Belgian Beer Weekend Begins Today!

If I was in Brussels today I would be attending the first day of the Belgian Beer Weekend 2026 at the Grand-Place (website), much as I'd love to be there, I'm elsewhere. 😖 But nothing to stop anyone not there joining in at some time over the weekend and knocking back an excellent Belgian ale, perhaps my favourite Westmalle Tripel (blog), whatever, PROOST! 😁

Don't forget there are many things that can go wrong drinking alcohol, be aware of limits and potential physical, social, and legal factors. The drinkaware website offers advice, tools to help, where to get support and 'facts' that you may not be aware of. Stay safe folks, cheers! 👌

Brussels June 2026

We started off in the first bar I ever drank in on my first visit to Belgium many years ago, the 120 years old La Terrasse, Avenue des Celtes 1, Etterbeek, 1040 Brussels (website). Here we both drank Duvel, from the Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, or Duvel Moorgat Brewery, a Flemish family brewery founded in 1871 by Jan-Leonard Moortgat, and now run by the 4th generation of Moortgats (website). A combination of yeasts from a Scottish ale (McEwan's Scotch Ale, very popular in Belgium at the end of WW1) was extracted and used by Moortgat's sons to help create a lighter ale, which, legend has it, was called a 'real devil' or Duvel, meaning Devil. Duvel (8.5%) is a multi award winning pale golden ale (my description), or Strong Blond ale (their description), with lots of body and flavour, and a subtle bitterness, it is very good indeed. 👍

On our way into the city centre, a couple of days later, we had a brief look around and drank a coffee at the Comic Art Museum, Rue des Sables 20, 1000 Brussels. a glorious Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta in 1905, originally a department store, becoming the museum in 1989 (website). We then passed La Monnaie (above - website), the national opera house, where my niece sings. Also, this is where the Belgian Revolution first erupted in 1830. In 1815 Belgium had become the Southern Netherlands following the Congress of Vienna (Britannica). The Belgian bourgeoisie began to tire of King William I of the Netherlands, and now he had forbidden the presentation of Daniel Auber's opera La Muette de Portici at La Monnaie. 

The opera portrayed what the King considered to be a potentially inflammatory story of nationhood, courage and freedom, and he must have foreseen what would happen. The opera had been banned since the 3rd of August, but was performed anyway on the 25th of August 1830, and the words did incite the audience to riot, many rushed to leave the theatre and take to the streets, where they were soon joined by members of the working class; there were other contributory factors, of course, including unemployment and a harvest failure. By the 4th of October 1830 independence from the Netherlands was declared, and a week later the Dutch forces retreated from Belgium. ✊

We carried on to our luncheon destination, Le Cirio, Beursstraat 18, 1000 Brussels (website), next to the old Belgian Stock Exhange, La Bourse (Brussels), a long-time favourite for Dan and I. Le Cirio was originally an Italian Delicatessen founded by Francesco Cirio in 1886, and the present interior was redesigned by Henri Coosemans in 1909 in the style of an Art Nouveau Italian cafe. As you can see from the image below, great lighting and decoration within. Oh yes, and we ate here too, Croque Monsieur this time, always very good grub indeed! 😋

Here Dan drank Hoegaarden Grand Cru (8.5%), described further down at Le Perroquet, and I drank Duvel, also 8.5%, described above when imbibed at La Terrasse. My apologies that we drank some old dependable beers more than once, but that's life. I do like trying new beers, as more regular readers will realise, and I also like to enjoy good beers again and again, it's a hard life, but someone has to put in the research and make sure others stay up to scratch. 😉

Next is one of the most interesting bars you may ever enter, La Fleur en Papier Dore, Rue des Alexiens 55, 1000 Brussels (website), 'the flower made from gold foil.' This really is an 'arts' bar, created by the poet and gallery owner Gerard van Bruaene, and visited over the years by artists and musicians, such as the Surrealists, like Rene Magritte, and singer and actor Jacques Brel, who did like his bars! Bits and pieces here and there, much unmatched furniture, and pictures and all sorts adorning the walls, and pleasantly laid back, I love this bar, and why I return. 😍

Not an enormous choice of beers here, but their local tripel, which I drank of course, from the Brussels brewery Brasserie de la Senne (website), is their 8.0% Tripel Verschueren (Tripel Verschu). As you can see from the photograph, the beer is pretty natural, very suitable for vegans, golden, slightly citrussy and fruity, with a dry bitter finish. Sorry, but the hops used are pretty difficult to find out, but I'd be surprised if the blend used doesn't include Styrian Golding and Saaz hops, I've asked before, but if you know, please let me know, cheers! 👍

