Belgium beers... in denial

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dblvsn

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I get asked the question asked to me all the time about what my favorite style of beer is. It's kind of a hard question to answer because I like 'em all :rockin: but that answer isn't good enough for most people. When it comes down to it I love Stouts, Pale Ales and Scottish Ales round out my top 3 favorite styles. I also get asked what my least favorites are. That's easy... Lagers in general. I'm just not a fan of light bodied beers. I also mention that I usually don't care for Belgium styles as I don't care for all the fruity, estery flavors the Belgium beers have. So I'm sitting in a pub the other night thinking about some of the beer styles I've brewed and what I want to brew next. I realized that in my young brewing career 1/3 of the beers (yeah so it only equates to 2, but thats besides the point) I've brewed were a Belgium style. So then I'm at the store picking up a few beers to restock the fridge. I get home and restocking the fridge and I realize that almost half of the beers in there are Belgium! I find myself in pubs all the time ordering up Belgium beers. What's funny is as I drink them I'm always complaining about how much I just don't care for the Belgium style beers. I think plain and simple what it comes down to is I enjoy complex beers. There's so much going on in a Belgium beer its just fun trying to dig out all the aromas and flavors going on in 'em. Or maybe I'm just a drunk who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. :tank: Anyone else out there find themselves with this problem?
 
Belgium's are my favorite, I just love the complex flavor in them. Rochefort is definitely the best beer i have ever had. I only wish someday I can brew a beer than good.
 
I have to agree regarding the Belgian style beers. Some of my favorites are Meredsous 8 & 10 and Chimay Reserve. I just recently bought a case of ST.SIXTUSABDIJ WESTVLETEREN 12 Gold Cap.

This is by far the best beer I have ever drunk.

:mug:
 
belgian's are definitely my favorite, with piraat, gulden draak, and many of the unibroue belgian-styles at the top of my list. belgians are not always fruity and estery, but usually are very complex. a prefer the spicier drinks that have a nice balance.

it's when companies try to copy belgian styles and totally screw them up that i get upset. come on..."new belgium"...who are you kidding?
 
Belgian beers have grown on me lately too. I dislike chimey red it's a where nothing meld together. But I've been buying more and more belgians when I get ready to drink.
 
I love Belgian style beers and I'm particularly fond of the sour Belgians (i.e. Flemish Brown, Flanders Red, Lambic, etc.)
 
I am partial to them as well. Usually they are not 'session' beers though due to their strength, at least not imo. If I have a few brews, the last one is sometimes a Belgian.

I want to try more of the sour offerings. I had a Rodenbach and that was tasty. You see Lindemans all over, and although it is really sweet it can be pleasureable...but imho it is a crowd pleaser and they have sold out by broadening the appeal. I am not sure if their product always tasted like that or not.

Try some of the offerings from Ommegang and Unibroue if you haven't already.
 
DeathBrewer said:
it's when companies try to copy belgian styles and totally screw them up that i get upset. come on..."new belgium"...who are you kidding?

I think of NB's mainline beers as American Micro styles influenced by Belgian styles--some of them are better than others, IMHO. But none of them are really intended to be authentic Belgian styles, so I don't think that's really a fair way to judge them.

(Note I'm talking about the mainline beers, not the more esoteric ones.)
 
Finally some sense around here. Mostly, it's some dude who has tried a freakin' lambic and maybe an estery dubbel of some sort, and suddenly, they're experts on Belgian beers and how much they all suck. It's nice to see someone come around.
 
When I'm drinking beer with dinner I like a porter, stout, wheat, or whatever goes with what I'm eating.
But if I'm sitting relaxing at night I love nothing more than a nice big Belgian, definitely my favorites.
 
I like the fun of a belgian. I don't think I could pound belgian beers all night (unless Hefe's and Wits count) but I love to drink a few.
 
Awww, c'mon, cheez...you could put away a few Gouden Carolus' Grand Cru of the Emperors, no prob. It's only 10% or so.
box2.gif
Seriously, that stuff will knock you on your ass.
 
Evan! said:
Awww, c'mon, cheez...you could put away a few Gouden Carolus' Grand Cru of the Emperors, no prob. It's only 10% or so.
box2.gif
Seriously, that stuff will knock you on your ass.

I put one down. It would have been good to spread on toast, it was so thick and orange flavored.

Good stuff, but I can deal with one per year.
 
Evan! said:
Finally some sense around here. Mostly, it's some dude who has tried a freakin' lambic and maybe an estery dubbel of some sort, and suddenly, they're experts on Belgian beers and how much they all suck. It's nice to see someone come around.

I am still shocked that people claim they don't like Belgian beers...for one, there is one kind for just about every palate (I am convinced there must be with the tons of offerings they have) at least and to draw an analogy that is the same as saying that one doesn't like German beers or American beers...in other words that is the king of blanket statements if ever there was. imho. :fro:
 
cweston said:
I think of NB's mainline beers as American Micro styles influenced by Belgian styles--some of them are better than others, IMHO. But none of them are really intended to be authentic Belgian styles, so I don't think that's really a fair way to judge them.

(Note I'm talking about the mainline beers, not the more esoteric ones.)
their tripel is supposed to be a belgian style and it's mediocre at best. it's just when they put "belgian-style tripel" or something on the label and it's flat and tastes like roasted barley and corn syrup that i don't appreciate. Unibroue has it right and there's a few american beers that do it well, but most of them i am not fond of. i think most american beers just take a belgian-style recipe, then ruin it by adding way too much hops (like hair of the dog. bleagh)

And "new belgium" claims to have belgian style beers, they just suck IMO
 
I've noticed an odd number of belgian beer festivals throughout the country as of late as well. For those of you who get things like Ale Street News and Mid Atlantic Brewing News (or whatever that rag is called), you'll see 5-10 ads per mag about a belgian fest in some random place around the country.

