Help with Belgian Beer

I'm heading to the Brass City Brewfest tomorrow (Waterbury, CT), which has a special Belgian beer tent for an additional $10. For those of you more familiar with these styles - could you point me toward some "must try" beers and or vendors? I definitely need some kind of gameplan! Here is the list...

Abbey de Leffe - Achel - Achouffe - Bavik - Binchoise - Boon - Cantillion - Caracole - Chimay - de Dolle - de Halve Maan - de Koninck - De Landtsheer (Malheur) - De Prouef (SBS Imports) - de Ranke - de Silly - des Rocs - Drei Fonteinen - Dupont - Duvel Moorgat - Glazen Toren - Grimbergen - Het Anker (Gouden Carolus) - Hoegaarden - Huyghe - l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu - Lefebvre - Liefmans - Lindemans - Lochristi (Green's) - Orval (Trappist) - Oud Beersel - Palm - Picobrouwrij Alvinne - Regenboog - Riva - Rochefort (Trappist) - Rodenbach - Silenrieux - Slaghmuylder - St. Bernard - Stella Artois - Van Honesbrouck - Van Steenberge - Verhaeghe - Westmalle (Trappist)

Boon, Cantillion, de Dolle, De Prouef, de Silly, Drei Fonteinen

Of course, those are lotsa sour beers...but that's just my thing

I guess it depends on which beers you can get at other times. One of my favorites from the list would be Duvel, which is a gorgeous strong blonde beer. But it's quite widely exported, so if you can get it anytime where you are, you should go for rarer beers. Though if you've never had Duvel, it's well worth a go.

Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort and Westmalle are all trappist beers, and all very good. Rochefort 10 is a big kick-ass beer that I'd happily drink any time. Westmalle do a great tripel, and I like the fruitiness of the yeast that Chimay uses. The Orval uses Brett yeast, so it's very different to the others. It's quite funky, and not to my taste, but I have friends who love it.

Cantillion is very well regarded by Belgian beerophiles, though I think they only do gueuzes and the like, which again is a little too funky for my palate. The same goes for Boon - I've tried their Oude Gueuze and couldn't drink it, but others loved it.

Rodenbach Grand Cru is another highly rated beer. De Dolle do a great 9%stout, though it's quite American in style, so maybe not the one to go for if you want Belgian-ness. Dupont do a fantastic Saison, in normal and organic ("biologique") versions, so try that if you can. All the St Bernardus beers are good, but their 12 in particular is a belter of a beer.

IMHO Hoegaarden and Stella Artois are fairly ordinary, and given how smashed you could get on all the high strength beers, I wouldn't waste good brain cells on them. The only one on the list to really avoid, according to Tim Webb's "Good Beer Guide - Belgium", is Huyghe - he goes on at great length about how their beers suck total ass. He may or may not be right - it's only one man's opinion - but given how many other good beers there are, I figure why take the risk?

All in all, though, that's an amazingly good choice of beers.

Wow. Thanks for all the info! That's a huge help.

Abbey de Leffe, Westmalle, and Orval (Trappist) would be the order that in descending preference order.

For something new, try a GranCru or Saison.

duvel chimay..........and of course stella

Researched the styles and some reviews and am starting a list. So far these are definitely getting hit up...

1. Rochefort 10 (13% Quad)
2. St Bernardus 12 (10% Quad)
3. Orval Belgian Pale Ale (6.9%)
4. De Dolle Export Stout (9%)
5. Westmalle Tripel (9.5%)
6. Redenbach Grand Cru (Flanders Red 6%)

Craig311 said:

Abbey de Leffe - Achel - Achouffe - Bavik - Binchoise - Boon - Cantillion - Caracole - Chimay - de Dolle - de Halve Maan - de Koninck - De Landtsheer (Malheur) - De Prouef (SBS Imports) - de Ranke - de Silly - des Rocs - Drei Fonteinen - Dupont - Duvel Moorgat - Glazen Toren - Grimbergen - Het Anker (Gouden Carolus) - Hoegaarden - Huyghe - l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu - Lefebvre - Liefmans - Lindemans - Lochristi (Green's) - Orval (Trappist) - Oud Beersel - Palm - Picobrouwrij Alvinne - Regenboog - Riva - Rochefort (Trappist) - Rodenbach - Silenrieux - Slaghmuylder - St. Bernard - Stella Artois - Van Honesbrouck - Van Steenberge - Verhaeghe - Westmalle (Trappist)

Click to expand...

Looks like my Christmas list!

I have a hard time finding DeKoninck around here, and when I can find it it is outrageously expensive. It's a great example of a Belgian pale ale. The keg I brewed has been hammered by everyone who tries it. Or should I say everyone who tries it ends up hammered.

As someone else pointed out - it's not that hard to find Rochefort, Westmalle, Chimay, and Orval around at your local booze hut or wherever you shop.

I'm getting really excited for this! Dogfish Head is going to be there with thier "Punkin Ale" I've heard so much about. SWMBO is looking forward to that one. I'll just need to be sure she doesn't have any salt on her before we go (that may be funny to some of you)!

Craig311 said:

Researched the styles and some reviews and am starting a list. So far these are definitely getting hit up...

1. Rochefort 10 (13% Quad)
2. St Bernardus 12 (10% Quad)
3. Orval Belgian Pale Ale (6.9%)
4. De Dolle Export Stout (9%)
5. Westmalle Tripel (9.5%)
6. Redenbach Grand Cru (Flanders Red 6%)

Click to expand...

That's a good start. I would try something from Cantillon. they are typically very funky, but if you don't see that on your shelves in your area, you're in for something different that you won't get too often. De Silly isn't too common out here either so were it me getting to this, I'd try that.

OOH! I almost missed Caracole. This would be a must have for me. Their stufff is very unique and amazing. I can't afford it too often, but I do love it.

You should be able to get Orval at a lot of places. You've picked a really good list if you're going for a first time experience with a wide variety. I would avoid de proef. They've been kind of average lately. Leffe is boring to me, and so widely distroed, you'll find it anywhere. Same with Hoegaarden and Liefmans.

De Dolle, Achouffe, Dupont, and Rochefort are four breweries I drink on a semi regular bases. Rochefort 8 is one of my favorites. And Dupont makes the quintessential saison.

I could go on for days.

DFH as well? Awesome! On the off chance Lost Abbey is there, I'd really recommend their Angel's Share beer if you can get it. I thought it was mind-blowingly good. But even without it, your hitlist is shaping up to be something special.

I had a Gouden Carolus once that was nectar from the gods.