Walking back, if you've followed using a map, this blog follows a pretty circular wandering, we visited a new bar for me, Le Perroquet, Rue Watteeu 31, 1000 Brussels (facebook). Another Art Nouveau style interior with stained glass panels, where sitting inside was quite relaxing as the majority of customers were sitting outside, breathing in the fumes. 😉

Here Dan drank, from Hoegaarden (website), their 8.5% Grand Cru, a spicy wheat beer, which has developed since the monks of Hoegaarden started brewing there in the 15th century. Hoegaarden suggest that their early wheat beers were extremely sour, and the monks began experimenting with orange peel and coriander, which certainly comes through in the taste, together with forest fruits, peach and pear, and slightly malty. An interesting mix of wheat beer and Tripel, with spicy undertones, and pretty good too.

I drank Westmalle Tripel (9.5%), probably my favourite Belgian beer. 😁Brewed with Tettnanger (hopslist), Saaz (hopslist) and Styrian Golding (hopslist) hops, a golden ale with a subtle fruity flavour, and a dry bitter refreshing finish, quality! Westmalle Tripel is a 'trappist' ale, the brewery established at the trappist Westmalle Abbey since 1836 (website), and gradually updated over the years. Although the monks no longer brew the beers themselves, they remain in overall charge of the brewery, ensuring tradition is upkept and pure ingredients used, including from their own water supply, 100% barley malt, hops, and yeast from their own culture.

Another bar we've visited many times, near to where Dan used to live, and not far from where their current, temporary now sadly, abode is, Brasserie Le Petit Paris, Rue Charles Degroux 2, 1040 Etterbeek (website). Nestled over a small roundabout, with great memories of food and drinking here, including one late evening many years ago when it was raining, we were sitting outside under the extended cover, listening to the pitter patter of the rain, no-one else outside, watching the late evening world go by, sigh... This time Dan drank Westmalle Tripel (9.5%), description above, and he also provided bottles of Westmalle Tripel at the flat, cheers Dan! 😁 

I drank, from the Trappistes Rochefort series (website), Rochefort 8 (9.2%) aka "The Speciale." Brewing had started at the 13th century Abbey of Notre-Dame  St-Remy by 1595, the monks worked on farming and mining beforehand. During the revolutionary period from 1789, the monks fled from French troops, and they returned 100 years later. Because of looting and the destruction of their church, they built a new church and brewery and, as farming failed to meet the monastery's full financial needs, they supplemented their income by selling their beers. Moving on to the 20th century and Rochefort 8, first brewed in 1955, originally for the Christmas season. The aroma is dark fruits with a hint of cloves like a fruit cake, the colour is a dark tawny, and the flavours appropriately include a BIG fruity taste, with dark and dried fruits, and a very subtle toasted bread and malt, ending with a dry finish, it's pretty darn good! 😋

And the view from the balcony of my sister-in-law's flat in Brussels on my morning of departure, I came here on Eurostar and came back to London/England on Eurostar, then by 2 other trains home. I did drink a beer I wouldn't usually drink in the posh people's lounge before catching the Eurostar back, but that's another story. "Au revoir Bruxelles!" ✋

Christmas Westmalle 2025!

Trappist beers are traditionally brewed by Trappist monks within the walls of a Trappist monastery, Westmalle was founded in 1794, and became an abbey in 1836, their ales, brewed at the Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle (brewing since 1836 - website), are up there among the best beers of Belgium. Although the monks no longer brew the beers themselves, they remain in overall charge of the brewery, ensuring traditions are upkept, and pure ingredients used, water from their own source, 100% barley malt, hops, and yeast from their own culture.

This year's Christmas present from my brother was 4 bottles (top image) of my favourite regularly available Belgian ale (glass from last year, cheers Dan!), always bottle conditioned of course, the Westmalle Tripel, which I have written about many times before (eg blog). The Tripel is a 9.5% golden beer, with a subtle fruitiness and quite dry and bitter finish, quite frankly an excellent beer! There are a number of bars in Brussels where I would always drink this, the waiting staff in the magnificent Le Cirio in Brussels (website), by La Bourse, always taking care not to disturb the sediment, but leaving the bottle for people to add the sediment if they so wish. Indeed, the owner of the bar closest to where my brother used to live always called me "Monsieur Westmalle", but that bar, sadly, is no longer open, the owner having retired.

