Westmalle Trappist Dubbel- Belgium (ABV 7%)

This really is a fantastic beer, traditionally brewed at Westmalle Abbey near Antwerp in Belgium. It is considered the archetypal Belgian Dubbel.

I have it pictured in the wrong glass, it should really be served in a Tulip (kitchen renovations). Even in this glass you can see the beautiful reddish brown colour and the creamy lace head.

This beer has a quite malty aroma with hints of dark chocolate,caramel and spicy fruit, together with the unmistakable Belgian yeast. The taste doesn't disappoint very much matching the aromatic cues. It has a smooth mouth-feel and a dry rather than bitter finish. This is a super special beer and it is no surprise that is so highly regarded.

Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio - Belgium (ABV 5%)

The "Manneken Pis" on the label, doing his thing whilst eye-balling a glass of beer,  is a dead giveaway that this beer is from Brussels.

I was fortunate enough to visit the Cantillon Brewery in 2008 and even more fortunate that my wife didn't particularly enjoy Lambic beers (more samples for me).

Many people don't enjoy Lambic beer, the sour taste catches them by surprise.  Lambic beers are blended and allowed to spontaneously ferment in the bottle (whilst stored horizontally for at least one year) to produce "Gueuze", the Champagne of beers.  Younger Lambics are blended with older Lambics, the younger beers providing enough sugars for the secondary fermentation to occur in the bottle. This technique produces a Champagne like bead and head on this beer. This Bio version is brewed with purely organically grown cereals, in this case 35% wheat and 65% malted barley.

It is a sour tasting beer but the champagne like creamy mouth feel and dry finish makes it quite refreshing. It has an almost sorbet like palate cleansing effect.

Cantillon are regarded as brewing the most authentic traditional Lambic beers. They are different to most beers but are well worth trying.

Saison Dupont (Belgium) ABV6.5%

This tasty Belgian Saison pours a hazy pale amber with a soft creamy head. This beer has been top fermented then re-fermented in the bottle. A quite aromatic beer with the yeast esters dominating both aroma and flavour. This Saison has very typical "Belgian" yeast aroma. It has a crisp bitter finish with touch of sourness, it is quite refreshing.

This excellent beer is considered an archetypal Saison. I enjoyed it as a late evening refreshing palate cleanser!

St Feuillien Saison- Belgium (6.5%ABV)

How good would it have been to be given this stuff as a farm worker to quench your thirst?

This was a seriously refreshing Saison and was very easy to drink. It pours a slightly cloudy golden blonde colour with a medium head. The saison has been top fermented and further bottle conditioned, it has a slightly hoppier aroma than a Belgian blonde and has a little less yeasty aroma and taste. A beautifully balanced refreshing "Belgian Farmhouse Ale". You could easily drink this a session ale but it does have a fairly hefty 6.5% ABV!

 I tasted this back to back with Murray's "The Natural" French Farmhouse Ale. The St Feuillien Saison is not as acidic as "The Natural" and has a slightly hoppier flavour.

St. Feuillien Triple - Belgium (ABV 8.5%)

What a lovely Belgian Triple, with that awesome Belgian yeasty character and smooth maltiness. This beer is bottle conditioned giving it a cloudy appearance and beautiful yeastiness. Pours a hazy golden amber with a pleasing typically Belgian chunky head.

A beautifully balanced beer the hops, malt and yeast flavours working together completely masking the 8.5% ABV.

A very tasty satisfying typically Belgian beer, I loved it!

St. Feuillien Blonde - Belgium

Typical Belgian Blonde with that unmistakable Belgium yeasty aroma. I love that big chunky head squeezing out of the top of the glass.
This is a very easy to drink beer very slight hop bitterness but overwhelmingly malty Belgian ale. I have tasted better Belgium blonde's but this is a very good quite highly regarded example. Quite a healthy 7.5% ABV in a very refreshing easy to drink ale.

Hoegaarden Wit/Blanche-Belgium

OK, here is a beer that just about every lover of beer will have tasted, it was (and I suppose still is) regarded as an archetypal Belgian Wit Beer.

Hoegaarden is named after the town in which it is brewed. The recipe, including some coriander and dried orange peel, is similar to that used since 1445 when this style of beer was first made. It is not an exact replica as the beer is now mass produced with one eye on pleasing the masses. The beer is made using malted wheat and barley and is top fermented using traditional yeast strains. Hoegaarden is fermented at a higher than usual temperature because of the top fermentation process used.

This is a very good "wit bier" it is a refreshing beer, the presence of coriander and orange peel is just barely perceptible. The beer is partially bottle conditioned (some yeast & sugar added at bottling) giving it a tightly beaded head. It is also unfiltered giving the cloudy appearance. As you can see from the photo my wife also enjoys this particular beer.

SCORE 4.1

Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel - Belgium

I really don't know a lot about this beer, I bought it on impulse on a visit to the beer shop.

This beer doesn't really look, taste or smell like a double IPA. It also isn't exactly a Belgian Triple.

The taste is most definitely Belgian with that almost unique Belgian yeast and malt aroma & taste. It is a very light amber colour with a terrific chunky head and most impressive lacing. There are obviously a lot of Hops in this beer but unlike most IPA's they do not dominate. It is a quite dry beer with a slightly bitter finish. I did notice the 9% ABV but only after finishing the whole 750ml bottle as a refreshing Friday afternoon week ending aperitif.

A very good beer!

SCORE 4.6

Petrus Speciale- Belgian Pale Ale

This is a top fermented Belgian Pale Ale, it pours a dark copper amber with a small to medium head. I may have poured this one a little too cold (it should be at about 8C).

It has an interesting hint apple cider in the aroma with a hint of floral hop. Not a super flavoursome Belgian Ale and not in the same league as Orval. It is not a bad beer but it lacks the complexity and flavour I have come to expect from Belgian Pale Ales.

SCORE 3.5

Sloeber - Belgium

Sloeber is a Belgian brewed top fermented strong blond beer that has been re fermented in the bottle. It pours a hazy (plenty of yeast esters in the bottle) pale straw colour with a medium head. It has a malty taste with a hint of orange and a very healthy 7.5% ABV.

Typical of Belgian beers this has subtle flavouring, pleasant taste and mouth feel and is easy to drink.

View the Belgian advertisement here;
http://www.roman.be/movies/sloeber2.mpeg

SCORE 4.0

Orval Trappist Ale - Belgium

Brewed with Pale Malt and some Caramel Malt, flavoured (or seasoned) with with Bavarian Hallertau,  Slovenian Styrian Golding and the Alsacian Strisselspalt and then allowed to re-ferment in the bottle, this is one fine beer.

It has a real complex flavour, at times citrus hop, then malt, then floral hop. A really tasty beer. The big creamy head is a result of the re-fermentation in the bottle (I should have taken more care whilst pouring).

Enticing colour, frothing creamy head, sweet aroma and then a wonderful complex flavour. I thoroughly recommend this beer.

SCORE 4.7

Viven Imperial IPA - Belgium

This is an American inspired Imperial IPA brewed by Brouwerij Van Viven in Belgium.


It is a super tasty beer brewed with Tomahawk & Simcoe hops giving it a deliciously floral/citrus hop aroma and flavour. Lovely dark copper amber colour with a thick almost beige head. 

This beer had a lot of flavour and a healthy 8% ABV. A very well made Imperial, I really enjoyed this one!


SCORE 4.6

Petrus Aged Pale Ale - Belgium

Pours a golden yellow and smells like vinegar spilled in a barnyard.

I obviously do not have the palate for sour aged beer, I did not enjoy this at all.

It is not fair to score this beer as I really don't like this particular style.