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OT - Happy Feestdag! Whats your favorite Belgium beer?

WhiteBus

WhiteBus

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Today is Feestdag Belgium Independence Day. Feestdag or Feestdagan means party day. So they are sucking down a lot of great brews over there.

What is you favorite Belgium beer that is readily available in the US?
You can get Duvel and Chimay Cinq Cents most places but Westmalle Triple is wonderful!
 
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WhiteBus said:
Today is Feestdag Belgium Independence Day. Feestdag or Feestdagan means party day. So they are sucking down a lot of great brews over there.

What is you favorite Belgium beer that is readily available in the US?
You can get Duvel and Chimay Cinq Cents most places but Westmalle Triple is wonderful!
Click to expand...
I happen to be 1/2 Belgian. My favorite is Westmalle Duppel (double). If I do a tripple, I won't be able to see anymore.
 
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Bless those trappist monks. I remember really enjoying Orval.

WB -- not sure how often you're in NYC, but if you like Belgian beer (and I should also say some very adventurous cuisine), you should check out Resto on East 29th between Park & Lex.
 
Stella (draft not bottle). And yes, I know Stella is to Belgian beer as Bud is to US beer (but it's the only Belgian beer I have tried).
 
I like Duvel a lot. Chimay Blue is very good and La Chouffe is nice.

Belgian is my favorite style of beer. Lots of good stuff from Ommegang in the Belgian style.
 
My wife and I spent our honeymoon with rail passes in Europe. While we were in Brussels, we took a morning train to the town of Oudenaarde, where my previous research had told us to expect a 6-day beer festival to be underway. We arrived to a sleepy town around 10 AM, took a walk and checked out the town (they had a wonderful memorial to the US troops who liberated the town from the Nazis), but no signs of any sort of festival.
So we went to an outdoor café on the town square, ordered a glass of Leffe, and a grilled ham & cheese (IMO, the easiest thing to order in various languages) and settled in for some lunch.
Suddenly the town square filled with people. A parade began. At the end of the parade was a barrel beer from one of the town's own breweries. The mayor and the master brewer made speeches; The keg was tapped; and the crowd enjoyed the revelry for an hour or so. Then everyone dispersed and the town was sleepy once again.
It turns out that each day of the week-long festival belongs to one of the breweries in town and each celebration is different.
We took a train back to Brussels and enjoyed the rest of the day.
 
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As a beer lover, Belgium had to be the best place my wife and I ever visited with the multitude of beers to choose from. Love Chimay and Palm.
 
Definitely enjoy me some Duvel, Orval, Westmalle dubbel, LaChouffe/McChouffe, and Leffe Bruen, but my tops are a tie between Saison Dupont or Kwak, depending on the style I'm in the mood for. Next down the list is Tripel Karmeliet, same brewery as Kwak. Not as big a fan of Flemish sour ales.

I did stumble upon an obscure place in Bruges about 15 years ago and enjoyed some wonderful local Belgian beer.

One of the highlights of a trip to Cooperstown back in 2002 was a stop at Ommegang Brewery just down the road as I've been drinking their Belgian style beers since the mid-90s. Always enjoy BXL Cafe in midtown for some mussels, frites, and a nice assortment of Belgian beers.
 
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RUnTeX said:
When the label says Golden, CO it's a dead giveaway that it's a product of Coors. More of a German style than a Belgian style anyway.
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I think it's a cross because Keith Villa was trying to make an American version of Hoegarden but hop contracts weren't available. Not a humble man by any sense but give him credit as most bars now have orange slices for wheat beers and he was America's true leader in pushing that agenda.
And like Sam Adams they love to consider themselves "craft" beer. What a joke
 
I still haven't acquired the taste for the wheat based beers. Still a fan of IPA's, Ales, Pilsners and Lagers.
 
Alamo Al said:
It does my Flemish heart well to see these posts.
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And you favorite or at least top 5?

I'm not a sour fan but it has it has its fans. Rodenbach had a tasting at my store last Friday. Many new people liked it.
 
Sour beer is all the rage in the craft beer world.

The line for Hill Farmstead's booth at the Vermont Craft Beer festival was unbelievable.
 
Scarlet16E said:
Sour beer is all the rage in the craft beer world.

The line for Hill Farmstead's booth at the Vermont Craft Beer festival was unbelievable.
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My joke at work for the sour freaks, and there are many, that if is was wine they dump it down the drain. I do get it, just not my style.
Looking forward to Oktoberfest beers. Maybe my favorite style because it taste great and it's football season
 
As good as we can get in the U.S. there are so many like Westy that are completely brilliant in the home country
 
WhiteBus said:
Westy XII is worth every penny!! But rarely available in the US.

Those posting LA Chouffe are spot on. Great stuff.
One of the cheaper Belgians that I really enjoy is Leffe. Not a high alcohol beverage and taste great!
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I once read a review of some expensive ale.. came in individually numbered bottles. Sourced it, found a 4-pack... I think at Pinos in Highland Park.

I followed the instructions.. which were: BURY IT FOR 6 MONTHS to allow the sediment to settle. Then I opened one and tried to drink it... spit that crap out like I was the Bellagio Fountain or Costello doing a spit-take.

Definitely a sour beer... or ale.

I think it was called Thomas Hardy Ale. It was considered "wold class". Based on the "vintage" reviews.. I should hae kept it for a couple decades.
 
GoodOl'Rutgers said:
I once read a review of some expensive ale.. came in individually numbered bottles. Sourced it, found a 4-pack... I think at Pinos in Highland Park.

