Belgian Beer Primer

Decoding the world’s most acclaimed (and confusing) brews.

of traditional Flemish dishes. Not haute cuisine, just good, hearty food. He’ll probably try to sell you a bottle of Augistijn beer, which is worth drinking. Reservations essential. Afterwards go to Den Engel for a draft...

i’ve only had a few trappists (chimay – blue is favorite, westmalle dubbel, rochefort 6 and orval – disliked orval, phewy blechk bandaids) but for my unsophisticated palate and for the money/ease of access, i...

, wonderful beer. Corsendonk Monk’s Brown Ale is a dubbel. Ommegang (from upstate NY) is broadly in the dubbel style. Corsendonk Monk’s Pale Ale is a tripel. Also the original, Westmalle, is great. Hope that helps!

Friend told me he saw Allagash dubbel & tripels (I love their brews) at the Whole Foods Chapel Hill. I’m going by there tonight to confirm, and to see what else is in stock.

ending in -ator: Paulaner Salvator, Spaten Optimator, ... Trappist ales such as Rochefort, Westmalle, Chimay This time of year you’ll find lots of Oktoberfest beers, usually amber (but some blonde) with a toasty malt flavor...

Cant think anything could be found easily, after Chimay I would guess that Westmalle and Rochefort would be the next most common Belgians but still these would be in finer or more boutique stores. Now, if you want the belgian...

short-cuts on the brewing and ageing process to increase the production – all the various grades of West-Vleteren are really great and broadly (not universally) viewed as the best. By the way, does Hopleaf have Westmalle...

, but I don’t think it fits the style, as it’s rather hoppy. (Dubbel is a dark beer.) Either way, all three Chimay beers are great. Orval is pretty easy to find, and this should be true of Westmalle soon, as Vanberg &...

A buddy and I stopped by Vee Vee in Jamaica Plain the other night and were pleasantly surprised by the beer list. I had a McChouffe on draught, friend had Westmalle Dubbel. They had about a half dozen total, including a kriek...

A Trappist ale is brewed at one of six (currently) Trappist monasteries that brews beer. These are Westvleteren, Chimay, Achel, Westmalle, Orval and Rochefort. An ale brewed in the Trappist style is called an abbey ale. A good way...

/spice characteristics from the yeast strains. Try any of the Chimay beers, Rochefort, Westmalle, or Affligem. There are a lot of producers making Belgian styles outside of Belgium these days, too. Unibroue out of Quebec is a...

loads of room for toppings. €3.50. Beer: drink lots of it. If you’re boring or simple minded, get pilseners, but if you like flavor, take a Belgian Dubbel, Tripel or a Blonde. All the great names (Chimay, Westmalle,...

, Dubbels, Wee Heavies and Doppelbocks, at first. That’s how I made the crossover from wine and then moved in to the hoppier sytles. Now double IPAs are my favorites but I had a tough time with them initially. I’m not a...

I enjoy: westmalle tripel rochefort 8 delerium tremens & their noel version corsendonk houblon chouffe these are just off the top of my head. so what kind of belgian is the raison d’etre?