You will appreciate just how much I appreciated this Christmas present brought back from Belgium by my brother, he knows what I like, cheers Dan, Merry Christmas! 👍 

Another Brussels Visit, September 2025.

Well, for my birthday visit to Belgium, the international part of the trip kicked off at St Pancras International (website), pictured is the St Pancras London Hotel, which used to be called the Midland Grand Hotel (website). As I had some time to spare, I had a pint of Estrella 0 0 at the Betjeman Arms (website), I kid you not, it was actually very tasty and refreshing!

Anyway, on my way by Eurostar (website), sadly, no longer bottles of Duvel for sale in the buffet, but Leffe Blonde in tins (website), plus a red wine for me, and a sarnie, etc...

I stayed in Brussels with my sister-in-law and brother, and on the other side of the Parc du Cinquantenaire (above visitbrussels) from the apartment was my first bar this visit, for food as well as drink. Indeed, this was the first bar I ever drank in on my first visit to Belgium many years ago, that is the 120 years old La Terrasse, Avenue des Celtes 1, Etterbeek, 1040 Brussels (website). Excellent food, and the wonderful Westmalle Tripel (9.5%) pictured below, my favourite Belgian beer. Brewed with Tettnanger (hopslist), Saaz (hopslist) and Styrian Golding (hopslist) hops, producing a golden ale, subtly fruity, and a dry bitter refreshing finish, quality!  

Westmalle Tripel is a 'trappist' ale, the brewery established at the trappist Westmalle Abbey since 1836 (website), gradually updated over the years, in 1968 their own water purification plant was set up, their bottling plant was modernised in 1956 and again in 2000, and a few years ago a new brew hall was installed. Although the monks no longer brew the beers themselves, they remain in overall charge of the brewery, ensuring tradition is upkept, and pure ingredients used, their own water, 100% barley malt, hops, and yeast from their own culture.  

The second bar visited this time was the great Le Cirio, Beursstraat 18, 1000 Brussels (website), next to the old Belgian Stock Exhange, La Bourse (Brussels), a favourite for Dan and me. Here I drank the 8.4% Karmeliet Tripel (website), also brewed with Styrian Golding hops (hopslist), at the Brouwerij Bosteels (website), founded in 1791. Another golden ale, a wee bit sweeter than the Westmalle, plenty of fruit and body, hints of vanilla and citrus, pretty good!

Le Cirio was originally an Italian Delicatessen founded by Francesco Cirio in 1886, and the present interior was redesigned by Henri Coosemans in 1909 in the style of an Arts Nouveau Italian cafe. The narrow doors to the toilets pictured above hint at small rooms, but it is like the 'Tardis' when you enter, so presumably the same in the women's toilet too! 😁 Anyway, the photograph framed above the mirror to the left of the doors includes the famous Jacques Brel sitting in Le Cirio, the Belgian songwriter and singer, whose works include Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don't Leave Me), Le Moribond (adapted for Seasons in the Sun), and Amsterdam.

The third bar was one of the most interesting bars you may ever enter, La Fleur en Papier Dore, Rue des Alexiens 55, 1000 Brussels (website), 'the flower made from gold foil' and still with very friendly bar staff! This really is an 'arts' bar, created by the poet and gallery owner Gerard van Bruaene, and filled by artists and musicians, such as the Surrealists like Rene Magritte, and Jacques Brel again, he did like his bars! Bits and pieces here and there, much unmatched furniture, and pictures and all sorts adorning the walls, and pleasantly laid back. 😎

Here I drank a beer from the Brussels brewery Brasserie de la Senne (website), their 8.0% Tripel Verschueren (Tripel Verschu). As you can see from the photograph, the beer is pretty natural, very suitable for vegans, golden, slightly citrussy and fruity, with a dry bitter finish. Sorry, but the hops used are pretty difficult to find out, but I'd be surprised if the blend used doesn't include Styrian Golding and Saaz hops, if you know, please leave a comment, cheers! 👍

As we walked back to the apartment, Dan pointed out the medieval city walls that remain here and there, so I took the photograph above to share, but if you want to know more about the fortifications built to defend the city in the 13th and 14th centuries, go to My City Hunt. 

