Belgian Beers at Christmas!

For a Christmas present for myself I bought a case of 9 Belgian beers, and a glass, from the Belgian Beer Company (website); I've deleted the email and details so cannot share how much it cost, and I can assure you I'm not being paid for this, but it must have been a reasonable deal for me to go for it! 😁 Subsequently, I'm writing this blog, a little late, to share my opinions.

The first beer I'll comment on, and I didn't drink them in this order, by the way, was from Brouwerij Haacht (website), indeed, all the beers featured in this blog are, and was their 8.5% Charles Quint Ruby Red, which was a deep dark red colour. Slightly fruity and sweet to start with, not too sweet though, and dried out to a mild bitterness at the finish. Apparently, orange peel included in the brew, which I made no note of detecting, but I quite liked it, scores 6.5/10.

Next was the Charles Quint Golden Blond, also 8.5%, and my notes say a very good 'typical' Belgian Blond. A slightly spicy aroma, a wee bit bitter with a dry finish, and, like the Ruby Red top fermented, thus an ale; and as I said, very good, so scores 8/10.

Next was the bottle-conditioned 'Abbey' Tongerlo Blond (6.0%), with a hint of honey in the aroma and a pale copper colour. This was a very gentle ale to drink and I noted that this would be "very easy to drink all day!" It was smooth and dry in the mouth, with a dry bitter finish; 7/10.

Another bottle-conditioned 'Abbey' ale, Tongerlo Prior Tripel (9.0%), comes next on my list. This was a golden colour, with plenty of body and flavour, as I'd expect from its strength. A slightly fruity taste and again I noted 'very good' but this shades it for 8.5/10.

The Ommegang (8.0%), not to be confused with the similarly named American brewery (website) was another bottle-conditioned 'Abbey' ale. Blond in colour, but a bit too sweet for me, indeed, I found it a wee bit bland too. It had a nice dry finish, but scores just 6/10

Not what I expect with Belgian beers, but the Super 8 IPA (6.0%) was a good version of an 'Indian Pale Ale' indeed! With citrus in the aroma and hints of grapefruit in the taste, this amber coloured hoppy ale was full of flavour and deceptively easy to drink and very refreshing; 7/10.

To something very different for me, the 3.4% Super 8 Cherry, formerly called Mystic Cherry. This was a wheat beer with added cherry concentrate (with no preservatives), and you can smell and taste the cherries! A big fruity aroma and taste, as you'd expect a bit sweet for me, but it would go well with dessert... Difficult for me to score but I'll suggest 6/10.

Now to the 2 bottom-fermented lagers, first the Super 8 Export (4.8%), which was a Pilsner style lager. A blond colour with a big aroma, smooth with plenty of flavour. Now, you'll appreciate I'm not a lager drinker, but I could happily drink this were I not able to get an ale, thus 7/10.

Finally, Haacht's 'premium' lager, Primus (5.2%), a pale golden Pilsner, with an aroma I associate with Belgian lagers similar to Stella, that is, Stella brewed in Leuven! 👍 A bit sweet to start off, but not too bad, I'm scoring it as 6.5/10.

You'll notice by lack of cards in the photograph's background, I didn't wait for Christmas to drink the 2 lagers and the Cherry beer, but I was well pleased with the 9 beers I discuss above. The Charles Quint Golden Blond came a close second in my ranking, but the Tongerlo Prior Tripel shaded my scoring, thus my decision, cheers! 🍻