Belgian Beers

I know that I will probably incur the wrath of the beer gods for this, but I don't like Belgian beers. Is anyone with me on this? I know it's the envogue thing and I know there are a ton of you guys that like them and brew them,, but I just don't see the appeal. I also understand that it probably a gateway beer for BMC drinkers and that's great. But the zest, the corriander, it just doesn't work for me. Every now and then I will drink a Belgian Wit that a fellow homebrewer made and I appreciate the beer but just don't really care for the style. I know I'm not alone in this, right? FWIW, I like pale ales, IPA's and porter's mostly and I like big beers.

Ok, bring on the rants...

The only Belgium beer I actually love is Chimay.....some I can tolerate and others I can't.

BLASPHEMER! MODS, TO THE DUNGEON WITH THIS ONE! All kidding aside, is it just Belgian Wits you don't like? Because they brew a lot of different styles in that country. A saison is not a wit is not a trappist is a not a lambic is not a... you get my point.

Spiced beers are one thing, I easily tire of those. But, many Belgians are extremely well balanced or accent specific and unique flavors. I personally love the the esters present in many Belgians. I haven't had a wit in over a year though...

All vey good points. I guess I should be more specific. I don't lilke wits or trappists. I don't like the spiced beers. I do like Lambic very much. At least what I have had. I will admit that I have not experienced a lot of Belgian beers because the ones I've had I didn't like so I gave up on trying the style. Chimay, for example, I hated. I tried all 3 of them one night and didn't finish any of them. I don't really like anything from New Belgium Brewing. Those are belgian beers, right? Maybe I haven't tried the right Belgian brews.

New Belgium brews in Colorado, but they do brew some beers in the Belgian style. Try a golden ale like Delirium Tremens or Duvel, or a Belgian IPA.

Jason_Merritt said:

I don't really like anything from New Belgium Brewing. Those are belgian beers, right? Maybe I haven't tried the right Belgian brews.

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The only Belgian beer they make are in their Lips of Faith series. Don't let the name fool you.

I'm with ya on the taste, i don't like Saisons, or wits, or spiced beers. I got strong esters in my first batch i brewed and cannot drink it. I use it to cook with though.

Scimmia said:

The only Belgian beer they make are in their Lips of Faith series. Don't let the name fool you.

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I thought the Abbey, the 1554, skinny dip and tripple were all belgian styles?

impur said:

I'm with ya on the taste, i don't like Saisons, or wits, or spiced beers. I got strong esters in my first batch i brewed and cannot drink it. I use it to cook with though.

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Yay, I'm not alone!

For me DT, is disgusting. As are the other cloying Belgians. I really don't see how anyone can enjoy drinking a Gulden Drak.

Now the funky stuff, the horse blankets and sours, this I enjoy.

Jason_Merritt said:

I thought the Abbey, the 1554, skinny dip and tripple were all belgian styles?

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There's nothing belgian about 1554 or skinny dip at all. I wasn't thinking about the Explorer series. The Abbey is belgian, but I wasn't impressed. I haven't had the trippel.

Jason_Merritt said:

I thought the Abbey, the 1554, skinny dip and tripple were all belgian styles?

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only the Abbey and Tripple is a belgian-style

1554 is a black ale.
Skinny Dip is an American Blonde.

i'd suggest reading up on belgians and discovering what they actually are. "Belgian" is a very diverse and broad moniker.

Try Delirium Tremins (or Delirium Nocturnum) or La Chouffe Houblon IPA

Well I didn't like any of them! haha

Not to be a pita, but a lot of the yummy peppery belgian character mentioned in this thread is not from esters but phenols.

At one time I was in the same boat. I hated Belgian beers because of the yeast character. Then I tried Stone's 09.09.09 Vertical Epic, which was a porter brewed with a Belgian yeast strain. That was my gateway beer. For some reason I loved the taste of darker malts mixed with Belgian yeast flavors.

Since then I have been slowly branching out. I tried some Belgian IPAs and now I'm learning to appreciate Belgian dark ales, tripels and quads. Last night I had Allagash FOUR and loved it. They were an aquired taste for me, but hey, so was beer in general at one point in time.

Not a huge fan of corriander either but it is ok, not a big spiced beer guy basically. But I love Belgian beers overall.

I like Golden Strongs, Saisons, and Wit's but can't stand Dubbels and Trippels

I am a fan of most of the Belgian flavors but despise the "belgian" level of carbonation. So, I let just about everything off gas a while before I start to drink.

And then there is Orval. Blech. Or Brett character in general. Sorry, if I wanted to taste barnyard I'd roll her in the hay.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Sorry, if I wanted to taste barnyard I'd roll her in the hay.

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awesome.

Jason_Merritt said:

I know it's the envogue thing and I know there are a ton of you guys that like them and brew them,, but I just don't see the appeal.

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People don't like them because they're stylish popular beers. They like them because they enjoy the beer. There's always posts about people who don't enjoy this style, don't enjoy that style, "am I crazy", etc. It runs the gambit from fruit beers to barleywines. Did you expect every person alive to have the same opinion as you? Personally I think there are far to many Belgian styles and breweries to generalize my feelings into one category.

GilaMinumBeer said:

I am a fan of most of the Belgian flavors but despise the "belgian" level of carbonation. So, I let just about everything off gas a while before I start to drink.

And then there is Orval. Blech. Or Brett character in general. Sorry, if I wanted to taste barnyard I'd roll her in the hay.

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Funny you mention that, as that is exacty what I like about Duvel. I really like the crispness of it, something different.

'belgian' is a VERY wide ranging category. Some I like, many I don't. Saisons were my 'gateway' - light on the phenols (especially if allowed a couple months to age), with lots of citrussy esters that play very nicely with hops. Witbiers, I'm bipolar about, and I'm a huge fan of Orval.