That's it for now folks, Ghent next, cheers! 🍻

International Orval Day

Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval

The 23rd of March 2025 was this year's International Orval Day. Why have an Orval day? Well, as often is the case, strangely for a specific Belgian beer though, the celebratory day originated in the USA in 2015 with the US importer of Orval, Merchant du Vin, holding an Orval promotion in a store in Ohio, calling  it "Orval Day." Because of the success of the promotion, the importer organised a national Orval Day the following year, which has developed into an International Orval Day since, held in March very year (hopculture).

The Abbey at Orval is a relatively new abbey, rebuilt by 1948 by the sites of earlier abbeys, the remains of the previous abbey which was burnt down by French revolutionary troops in the late 18th century, remain adjacent. The name Orval comes from a legend that Countess Matilde of Tuscany lost her wedding ring when it fell into a well, she prayed, and it was returned to her by a trout with the ring in its mouth, she proclaimed, "Truly this is a Val d'Or!" - Valley of Gold, and she established a monastery there in gratitude. The photograph above is from the VisitArdenne website, to which I extend my thanks, oh yes, and the Ardennes is going to feature a wee bit in another blog I have planned to share very soon. 😉

So, yesterday I visited the The Jolly Fisherman in Hastings (blog), because I happened to know that Oliver there sells Orval, consequently logical to me. 😁 Orval is a trappist ale brewed in the Brasserie d'Orval at the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval, the brewery was founded in 1931 during the rebuilding of the abbey. Lay persons carry out the work in the abbey's brewery; the abbey also being known for it's cheese, the production of which I believe monks carry out.

Orval is a 6.2% ale, ostensibly, as there are more than one fermentation processes in it's development, including being bottle conditioned, so no bottled beer is exactly the same! And unique among Belgian beers, it is dry-hopped, thanks to the early influence of a brewer who had worked in England. Indeed, the hops used are Kent Styrian Golding (hopslist) and German Hallertau-Hersbruck (hopslist); I believe their first head brewer was German.

The colour is more golden than my photograph above shows, but with an orange hue, I think including some of the yeast at the bottom of the bottle was influential in the image, so a wee bit cloudy. The beer is dry and slightly tart with a bitter finish, and has a subtle spicy/fruity aroma. My taste has changed since I first drank Orval when I used to visit my brother in Brussels 20-30 years ago, and at the time this was my immediate panic buy when I entered a bar, always with numerous beers on it's beer menu. I did go off it a bit after tasting Westmalle Tripel, for example, but drinking it again, I really enjoyed it, cheers to Orval Day! 😁

Looking back at Ashley Routson's book (blog), she states that Orval is "arguably the best beer on the planet." I may argue with that myself, but she's right that it's pretty damn good, cheers!

Inaugural UK Belgian Beer Week Now On!

I only yesterday found out that an inaugural Belgian Beer Week (24th February to 1st March Beer Today website) had been arranged in cooperation with Visit Flanders (website), I apologise for my tardiness! Knowing that Oliver at The Jolly Fisherman in Hastings (blog) stocks Belgian beers, I wandered along there in the late afternoon. So what Belgian beer did I drink?

As you can see from the image above, I drank the St Bernadus ABT 12 (10.0%), Brouwerij St Bernadus (website) being another excellent Belgian brewery situated in Watou, Flanders. This beer is a very dark deep coloured red Quadrupel, with a slightly malty/fruity aroma, a wee bit sweet with a dry slightly bitter finish, and tasting of dark plum and damson fruits, another Christmas Pudding of a beer as many Quadrupels tend to be, very rich and rewarding to drink!

There are still a few of the organised events left to visit, lucky you if you are in either vicinity 😉 they are today (28th February) Duvel Moortgat at Den Engel Bar & Restaurant in Leek, and Kasteel at Bundobust in Manchester. Tomorrow (1st March) Duvel Moortgat again, at the Neepsend Craft Beer Festival in Sheffield (beertoday).

If you go to either enjoy yourselves, and feel free to leave a comment with a review of your visit, or nip in somewhere else and buy some Belgian beer, or buy some from an off licence or supermarket, I'll likely head to Morrisons for some Westmalle Tripel (blog), love it! Cheers 👍

Westmalle Christmas Gift: Delayed Review, Sorry!

Trappist beers are brewed by Trappist monks within the walls of a Trappist monastery, this one founded in 1794, becoming an abbey in 1836, and Westmalle beers, brewed at the Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle (brewing since 1836 - website), are up there amongst the best beers of Belgium. Although the monks no longer brew the beers themselves, they are still in overall charge of the brewery, ensuring tradition is upkept, and pure ingredients used, their own water, 100% barley malt, hops, and yeast from their own culture. All these are bottle-conditioned.

