one word - yeast
I always thought it was the aromatics used that gave Belgian Ales their unique qualities ie: fruits, herbs and spices. I think you could use Belgian yeast in any number of American styles and they are not gonna taste like a Belgian
I really enjoy the belgiums and have so far been brewing mostly those and stouts. For me I still have not got the taste buds for hoppy beers. I would like to branch out, but since I keg, it would even be hard to gift out 5 gallons of beer that i just wouldnt like after i brewed it. What would be a good beer to buy a few samples of that have good hop flavor without being overpowering?
Mike in Duluth
Duluth GA or Duluth MN? I'm in the South. It would be cool to find another brew buddy close by.
Some people are convinced that Rochefort has coriander in the mash bill and supposedly, that particular group of monks and their secular employees are a bit more forthcoming about telling you about the ingredients, but perhaps not the proportions.The only Belgian beer brewed with spices is Witbier. Saisons sometimes have something added, but if done right, you can get there with just the yeast. Dubbels, Tripels, BPA, Golden Strong and Strong Dark are not traditionally spiced, although yeast character may give the impression of different spices/fruits.
If you think about it, yeast is really what sets apart most country styles. Hops and malt bill play a big part too, but yeast is very important. British ale yeasts tend to be more fruity/estery than American yeasts, which tend to be much cleaner and more attenuative. Belgian yeasts have all kinds of phenolics going on (what the OP hates about Belgians). One good example is American Wheat vs Weissbier. Take the same malt bill and hop schedule, ferment them with a Weissbeir yeast and an American Wheat yeast. You will end up with 2 totally different beers.
Belgian beers have been among my favorite beer styles and brands for over 10 years now. As many have said, what defines Belgian beers is mainly the yeast (OR bacteria!). Among the many Belgian beer styles that I love, my favorite would definitely be lambics (which can then be broken down into many different kinds of lambic styles).
What I've never understood, though, is the disgusting flavor profile descriptions that a lot of people use to describe Belgian yeasts. I've oftentimes thought that wine flavor descriptions are pure nonsense, but at least they sound tasty even when they're off the wall. Belgian yeast descriptions usually sound disgusting, even though the beers themselves taste amazing. I've heard some described as tasting like "wet horse hair" or "bandaids." I don't even want to know what wet horse hair would taste like, but I can say that the beers they describe that way do NOT taste like "wet horse hair." On the other hand, I DO know what bandaids taste like and I would never want to taste a beer that tasted like them. Luckily, I have never had a Belgian beer that tasted like bandaids, even though I've had beers that people DESCRIBED as tasting like bandaids. Crazy people, really.
It's almost like there are people who hate Belgian beers and pretend to like them so they can get away with calling the flavors like "wet horse hair" or "bandaids" because they really want to poke fun at the beers. Nuts, I'm tellin' ya.
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