Any other fan of Belgium beers here? I recently visited Belgium and was blown away by the quality and quantity of beers available. And no Stella in sight!
Belgium Beers
I LOVE the fruity beers. Kriek and Framboise - yum! I also had some looooovely blond beer in Bruges, in a tiny cafe overlooking a canal on a sunny day. Ah, happy memories.
The Westmalle beers are sublime.
The Dubbel is a great either bottled or on draught (even more drinkable!).
The bottled Tripel is one of the greatest beers on the planet.
Alas didn't get to sample the elusive "Extra" which the monks drink with their meals as this is not normally available to the public (although it has been known to escape from the Abbey on occasions).
Had a walk around the Abbey a few years ago (they don't accept visitors) and sampled the brews at the Cafe Trappisten across the road. A nice watering hole a short bus ride from Antwerp. Bus to/from Antwerp stops at the Cafe. Well worth a visit.
The Dubbel is a great either bottled or on draught (even more drinkable!).
The bottled Tripel is one of the greatest beers on the planet.
Alas didn't get to sample the elusive "Extra" which the monks drink with their meals as this is not normally available to the public (although it has been known to escape from the Abbey on occasions).
Had a walk around the Abbey a few years ago (they don't accept visitors) and sampled the brews at the Cafe Trappisten across the road. A nice watering hole a short bus ride from Antwerp. Bus to/from Antwerp stops at the Cafe. Well worth a visit.
Belgium is a beer paradise, no doubt about it. My favourite: Westvleteren 12, an ultra-rare trappist beer. Truly the beer they drink in heaven.
I love the Leffe beers and places like the beer drome, and Belgos are great for sampling all these beers.
The only problem is they are so much stronger you can get very drunk very quickly
The only problem is they are so much stronger you can get very drunk very quickly
Leffe drinkers really should try the proper Belgian Trappist beers and not the mass produced rubbish masquerading as abbey beers from those nasty beer globalists, InBev.
I love the Belgium beers that we get over here. My favourites are Leffe & Hoorgarden. Would love to go to Belgium on a beer trip.
Can't say I've had any other belgian beer apart from Stella, but I do remember that it tastes a hell of a lot better on the continent than it does over here!!
Originally Posted by tangsman:
“Leffe drinkers really should try the proper Belgian Trappist beers and not the mass produced rubbish masquerading as abbey beers from those nasty beer globalists, InBev.”
“Leffe drinkers really should try the proper Belgian Trappist beers and not the mass produced rubbish masquerading as abbey beers from those nasty beer globalists, InBev.”
Leffe is fairly reasonable
Originally Posted by grassmarket:
“Belgium is a beer paradise, no doubt about it. My favourite: Westvleteren 12, an ultra-rare trappist beer. Truly the beer they drink in heaven.”
“Belgium is a beer paradise, no doubt about it. My favourite: Westvleteren 12, an ultra-rare trappist beer. Truly the beer they drink in heaven.”
Ooh yes, Westvleteren. I love the way the Abbey has a "drive in" offie where you can stock up on crates of the stuff, and then sample one from the cafe accross the road. We took my parents there a couple of years ago, and they thought we were mad driving into the middle of nowhere to find this hallowed brew.
Originally Posted by Elanor:
“I LOVE the fruity beers. Kriek and Framboise - yum! I also had some looooovely blond beer in Bruges, in a tiny cafe overlooking a canal on a sunny day. Ah, happy memories.”
“I LOVE the fruity beers. Kriek and Framboise - yum! I also had some looooovely blond beer in Bruges, in a tiny cafe overlooking a canal on a sunny day. Ah, happy memories.”
I love the fruity ones too.
Originally Posted by idiot_box:
“Ooh yes, Westvleteren. I love the way the Abbey has a "drive in" offie where you can stock up on crates of the stuff, and then sample one from the cafe accross the road.”
“Ooh yes, Westvleteren. I love the way the Abbey has a "drive in" offie where you can stock up on crates of the stuff, and then sample one from the cafe accross the road.”
What's more, they will subject you to an interrogation, and very often refuse to serve you, if you try to buy too much!
Belguim beer paradise is the Dove off St Peter's Square in Clerkenwell, London.
Amazing selection - Pink Elephant is a personal fav- and great Belguim Kitchen. I had a rabbit stew that was very good.
Check beer fans head to the Check House in NW6 - good beer, mad atmosphere and great scran. Am off there tonight, I can not resist their goose with pickled cabbage and dumplings.
Amazing selection - Pink Elephant is a personal fav- and great Belguim Kitchen. I had a rabbit stew that was very good.
Check beer fans head to the Check House in NW6 - good beer, mad atmosphere and great scran. Am off there tonight, I can not resist their goose with pickled cabbage and dumplings.
What? No love for the Rochefort?
All of them are lovely but the Rochefort 10 holds a special place in my heart, with its gorgeous and very girly glass.
All of them are lovely but the Rochefort 10 holds a special place in my heart, with its gorgeous and very girly glass.
Originally Posted by grassmarket:
“What's more, they will subject you to an interrogation, and very often refuse to serve you, if you try to buy too much!”
“What's more, they will subject you to an interrogation, and very often refuse to serve you, if you try to buy too much!”
We've never had that problem, perhaps we were being too abstemious
? I also love the way the bottles are unlabled, so you can only tell if it is 8, 10 or 12 from the colour of the cap
Originally Posted by Espresso:
“What? No love for the Rochefort?
All of them are lovely but the Rochefort 10 holds a special place in my heart, with its gorgeous and very girly glass.”
“What? No love for the Rochefort?
All of them are lovely but the Rochefort 10 holds a special place in my heart, with its gorgeous and very girly glass.”
Certainly Rochefort 10 occupies a very worthy place as the closest equivalent to Westvleteren if you can't get it, which you normally can't.
Originally Posted by idiot_box:
“We've never had that problem, perhaps we were being too abstemious? I also love the way the bottles are unlabled, so you can only tell if it is 8, 10 or 12 from the colour of the cap”
“We've never had that problem, perhaps we were being too abstemious
? I also love the way the bottles are unlabled, so you can only tell if it is 8, 10 or 12 from the colour of the cap”
Told by a barman in Ghent that:
1: You have to go to the Abbey for it (they don't deliver)
2: They are normally allowed t buy only 3 crates at one time.
(I had the last "12" in the bar - they hadn't been to the Abbey for a while)
Told by a beer shop staff member in Bruges that it was officially sold for personal consumption only and not meant to be sold on - but they never checked.
I'm fond of the dark "true" Trappist beers and also the likes of Delirium, St Bernadus, and soooo many others.
I couldn't live in Belgium - I'd be dead within a year.....