I had never tasted the just 4.8% Westmalle Extra before, but this light golden blonde is based on the ale recipe first brewed by the monks for their own consumption in 1836. OK, not as pronounced a flavour and impact as the double the strength Tripel described below, which means it is a bit more of a 'supping' beer. But it is recognisably a Westmalle beer, with a Westmalle aroma, and hints of banana and pineapple in the taste, very nice!

The penultimate beer I drank was the 7.0% Dubbel, a dark deep red colour, first brewed nearly 100 years ago in 1926. This has a rich dried dark fruit aroma, and at first tastes slightly sour, then sweet, with malt and dark fruits, but dries out with a slightly bitter finish, very decent.

The best 'til last, and my favourite regularly available Belgian ale, Westmalle Tripel (image immediately above), which I have written about many times before (eg blog). The Tripel, is a 9.5% golden beer, with a subtle fruitiness and quite dry and bitter finish, quite frankly, excellent! There are a number of bars in Brussels where I would always drink this, the waiting staff in the magnificent Le Cirio in Brussels, by la Bourse, always taking care not to disturb the sediment, but leaving the bottle for people to add the sediment if they so wished. Indeed, the owner of the bar closest to where my brother used to live always called me "Monsieur Westmalle", but that bar, sadly, is no longer open, the owner having retired.

You will appreciate just how much I loved this Christmas present brought back from Belgium by my brother, he knows what I like, the beer and the glass, cheers Dan! 👍

A Day in Brussels

I did have a couple of drinks on Eurostar, sadly they no longer sell Duvel in their buffet bars, but they do sell Leffe Blonde (website), which is very nice too, but drinking on a train isn't drinking in Brussels, so... I stayed nearby at my sister-in-law and brother's flat, on the other side of the Parc du Cinquantenaire to our first bar on the day, and the first bar I ever drank in on my first visit to Belgium many many years ago (apparently changed ownership since my last visit), that is the 120 years old La Terrasse, Avenue des Celtes 1, Etterbeek, 1040 Brussels (website).

I've already been questioned by a friend about my drinking lager here, as I'm more of an ale drinker, but for me the 5.2% Jupiler pils (website) is the best pilsner there is, indeed it is the highest selling beer in Belgium with 40% of the market share! It has flavour but is refreshing and very easy to drink, and okay, it is a pilsner style lager... 😉

We wandered through the Parc du Cinquantenaire (visitbrussels) and on to Chez Bernard at the Cafe L'Espérance, in the small square at Pl. Jourdan 47, Etterbeek, Brussels 1040, with my brother diving in ahead of me in the photograph above!

It was very quiet inside, much busier outside, but we sat down with this view of the bar (above) and Dan ordered the ever-good 8.5% Duvel (website), and I drank a trappist ale, the 9.5% Westmalle Tripel (website), my favourite Belgian ale indeed.👍Indeed, I wrote about both of these beers in my blog a couple of years ago.

We ate with my sister-in-law, after she got away from work, at Restaurant Volle Gas, Pl. Fernand Cocq 21, 1050 Ixelles (website). To the right of where I took this photograph from (above) is the Ixelles' Municipal Hall, where my youngest niece's birth was registered. If you visit, don't be surprised by how far back the restaurant goes, even if it does look quite small, there's much room downstairs, not to mention upstairs. I drank Westmalle Tripel again, as did Dan, it so goes with food, and I ate a hearty... I'll not say what, I don't want to upset any vegetarians reading this, but excellent food, and many thanks to my 'sis' Shirin for treating me, cheers m'dear!

Next stop Bruges! 🍺

A few beers in London...

I visited The Bricklayer's Arms, 32 Waterman Street SW15 1DD (facebook) a couple of months ago when I was in Putney (blog), and again last week, and confirm that it has certainly returned to form under the guidance of the new landlord Chris, nice one! 12 handpumps, one for cider, and on our latest visit there was a choice between 11 different cask conditioned ales.