I think Belgian beer is making a comeback. Ommegang is certainly doing what they can to promote it out here on the east coast. I also noticed a number of brewers who I never would have expected it to come out with a random saison or abbey ale.

It's a Belgian Brew Renaissance!
 
And "new belgium" claims to have belgian style beers, they just suck IMO

As cweston mentioned in an earlier post. New Belgium has some more esoteric beers that are outstanding. Especially now that Peter Bouckaert formerly of Rodenbach is on board. His La Folie is what Rodenbach Grand Cru used to be like when it was a truly great beer. (before merging with Palm in the late '90s) He brought oak tuns over from the Rodenbach brewery and is making some amazing "wild" beers. La Folie, La Terrior and Love being a few of them.
 
Is there a Belgian style that has the fruity/estery flavor that everyone describes but is moderate in alcohol, say 5.5-6.5%, and not overly bitter or hoppy? Maybe a good commercial example I could try? I don't think I've had too many Belgian beers that I recall, and I was thinking I might try that on my next batch.
 
Most of them are balanced or low hoppiness to begin with. Finding the lower abv is tricky though as most clock in higher than that. In fact they are usually so smooth that you don't ever recognize them as being such signficant alcoholic strength, that is until you've finished a glass :D.

I suggest an Ommegang Rare Vos. It is around 6.5% iirc. I think Blanche de Chambly by Unibroue is a good example of a White Ale, around 5% or so.
 
So far my Belgium beer experience is limited.
I tried one on tap at a bar that was much too fruity.
I've had a couple Wits I don't care for.
And my friend gave me a Triple he brewed but was disappointed in, this is the only one I have liked. Not my favorite but I still like it.
I need to try a few more. The question is what to try. I usually like strongly flavored beers but not beers with added flavors. My favorites are imperial stouts, I also like IPAs with a good malt backbone in addition to Porters and stouts. I don't like pale beers, fruit beers or spiced beers. The description of a Dubble sounds interesting but I don't know. There is a bar that specializes in Belgium beers in town in addition my closest HBS is also a beer store with a wide array of beers.
What should I try?

Craig
 
paranode said:
Is there a Belgian style that has the fruity/estery flavor that everyone describes but is moderate in alcohol, say 5.5-6.5%, and not overly bitter or hoppy? Maybe a good commercial example I could try? I don't think I've had too many Belgian beers that I recall, and I was thinking I might try that on my next batch.

As someone else said..Ommegang. Any of it.

I normally don't like yellow fizzy beer, but I've now hit my favorite beer style with saison, and lambic a close second.

Ommegang Hennepin is an award winning saison, and very good.
Ommegang Ommegeddon is the higher ABV saison (I think 7.5%)

If you like Hennepin, try Saison Dupont (import).

For the SWMBO (or if you decide you like fruity beer), go with Lindemann's Framboise. Lindemann's Peche is also fairly decent. The Lindemann's Kreik, however, seems to taste like cherry cough syrup, so I'm not a fan.

Also, like I said above - there are a number of regional Belgian beer festivals going on this year. Try to make one if you can. I did my first one this year and it knocked my socks off. I don't like the Tripel's very much, but some of the dubbels aren't too bad.
 
I don't know about anyone else, but all of the Lindemann's I've tried give me a sore throat and heartburn, they clash violently with whatever else I've drank or eaten that day. I like them but only in small amounts. Are all "lambics" that way?
 
The Lindeman's Lambics are all too sweet for me with the exception of the Gueuze Cuvée René. My favorite Lambics come from Cantillon, Boon, Hansen's and Drie Fonteinen. I LOVE Drie Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek!:rockin:
 
jarrid said:
I don't know about anyone else, but all of the Lindemann's I've tried give me a sore throat and heartburn, they clash violently with whatever else I've drank or eaten that day. I like them but only in small amounts. Are all "lambics" that way?

It may clash with some stouts or something, but usually any big change in styles will do that - at least with some heartburn and some basic unpleasantness in the stomach.

Never had anything with sore throat though. Maybe it's the carb level? Lots and lots of tiny bubbles?
 
I just discovered Piraat yesterday. I've never fancied myself a belgian beer guy, but swmbo ordered a Delerium Tremens, which I thought was OK, so I decided to try something on the belgian list of the bar we were at. Ordered a Piraat and MAN, it was great.
 
So I was browsing the beer isle at the grocery today and noticed that they carry a couple fruit lambics and the three Chimay beers. I was going to try to Chimay as I was curious but they were between $10 and $15 a bottle (750ml) and the bottles didn't look to be capable.
Are any of these worth the price?
What would be a good Belgium Dubble I might be able to find locally to try? I do have a local beer store with a great selection, so I should have a pretty good chance of finding most beers available in the US.

Craig
 
CBBaron said:
So I was browsing the beer isle at the grocery today and noticed that they carry a couple fruit lambics and the three Chimay beers. I was going to try to Chimay as I was curious but they were between $10 and $15 a bottle (750ml) and the bottles didn't look to be capable.
Are any of these worth the price?
Most every beer is worth the price once. It broadens the palate. Chimay is worth it every time IMO - the Grand Reserve (blue) won't let you down.

I love most every Belgian beer I've ever had. About to crack a bottle of Leffe Blond right now!
 
Personally, I don't think the Chimay is worth the money. I really enjoy the Maredsous 8 and 10. Especially, the 10 which I think is well balanced for such a big beer. They are reasonably priced at $7.00 for the large bottles and 8.99 for a four pack of 12 oz bottles. There are also several selections of Belgian triples at my local store that are very very good. However, the price being so high is an issue for me.
 
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