Other belgians I really don't care for, like Chimay or Rochefort (though I do get an occasional craving for Rochefort 8). I can't stand Unibroue.

Basically, you can't just try one, then paint all 'Belgian' beers with the same brush.

Teromous said:

Personally I think there are far to many Belgian styles and breweries to generalize my feelings into one category.

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+1

I used to get so pissed at the beer bar I worked at when people would say "I don't like American beer" because what they REALLY meant was "I don't like light lagers." As soon as I shoved something like an Ommegang Three Philosophers, Allagash White, or a Dogfish ANYTHING their way their tune changed.

weird... i had both open and did the quick reply in the buying commercial beer thread..... went in here tho...

skx said:

Oh yeah, and on occaision i will bring a corney down to the local brewery (Oakshire) and have em fill it for me. $50 is pretty good for over 5gallons of really excellent beer!

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wrong thread i believe

skx said:

Oh yeah, and on occaision i will bring a corney down to the local brewery (Oakshire) and have em fill it for me. $50 is pretty good for over 5gallons of really excellent beer!

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Wait...what?

jgln said:

Not a huge fan of corriander either but it is ok, not a big spiced beer guy basically. But I love Belgian beers overall.

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+1....I'm generally not big on spiced beer either, particularly coriander or peppery spices. I'm kind of 50/50 on sour beers. Some are really good, and some I just don't like. But the abbey beers, goldens, doppels, trippels, I really like those.

On an actually thread related note, i tried a saison yesterday (From Pelican Brewery) that was really tasty. I am going to try making one now.

Probably my favorite beer on the planet is Carmelite Triple. To me it's the top rung of the beer ladder.

But you're right, Belgian's aren't for everyone. My closest friend hates Belgian beer, and I would consider him advanced and discerning at judging good beer (except when it comes to Belgians, of course). ;-)

That's like saying "I don't like American beers".

Somehow, people should stop making thread "I don't like this style of beers, the beer gods will hate me" or "I don't like this other style of beers, don't hate me" (there have been another thread similar to this one, but on IPA, recently).

There's millions of beer amateurs in the world, and there's millions of different tastes in the world. Some we likes, some we don't. And that's great, because there is many different styles. I don't like rauchbier, some do, but I'm pretty sure I can get along pretty well with one of them behind a beer. We can appreciate beer for what it is.

Indeed. This holds true for just about everything in life. I loathe Justin Bieber, but some 13 year old girls scream themselves hoarse when his face even graces a magazine. I cringe at the thought of a steak being cooked beyond medium rare, but if you handed that bloody slab of beef to my mother she'd likely vomit. There is no right or wrong; every palate is different. This is what keeps the world diverse and interesting. It gives us things we love and things we love to hate. Celebrate diversity! Everyone now, grab the beverage you least despise and raise your glass! Now get effed up, and forget what you were arguing about in the first place!

+1 on the loathing JB.

I love trappist and trappist style beers. Not always though. The first one I ever had was a Chimay. It overwhelmed my senses that were used to PBR & Miller Lite from college. It took a while of drinking other non lite beers that had flavor and complexity until I could appreciate the flavor and complexity of the trappists. Now they're my favorite.

That's not to say that I don't still drink less complex or well made lagers. Hell, I still get PBR once in a while cause sometimes I want to drink twenty some beers. Or sometimes a few strong(malt or hop wise) beers is enough to attack my palate and I just want something that is clean and refreshing.

haplo said:

That's not to say that I don't still drink less complex or well made lagers. Hell, I still get PBR once in a while cause sometimes I want to drink twenty some beers. Or sometimes a few strong(malt or hop wise) beers is enough to attack my palate and I just want something that is clean and refreshing.

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Hells yeah! An ice cold Rolling Rock on a really hot day is great! And having grown up and gone to college in Western New York, Labatt Blue and Molson Canadian taste like nostalgia to me.

BrettV said:

Labatt Blue and Molson Canadian taste like nostalgia to me.

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Haha, same for me growing up in Northwestern PA.

Erythro73 said:

Somehow, people should stop making thread "I don't like this style of beers, the beer gods will hate me" or "I don't like this other style of beers, don't hate me" (there have been another thread similar to this one, but on IPA, recently).

There's millions of beer amateurs in the world, and there's millions of different tastes in the world. Some we likes, some we don't. And that's great, because there is many different styles. I don't like rauchbier, some do, but I'm pretty sure I can get along pretty well with one of them behind a beer. We can appreciate beer for what it is.

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My point was not to argue about whether or not someone likes or dislikes a style of beer. My point was that a lot of people like the Belgian style and I, so far, haven't found one I liked. I was at work, bored, and thinking about beer, so I thought I'd start a CONVERSATION not an arguement. I personally love the fact that everyone has differing opinions about different styles. That's why I llike beer and brewing. If we all had the same taste the world would be a pretty boring place! All that being said, I've never had some of the beers that are in the Belgian style, so my original statement was probably to broad. So everyone drink another beer, whatever style you prefer and have a good time. I personally am on my way to the Rangers/ Red Sux game and plan on drinking 12 or so Bud Lights!

I just tried my newest Belgian, BPA with WL550. 3 weeks in primary, nearly 2 months in room temp keg, 2 weeks in the kegerator. This yeast is definitely the strongest Belgian I've had in my brewing career. In the past I've used WY3944 & WY3711 with great success and they are much milder in the overall taste of the beer.

Belgians are not for everyone and might take time to get used to.

haplo said:

Haha, same for me growing up in Northwestern PA.

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Aw, sheeyit, were you from Erie? I grew up in Buffalo, and went to school in Fredonia (which is halfway in between both cities.)