We started with the 'East London Brewed' Five Points (website) XPA (4.0%), brewed with Citra and Galaxy hops. I wrote about the Citra hop just yesterday (blog), a hop from the USA with a complex lineage, including Hallertau Mittelfruh, Tettnanger, Brewers Gold and East Kent Golding, and providing 'citrus, grapefruit, lime, and tropical fruits' flavours (hopslist). The Galaxy hop is from Australia, descended from the German hop Perle, producing 'citrus, peach and passionfruit' in the aroma and taste (hopslist). This is a very pale bitter, I since noticed that wheat malt is used in addition to extra pale malt, hints of citrus indeed, but very subtle fruit flavours, a very refreshing and easy to drink session ale, with a nice dry bitter finish.

My brother stayed on the XPA, having just a half (he assured me there were a couple of bottles of Westmalle Tripel at home to enjoy in his garden later!), but I had another pint before we left the pub, this time of the Five Points Best (4.1%), which pretty much does what it says on the label. Brewed with Fuggles hops, a very traditional hop from Kent, named after a Mr Richard Fuggle in 1875, and a very English hop indeed (hopslist), although has been grown around the world, and is also in the lineage of many hops from the USA, eg a parent to Cascade and Willamette. An amber colour, and I also noticed later that wheat malt is used for this as well as darker malts, obviously a favourite of the Five Points brewers. A traditional best bitter with hints of biscuit and the required bitter finish, I've nothing to add, 'tis a nice best bitter. 👌

The next day we visited The Market Porter, 9 Stoney Street SE1 9AA (website), by Borough Market, near London Bridge, which opens between 06.00 and 09.00 weekdays (market licence), before closing for 2 hours and then reopening 11.00 to 23.00; opens at 12.00 at the weekend... We were there on Thursday, but didn't get there until after noon. 😁 Mostly, because we were going to see a matinee performance of The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare's Globe theatre (website). More of in my alter ego's blog, but to the ale...

We drank the York based Brew York (website) Make It Columbus (4.6%), a single hopped APA style bitter. The Columbus hop (USA) was 'originally bred by Chuck Zimmerman as part of a USDA* breeding programme' in the 1970s, with a herby citrus aroma and flavour (hopslist). Brew York appear to love using the Columbus hop, and so we came to drink this ale of theirs. Very pale golden, certainly a hint of citrus in the flavour, dry and bitter, and very decent! 👍

Cheers m'dears! 

 * United States Department of Agriculture

London Belgian Beer Week 28/04-07/05/23

The Craft Beer Company are holding a Belgian Beer Week from the 28th of April to the 7th of May 2023 across their bars in London with individual events at each bar (website). Belgian beers available will be from many breweries including Cantillon, Delirium, Kasteel, St Feuillion and my personal favourite Westmalle. I wouldn't normally advertise a business's event, but for those who don't visit Belgium, an excellent chance to sample their excellent ales.

So, quite a bit going on at their 8 bars (website), me? I'll be in Brussels again soon, cheers!

Belgian Ales Part 2

So, Part 2 of my personal mini 'Belgian Beer Festival' and blogs (Part 1) with the 7th to 12th Belgian ales, all contained in the box in the photograph above, and reviewed here [there may just be one more 'bonus' ale to come, again, for comparative reasons]. Interestingly, I have just discovered as I research for/write this that the 3 different breweries' 2 ales each are all brewed by just the ONE brewery, that is Brouwerij Van Steenberge! I shall explain further as I go through the ales, again, all bottle-conditioned, and brewed at the over 200 years old Brouwerij Van Steenberge (website), no doubt how Lidl could offer the deal at such a reasonable price... 😉

The Bornem abbey ales (above and below) have been brewed by Van Steenberge since 1971, but remain linked to the roots of the Sint-Bernardus Abbey in Burnem, which was closed in the 18th century, but then re-established in 1844. The Dubbel (above) is the only example of a Dubbel in my dozen beers featured in these 2 blogs. Dubbels are like the strong dark milds of Belgian ales, not as strong as Tripels, but this one still weighs in at 7.2%, so, not to be sniffed at! This is a very dark brown/ruby ale, fruity, rich, smooth and sweet to taste, not bad at all, despite my preference for the more bitter and pale golden Tripel style; I gave it 6 out of 10.

The Bornem Tripel is much more to my taste, pale golden in colour, and at 9.0%, a tad more to it! The aroma gives a hint of a darker fruity ale, but the flavour is more complex, a touch of sweetness, but with a lovely dry bitter finish to each mouthful. My notes say "very good" which is reflected in my score of 8 out of 10.

And the last 4 ales are all a whopping 10.5% in strength!

