Belgian beers!

Aglomerado

Hi, Beer Afficionadoes, I will be going to Brussels/ Bruges/ Leuven for a few days in August. I want to try as many Belgian beers as I possibly can while there so any suggestions welcome! I enjoy wheat beers and blonde beers so I know I'll be spoilt for choice.

I'll drink anything, I just don't know where to begin!!!

Cheers!

Koptain Liverpool

I was recently in Brussels. There are so many to choose from. I drank plenty of Leffe Blond (although that's widely available here).
The nicest beer I tried there was Le Chouffe IPA (10% though!).
They have a different selection in every pub so browse the menus and/or ask the barstaff for advice.

BeerNut

In Leuven, start at M Café in the city museum. Great selection and pretty much no crap.

skimpydoo

Juliper, Chimay, Duval, Hoegarden, Leffe and also the Trappist beers are nice too.

slayerking

't Brugs Beertje is a great bar in Bruges.
As is Cambrinus.

There's so much beer to try over there, my advice would be to just try lots of different types. I wouldn't really be bothered with the beers you can already get here, go for stuff you can't!

Maybe some nice Geuze's or Kriek's.

Big Nasty

skimpydoo wrote: »

Juliper

:eek::eek::eek:

Sky King

Go to the traditional lambic brewery in Brussels and do a tour.

http://www.cantillon.be/br/3_1

I thought that kreik was mingin but the brewery is hugely interesting. I actually didn't like any beer I tried in Belgium... anything I tasted all had this kind of weird sweetness to them that doesn't appeal to me. I like red ale and stout a lot - couldn't find anything in that style though.

Aglomerado

Sky King wrote: »

Go to the traditional lambic brewery in Brussels and do a tour.

I've heard of their Fruit beers. Sounds good!

Sky King

Yeah it's class - all the brewing equipment is pure old skool in there - real antiquated belt driven stuff which they apparently still use - an you can taste their product at the end of the tour.

BeerNut

Sky King wrote: »

real antiquated belt driven stuff which they apparently still use

Mind your fingers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws9Gnu_ILT4

Sky King

CLASS!

It was all asleep when I was there.

BeerNut

They do two public brewdays a year, but other than that I don't think they let the punters in when they're brewing. They only brew in the colder half of the year too.

irish_goat

skimpydoo wrote: »

Juliper, Chimay, Duval, Hoegarden, Leffe and also the Trappist beers are nice too.

Aside from Juliper, all those are available in Ireland. I'd recommend trying the harder to get stuff while you're there.

I'm off to Bruges in August for 2 nights so would welcome any recommendations as well.

BeerNut

Breweries I'd recommend that you can't get here are the likes of De La Senne, Jandrain-Jandrenouille, Ellezelloise and Alpaïde, and lambics from Hanssens and Tilquin.

Big Nasty

irish_goat wrote: »

Aside from Juliper, all those are available in Ireland. I'd recommend trying the harder to get stuff while you're there.

I'm off to Bruges in August for 2 nights so would welcome any recommendations as well.

It's Jupiler - and the bums on the street drink it in Belgium.

I love Belgian beer but I would rather drink Dutch Gold than Jupiler, or Stella for that matter.

Sky King

I think Jupiler tastes very like Molson Canadian.

Mucco

Try http://www.moederlambic.com/bars/fr/bars/ bar in Brussels, the original is better.
http://www.beermania.be/ has 100+ bottled beers.

Sky King

Beermania has over 400 beers! I visited it - there's zero ambience in the place - it's like drinking in an off license.

Worth a look though. It's very near the EU parliament building, or you could walk to it from Trone metro.

BeerNut

Sky King wrote: »

it's like drinking in an off license.

It is drinking in an off licence I agree on the ambiance but it offers a rare opportunity to observe beer geeks in their natural habitat. And the glass for the house beer is fun.

