts that I'm not fond of. Duvel, on the other hand, is nectar, in my opinion, but I suspect that many lovers of Belgian beers might think Moortgat is too commercial, I don't know. I was joking earlier about Leffe, by the way.

 

[chthon]

Duvel's my favourite and I've made a clone of Hoegaarden which is almost spot on. Wit always makes me think I should be drinking a heffesweisenbier, though. As for the rest of them, ok to finish off a session with, but my overall opinion is that Belgian beer on the whole, is over-rated.

It of course depends what you expect from beer. For me, one beer to appreciate beats drinking many beers. On Untappd, I almost rate every beer 4.25 and for me, most of that is "is it well brewed?". Tastes vary, and sometimes I do need to deduct a couple of quarter points, but that is seldom. In the meantime I have tasted 200 Belgian beers, 40 French, 180 Dutch, 10 German and 5 Italian beers.

The Belgian beers are very traditional, but there are some small breweries that are getting traction, and which renew the offerings in the market. The good Dutch (small) breweries have started in the Belgian tradition, but the same mindset that is responsible for pizza Hawaii, is also responsible for a plethora of very creative beers, most notably "Kees" and "Het Uiltje", and "Jopen" and "Brouwerij 't Ij" with a mix of newer beers and variations on traditional Belgian and German beers.

As for witbier, here where I live, we have "Brugs Tarwebier" (now brewed by "De Halve Maan"), and I always have the impression that 25 years ago it was a bit more bitter to drink.

 

[Sadfield]

I wouldn't say Belgian beers are over-rated, there are plenty of highly skilled breweries making well regarded, unique, world class beers. Belgians are very clever in the way they protect and market their beers though, thinking of HORAL (High Council for Traditional Lambic Beers) and the International Trappiste Association, which can often romanticise beers add an air of mystique to breweries, something that rarely happens in other countries. As does the limited availability to the American craft beer market, which often inflates the price and subsequently the perceived value.

 

[An Ankoù]

No offense intended @chthon. I often think that certain styles have carved a niche for themselves and it's time they were challenged. Trappist being one of them. For me, Belgians make the best lambics and gueuzes in the world by a mile. But not all Belgian beer is amazing. Similarly with, for example, some English styles. I read the books and see a universal reverence for Fuller's ESB, which is put as a paragon of English Special Bitter. It's a good pint, but as it's a real ale, you take pot luck over how it's served to you and the state of the cask at the time of pouring. Beer drinking is a very cultural thing you say "one beer to appreciate beats drinking many beers". I appreciate that, but not for me thanks, I'd like to appreciate quite a few and for that to happen it's got to be of sessionable strength.

 

[dad_of_jon]

All

Sorry, from Belgium here

Everything, except anything from AbInbev. They don't deserve your money.

@Sadfield gives a really impressive list of nice beers, especially since some of the greatest are located in the province I live in, West-Flanders, both a monument to the first WW and home of more than a couple of impressive breweries: St.-Bernardus, West-Vleteren, Struise Brouwers (actually all three within a radius of 20 km of each other), De Dolle Brouwers, De Halve Maan, Bourgogne Des Flandres, Rodenbach (my wife is from Roeselare/Roulers), I won't repeat or extend Sadfields list. Proud to live in this province, and adore its beers.

I would get carried away, because I would start listing beers from the southern shore of the Schelde/l'Escaut, because in the Holland province of Zeeland, there are also some very good brewers, who tend to collaborate with Belgian breweries along this border.

have you ever made the trip to vanuxeem Ploesteert? I'll be there on Monday for 6 crates of assorted Belgian goodness

 

[dad_of_jon]

It really is worth getting yourself over to Belgium when the current situation eases.

Even budget hotels like Ibis have amazing bars with a decent selection of beers (at least the one in Ghent did), get yourself over to Bruges and to De Haalve Maan brewery to sample some Bruges Zot or Straffe Hendrik Quadruple, also a lot of cafes do a deal where you try 4 different beers for a set price, and there's the Brugs Beertje bar with hundreds of beers.

As a beer lover, every visit to Belgium has been a heavenly experience.

I'm off over in a few days

 

[Cheshire Cat]

It of course depends what you expect from beer. For me, one beer to appreciate beats drinking many beers. On Untappd, I almost rate every beer 4.25 and for me, most of that is "is it well brewed?". Tastes vary, and sometimes I do need to deduct a couple of quarter points, but that is seldom. In the meantime I have tasted 200 Belgian beers, 40 French, 180 Dutch, 10 German and 5 Italian beers.

The Belgian beers are very traditional, but there are some small breweries that are getting traction, and which renew the offerings in the market. The good Dutch (small) breweries have started in the Belgian tradition, but the same mindset that is responsible for pizza Hawaii, is also responsible for a plethora of very creative beers, most notably "Kees" and "Het Uiltje", and "Jopen" and "Brouwerij 't Ij" with a mix of newer beers and variations on traditional Belgian and German beers.

As for witbier, here where I live, we have "Brugs Tarwebier" (now brewed by "De Halve Maan"), and I always have the impression that 25 years ago it was a bit more bitter to drink.

Chthon
Have you tried many British beers and what's your opinion. I don't think Belgium beer is overrated but I do think a lot of German beer is.

 

[chthon]

Chthon
Have you tried many British beers and what's your opinion. I don't think Belgium beer is overrated but I do think a lot of German beer is.

Unfortunately not. Fuller's London Porter, ESB and London Pride, and Green King Old Speckled Hen.

I must say that I can appreciate them. But English beers are also difficult to find here.

The only German beers that I had the pleasure to taste (except the weizens which are available everywhere), came from a brewery at the border with Holland, Bolten in Korschenbroich. But those were nice beers.

 

[Pennine]

Making a trip to Belgium and was looking over the sint sixtus website. They have really expanded it, worth a read. History

 

[GerritT]

If I had to choose between a random Belgium or random UK beer, I'd pick the UK beer.

There, i said it.

 

[Brew_DD2]

It's all been covered in fantastic detail, but for a Belgian brewery that does more modern styles then Brussels Beer Project are excellent.

 

[samale]

If I had to choose between a random Belgium or random UK beer, I'd pick the UK beer.

There, i said it.

could name a few UK beer so I could try.

 

[GerritT]

could name a few UK beer so I could try.

Marstons EPA and Pedigree, Wychwood Hobgoblin (Ruby?), not the most dominating beers in the room, but overall pleasant relaxing company. And sometimes on offer in a 4 for £6 (so I've been told).