The name of Gulden Draak (Golden or Gilded Dragon) comes from the legend of the Gulden Draak that originally adorned the bow of an early 12th century Viking Ship, then was atop a dome in Constantinople, from where it was brought to Flanders by Flemish Count Boudewijn in the 13th century ending up in Bruges; and from where it was finally removed as a spoil of war by the victorious Ghent forces following the Battle of Beverhoutsveld in 1382. It has since remained at the Ghent Belfry, guarding the people of Ghent and symbolising freedom and power (visitgent).

The importance to the Brouwerij Van Steenberge of the history behind the Gulden Draak beers, their Titans, has seen the brewery create their own dedicated website. The first Gulden Draak I tasted, and I admit to having drunk this in Brussels towards the end of the last millennium, when I called it a "Christmas Pudding of a Beer" - a description my brother (who lived in Belgium at the time) liked enough to use himself. So, to the Gulden Draak Classic, as I intimated above, a majestic 10.5%, and which remains a Christmas pudding of a Beer! The brewery state this is a Tripel, but not a pale golden one, but a dark ruby red in colour, rich, full bodied and full of flavour. Indeed, the brewery liken it to a barley wine, which ages and develops well with time due to the secondary fermentation in the bottle following the addition of wine yeast; they recommend keeping 75cl bottles for many years to mature! Unsurprisingly, it scored 9 out of 10.

Similar to the Gulden Draak Classic, the Gulden Draak 9000 quadruple is 10.5% in strength, and the secondary fermentation in the bottle is created by adding wine yeast. It has very complex flavours, but is dissimilar in that this is paler in colour, more of a dark amber/blonde beer with a hint of red, and having a big fruity aroma and a much fruitier flavour; so not quite the same impact, but it's very good still, and scored 8 out of 10. 

Following the success of Gulden Draak, Brouwerij Van Steenberge created Piraat in 1988, again 10.5% in strength, but a blond ale. Piraat is slightly sweet and spicy at first taste, but with a much more bitter finish. Similar to Gulden Draak they add wine yeast to create the secondary fermentation in the bottle. I certainly liked this, and gave it a score of 8.5 out of 10.

The Piraat Tripel Hop (10.5%) set me a conundrum, do I prefer this to the Westmalle Tripel reviewed in my last blog?!? 😕 Well, it's likened by the brewery to the American Pale Ales that were influenced by hoppy craft beers first created in the USA, and that have become popular in Britain and, indeed, which I do like a lot, as regular readers of this blog will realise! It's a golden ale with 4 different hops added to the original Piraat, and unsurprisingly has a big hoppy fruity aroma, a hint of citrus in the taste, and a lovely bitter finish. I rated it "very good" in my notes but couldn't give it the same score as Westmalle Tripel, so I gave it just 9.25 out of 10, but who knows, if I get to taste it again... I shall have to keep my eye out for more! 😄

I hope you have enjoyed these 2 Belgian Ale blogs, look out for a bonus 😉 Cheers!

Belgian Ales Part 1

As I recently wrote (blog) I had acquired 10 different Belgian ales (ales as they're 'top fermented' and not lagers, which are 'bottom fermented' or the fermentation of ales is at a warmer temperature than lagers with yeasts that convert sugars to alcohol at the top of the wort in the fermenter, and the yeasts used to convert sugars to alcohol for lagers work in the wort at the bottom of the fermenter at cooler temperatures, straight forward so far!). Wort is the sugar rich liquid that is derived by 'mashing' malts, hops are added at various stages, mostly in the kettle that boils the wort; if you don't already know the brewing process I can do no better than CAMRA.

Anyway, most of those 10 ales I hadn't drunk before, and I added 2 more that I do like a lot, one is to compare with an ale I hadn't drunk yet, and the other is my favourite regularly available Belgian ale, Westmalle Tripel, which I have written about before (blog), you'll get why when I move on with this and the next blog. Another characteristic of these 12 ales is that they are all bottle conditioned, that is, have a secondary fermentation in the bottle, again see that blog for further information. Finally, before I deal with the ales individually, if you would like to read more about the types and styles of Belgian beers, I suggest either reading the Serious Eats Beginners Guide to Belgian Beer Styles (website), or read a copy of Michael Jackson's (not the singer, but the Beerhunter - see blog) The Great Beers of Belgium, or online (website).

The Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, or Duvel Moorgat Brewery, is a Flemish family brewery (website) founded in 1871 by Jan-Leonard Moortgat, and now run by the 4th generation of Moortgats. A combination of yeasts from a Scottish ale (McEwan's Scotch Ale, very popular in Belgium at the end of WW1) was extracted and used by Moortgat's sons to help create a lighter ale, which, legend has it, was called a 'real devil' or Duvel, the local dialect for Devil.