Micky Dolenz

So many beers, so little time.

rochefort 8, Duval triple hop, westmalle triple. Leffe Royal, Leffe 9, Leffe triple, delirium tremens, delirium nocturnum.

Actually, just have a look at some of my posts here. Belgium beer is all I have been drinking recently.

Aglomerado

Some great suggestions there lads. I'm drooling at the thought!

Micky Dolenz

I am going to have a beer now and it's your fault

Aglomerado

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

I am going to have a beer now and it's your fault

Enjoy! :pac:

munchkin_utd

MCMLXXV wrote: »

It's Jupiler - and the bums on the street drink it in Belgium.

I love Belgian beer but I would rather drink Dutch Gold than Jupiler, or Stella for that matter.

jasus, Duval is worse to be honest. Which is a pity as for a country that brews such a variety of good interesting stronger alc. beers, their "standard" beers (incl. Hoegaaden) are near undrinkable.

In Bruges for a couple of days on a bit of a road trip next week so will try and get in some stuff I haven't tried before.
I must keep a diary of what I like and dont like for future reference as its easy to forget which was what, but for example I would be partial to the stronger Rochefort and Westmale (10/ 12 ?) and near allergic to blue Chimay.
Any suggestions on stuff along those lines of less commonly found breweries?

I was in Ieper there at christmas in the Supermarket and the selection is bewildering with a lot of (to me) unknown brands.

Koptain Liverpool

munchkin_utd wrote: »

jasus, Duval is worse to be honest. Which is a pity as for a country that brews such a variety of good interesting stronger alc. beers, their "standard" beers (incl. Hoegaaden) are near undrinkable.

Each to their own and all...but to describe Hoegaarden as near undrinkable???
And Duvel as worse than Jupiler?? Both Hoegaarden and Duvel are very good beers I would argue.

c - 13

irish_goat wrote: »

Aside from Juliper, all those are available in Ireland. I'd recommend trying the harder to get stuff while you're there.

I'm off to Bruges in August for 2 nights so would welcome any recommendations as well.

Half Moon Brewery Tour in Bruges is very enjoyable, restaurant there is decent too, their Straffe Hendrik stuff is delicious

http://www.halvemaan.be/

PhosphoricAcid

What?! Jupiler is absolutely gorgeous! I was in Brussels for a few days back in June and fell in love with the place. Anyone going to Brussels should check out a shop called '250 Beers' in Grand Place. Perfectly acceptable to drink outdoors in Belgium too especially in Grand Place at night time where there's a great buzz with the lights of the magnificent buildings changing colour every minute.

Creamy Goodness

PhosphoricAcid wrote: »

What?! Jupiler is absolutely gorgeous! I was in Brussels for a few days back in June and fell in love with the place. Anyone going to Brussels should check out a shop called '250 Beers' in Grand Place. Perfectly acceptable to drink outdoors in Belgium too especially in Grand Place at night time where there's a great buzz with the lights of the magnificent buildings changing colour every minute.

jupiler is really forgettable to be honest when its surrounded by such a diverse and interesting selection of trappists and lambics

sarkozy

I also recommend exploring the Lambic beers, and Geuze, which is a Brussels speciality. And, while in Brussels, I also recommend Moeder Lambic. You get beers on tap there that you get nowhere else. Brussels has over 1,000 beers. Imagine, therefore, now micro a micro-brew is in Belgium, but this is what Moeder Lambic does.

Also, I'd say most of the beers listed in this thread would, in Belgium, be the bog standard, ordinary-but-not-bad-but-not-great beers. Depending on what you want, other easy-to-find alternatives would be Karmeliet, Kwak, Orval, Cantillon (mentioned), Mort Subite, St. Bernardus.

I wouldn't even use Jupiler to wash my hair.

MonstaMash

skimpydoo wrote: »

Juliper, Leffe

:eek: :eek:

irish_goat

Here's a funny video about Stella/Juliper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSRA7k_qEKA