Recommend a Belgian Beer

[Poochops]

@MagnusTS that's a nice selection but have a tinker around here too https://www.beerwulf.com/ personally found them much better value than BH.

 

[chthon]

I know very little about Belgium beers, but would like to drink, I mean learn, more.

I saw this Trappist Ale mixed case from Beerhawk: 12 beers plus a chalice for £40.
Does this look like a good starting point for my Belgian education?

https://www.beerhawk.co.uk/trappist-mixed-case

Chimay Blue
Chimay Red
Chimay White
La Trappe Blond
La Trappe Dubbel
La Trappe Quadrupel
Orval
Rochefort 10
Rochefort 6
Rochefort 8
Westmalle Dubbel
Westmalle Tripel
Chimay Glass

Anything else you would add or remove from this list.
I saw @dad_of_jon recommended a St Bernardus Abt 12 which they also do.
No reason why I couldn't just pick my own mixed case selection if folks think this list could be better.

Almost Belgian, La Trappe is actually Dutch, the last Belgian beer commercially available would be Achel. And Westvleteren can of course only be bought at the abbey. But the St Bernardus Abt 12 is brewed by the people who used to brew the Westvleteren.

 

[MagnusTS]

Almost Belgian, La Trappe is actually Dutch, the last Belgian beer commercially available would be Achel. And Westvleteren can of course only be bought at the abbey. But the St Bernardus Abt 12 is brewed by the people who used to brew the Westvleteren.

Ha ha, yes sorry, I posted the Abbey Ales mixed set, and not the Belgium Discovery set.

 

[MagnusTS]

@MagnusTS that's a nice selection but have a tinker around here too https://www.beerwulf.com/ personally found them much better value than BH.

Many thanks. I’ll have a look at that site.

I was thinking it might be best to start off with just a few, rather than going for a £40 mixed bag.

So if anyone could maybe suggest 3 or 4 beers that best represent Abbey style ales, that are available at BeerHawk or BeerWulf that would be awesome.

 

[Sadfield]

Westmalle Dubbel
Westmalle Tripel
St Bernardus 12
Orval

There you'll have a dubbel, tripel, the nearest thing to Westverletren and a funkier mixed fermentation beer.

 

[dad_of_jon]

St bernardus do abbey beers St feuillien do too. They're not brewed by monks so cant be called trappist

http://www.sintbernardus.be/
http://www.st-feuillien.com/en/

these are also worth a look...

http://www.hetanker.be
https://www.vanhonsebrouck.be/

 

[MagnusTS]

Westmalle Dubbel
Westmalle Tripel
St Bernardus 12
Orval

There you'll have a dubbel, tripel, the nearest thing to Westverletren and a funkier mixed fermentation beer.

Awesome. Thanks so much for these recommendations. Much appreciated. They are now in my shopping cart.

 

[MagnusTS]

@MagnusTS that's a nice selection but have a tinker around here too https://www.beerwulf.com/ personally found them much better value than BH.

You are right about better value. The 5 beers in my cart (4 as recommended by @Sadfield above, plus a Rochforte 10) are £6 cheaper at Beerwulf. Thanks.

 

[serum]

Impeccable taste. Brussels Beer Project brew some outstanding beer too.

I really need to try some of theirs. I have another trip planned in April so I'll try get some then. I've heard good things.

 

[serum]

You are right about better value. The 5 beers in my cart (4 as recommended by @Sadfield above, plus a Rochforte 10) are £6 cheaper at Beerwulf. Thanks.

If you still have time and money I'd recommend any of these as good intro beers. If they have them that is:

St Bernardus Tripel
Gouden Carolus Classic and Tripel
La Chouffe / Chouffe Houblon
Saison Dupont

 

[strange-steve]

I really need to try some of theirs. I have another trip planned in April so I'll try get some then. I've heard good things.

They open their tap room on Saturdays which is great for sampling. I was there last weekend and was rather impressed with them, the bread bitter (babylone I think it's called) was great.

 

[MickDundee]

I’m no expert on Belgian beers but I bought a case of the 12 cheapest beers I’d never had before from Beerwulf and I thought the Grimbergen Dubbel was the pick of the lot for me. It has certainly piqued my interest for the style.

 

[Pavros]

You are right about better value. The 5 beers in my cart (4 as recommended by @Sadfield above, plus a Rochforte 10) are £6 cheaper at Beerwulf. Thanks.

I think that Beerwulf are still doing free delivery on 12 or more bottles, so you might as well go for a selection of 12... I found that Duvel (for example) is about £1.30 there or £2 in the supermarkets here!
Have a look through and pick some from different styles - you can use the filter at the top which shows IPA/Abbey/strong/wheat etc depending on what you want.

 

[MickDundee]

I think that Beerwulf are still doing free delivery on 12 or more bottles, so you might as well go for a selection of 12... I found that Duvel (for example) is about £1.30 there or £2 in the supermarkets here!
Have a look through and pick some from different styles - you can use the filter at the top which shows IPA/Abbey/strong/wheat etc depending on what you want.

This. I ended up with 12 bottles for £15 delivered! Next time I order from them I’ll be getting some more expensive beers though.

 

[serum]

Pretty impressed with the prices on Beerwulf. Thanks for posting that. Definitely worth a go if I can't get to Belgium to get my fix!

 

[MmmBeer]

I went to Belgium on Monday and made the detour to Delhaize in Dixmuide (thanks chthon). I ended up buying 30 bottles, based (sometimes loosely) on the recommendations on this thread.

So far I have tried four bottles, my pick so far was the Gouden Carolus Classic (thanks dad_of_jon and serum), which I was very impressed by. Less impressed by the bottle of Gueuze I tried, possibly not one of the best brands, Belle Vue, but couldn't get over the thought that this beer tastes spoilt.
Many more still to try

 

[-Bezza-]

I assume you didn't pick up the corresponding glass for each. I love Belgian beer glasses.

 

[MmmBeer]

I assume you didn't pick up the corresponding glass for each. I love Belgian beer glasses.

Unfortunately not, besides you can't move in my kitchen for glasses already.

 

[Linalmeemow]

I went to Belgium on Monday and made the detour to Delhaize in Dixmuide (thanks chthon). I ended up buying 30 bottles, based (sometimes loosely) on the recommendations on this thread.

So far I have tried four bottles, my pick so far was the Gouden Carolus Classic (thanks dad_of_jon and serum), which I was very impressed by. Less impressed by the bottle of Gueuze I tried, possibly not one of the best brands, Belle Vue, but couldn't get over the thought that this beer tastes spoilt.
Many more still to try

You've got some lovely beers there. Both of the St Bernardus are exceptional, the Gulden Draak is lovely and the Straffe Hendrik is great (if you're near Bruges be sure to do the Haalve Maan brewery tour where it's made). What's the big corked bottle at the back?

 

[MmmBeer]

You've got some lovely beers there. Both of the St Bernardus are exceptional, the Gulden Draak is lovely and the Straffe Hendrik is great (if you're near Bruges be sure to do the Haalve Maan brewery tour where it's made). What's the big corked bottle at the back?

It wasn't easy getting everything in the photo, the big one is a Karmeliet Tripel.