This version (above) was created to celebrate the brewery's 150th anniversary last year, using 6 different hop varieties, and catchily called Belgian Blond Duvel 6.66% at 6.66% strength, a younger brother of the next Duvel I shall describe (below). It certainly has an aroma that I recognise in many Belgian beers (including lagers like Stella!), less body than its older 'brother' and a wee bit gassy, very easy to drink for a Belgian ale, as in speed-wise, if not for the gas, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed as it's not what I really look for in a Belgian ale, that is, a big flavoured ale to sup at a leisurely pace. Anyway, very decent, but compared to stronger Belgian ales, I could only give it 5.5 out of 10, didn't have a chance really, when compared to the rest!

So, to the 'big brother' that the Duvel story above really relates to, and at 8.5% a much more vigorous ale indeed! This is a multi award winning pale golden ale (my description), or Strong Blond ale (theirs), with lots of body and flavour, and a subtle bitterness, very good... I just wish they still sold it in the buffet on Eurostar, I used to love supping a couple of bottles of Duvel to and from Brussels! OK, we're getting into very good territory now, so I rated this 8.5 out of 10.

Next came an ale I definitely cannot remember drinking before, from the Brouwerij De Klem (website), which has been brewing for just 10 years, and their 7.5% Hellegat Super Blond, brewed with 3 types of malt. I quite liked this, nice flavours with a hint of vanilla, a wee bit sweet to start with, but dries out nicely in the finish, I wrote 'decent' in my notes, and gave it 7 out of 10. 

Moving away from Flanders to the Ardennes, in the French speaking region of Wallonia, for the next ale, and to Brasserie D'Achouffe, or D'Achouffe Brewery (website), and their 8.0% La Chouffe (the Chouffe is the bearded gnome which became a symbol of the brewery from its inception 40 years ago, and is on the label). I must have tasted this in the past, surely, but I'm not sure (I lost all my notes for ales I sampled in Belgium quite a few years ago, sadly!). Called a Blonde (French, so an E at the end), although they describe it as golden, there you go, slight citrus flavour, full bodied, with a slightly dry bitter finish, I liked it! Scored 8 out of 10.

Apart from the 8.5% Duvel being fitted in early, my model was to gradually increase the strength of the ales reviewed here, so I'm back to Flemish breweries, unsurprising as 4 of the ales in this blog were supplied by my Flemish mate Frank, who brought them back following a recent trip to his home city of Antwerp, as mentioned in my earlier blog. So, this is from his local brewery, I suspect his favourite brewery from past conversations, Stadsbrouwerij De Koninck (website), named after Joseph Henricus De Koninck who bought a coaching inn in 1827 that was converted into a brewery after his death 6 years later. De Koninck actually tell us the hops used for this golden/blond ale (Saaz-Saaz), their Tripel D'Anvers (8.0%), which is full of body, a wee bit sweet at first, drying out with gentle bitter finish; I did like it, hence the 8 out of 10 scored.

The final ale I am reviewing for Part 1 is, as I said above, my favourite regularly available Belgian ale, Westmalle Tripel, which I have written about before (blog). I'll just say what I said before, the Westmalle Tripel, is a golden beer, subtly fruity, quite dry and bitter finish, quite frankly, excellent! There are a number of bars in Brussels where I would always drink this, the waiting staff in the magnificent Le Cirio in Brussels, by la Bourse, always taking care not to disturb the sediment, but leaving the bottle for people to add the sediment if they so wished. Indeed, the owner of the bar closest to where my brother used to live always called me "Monsieur Westmalle", but that bar, sadly, is no longer open, the owner having retired.

Westmalle Tripel is a 'trappist' ale, the brewery established at the trappist Westmalle Abbey since 1836 (website), and gradually updated over the years, in 1968 their own water purification plant was set up, their bottling plant was modernised in 1956 and again in 2000, and a few years ago a new brewhall was installed. Although the monks no longer brew the beers themselves, they are still in overall charge of the brewery, ensuring tradition is upkept, and pure ingredients used, their own water, 100% barley malt, hops, and yeast from their own culture.

For my latest tasting notes I wrote "so good!" I scored it 9.5 out if 10, unsurprisingly.

Belgian Ales Part 2 coming soon, cheers! 😉