I followed the instructions.. which were: BURY IT FOR 6 MONTHS to allow the sediment to settle. Then I opened one and tried to drink it... spit that crap out like I was the Bellagio Fountain or Costello doing a spit-take.

Definitely a sour beer... or ale.

I think it was called Thomas Hardy Ale. It was considered "wold class". Based on the "vintage" reviews.. I should hae kept it for a couple decades.
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Only bury high alcohol beers or sours. Anything at 7% or less drink fresh. Bourbon Barrels are excellent when aged
 
WhiteBus said:
Only bury high alcohol beers or sours. Anything at 7% or less drink fresh. Bourbon Barrels are excellent when aged
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Whitebus: Westmalle. AND it's best to get it fresh at the monastery, if you can make the trip. Nice place.
 
Best movie about a Belgium City?

In Bruges

In_Bruges_Poster.jpg

Bruges-Canal.1.jpg
 
ATIOH said:
I've never heard of sour beer. Is there a brand that's widely available in NJ? Do they taste similar to any other types of beer?
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Of course Belgian Lambics are sour. The Trappist monks let the open air provide yeast (and bacteria) for fermentation. Lambics are often given a secondary fermentation by adding fruit to the barrel. The effect of the sweet, tart fruit offsets some of the sourness of the beer and the alcohol content is boosted. You may know these as Framboisse (raspberry), Kriek (cherry), etc.

Many of the sour beers being made by craft brewers today are Farmhouse Ales and Saisons. Look for keywords like "Farm" or "Farmhouse" to denote a sour beer, just as "Imperial" will denote a strong beer.

Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa California has half of their menu devoted to sours (and you can't find a seat in the place). Hill Farmstead brewing of Vermont makes nothing but sours.

While I occasionally enjoy a framboisse, sours are not really my cup of tea, so to speak. I suspect that like Whitebus, I was part of the first wave of craft beer fanatics. The millenials are making the movement their own, and many of them seem to love the sours.
 
Kwak - had it out of a 1/4 yard in Brussels once and have found it in some specialty beer placed around Pa and NJ.
 
FYI, a person or thing that comes from Belgium is referred to as Belgian, just as someone from America is American. "Belgian beers," not "Belgium beers."

A buddy once brought back a bottle of Westvleteren 12 for me, and it was definitely very good, but I wouldn't say it is so different than Rochefort 10 or St. Bernardus Abt 12 to be worth the hassle of hunting it down here. Yesterday I had Tripel Karmeliet on tap at Maloney's in Matawan, and I think that is now my favorite Belgian beer, though I don't think bottles of it get distributed around here.
 
robcac26 said:
FYI, a person or thing that comes from Belgium is referred to as Belgian, just as someone from America is American. "Belgian beers," not "Belgium beers."

A buddy once brought back a bottle of Westvleteren 12 for me, and it was definitely very good, but I wouldn't say it is so different than Rochefort 10 or St. Bernardus Abt 12 to be worth the hassle of hunting it down here. Yesterday I had Tripel Karmeliet on tap at Maloney's in Matawan, and I think that is now my favorite Belgian beer, though I don't think bottles of it get distributed around here.
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Not all beers called Belgian beers are from Belgium. For Feestag I was only interested in beers from Belgium that we all enjoy.
 
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robcac26 said:
FYI, a person or thing that comes from Belgium is referred to as Belgian, just as someone from America is American. "Belgian beers," not "Belgium beers."

A buddy once brought back a bottle of Westvleteren 12 for me, and it was definitely very good, but I wouldn't say it is so different than Rochefort 10 or St. Bernardus Abt 12 to be worth the hassle of hunting it down here. Yesterday I had Tripel Karmeliet on tap at Maloney's in Matawan, and I think that is now my favorite Belgian beer, though I don't think bottles of it get distributed around here.
Click to expand...

You should definitely be able to find Tripel Karmeliet at liquor stores in NJ, especially the ones that carry a wider variety of craft beers and imports.
 
Duvel triple hop is one of my favorites.

Kwak is awesome just for the glass it's served in.
 
WhiteBus said:
Today is Feestdag Belgium Independence Day. Feestdag or Feestdagan means party day. So they are sucking down a lot of great brews over there.

What is you favorite Belgium beer that is readily available in the US?
You can get Duvel and Chimay Cinq Cents most places but Westmalle Triple is wonderful!
Click to expand...
Best beer I have ever had was Maredsous Tripel. My wife had it in Belgium and insisted we find more of it when she got home. Found a bottle at Trenton Rd Takeout in Levittown.
 
dgraffius said:
Best beer I have ever had was Maredsous Tripel. My wife had it in Belgium and insisted we find more of it when she got home. Found a bottle at Trenton Rd Takeout in Levittown.
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We have it at our bottle shop all the time. Except for Westy XII we have all the beers mentioned in this thread
 
WhiteBus said:
Not all beers called Belgian beers are from Belgium. For Feestag I was only interested in beers from Belgium that we all enjoy.
Click to expand...
Are you saying a beer from Belgium is properly referred to as a "Belgium beer" but not all Belgian beers are Belgium beers? I think a more grammatically-correct and universally understood distinction is Belgian beer vs. Belgian-style beer. I've seen the same error at diners that list Belgium waffle on their menu, which would be the same as saying France toast, Canada bacon, or Switzerland cheese. The confusion is probably just because Belgian and Belgium are very similar words when spoken.

RUnTeX said:
You should definitely be able to find Tripel Karmeliet at liquor stores in NJ, especially the ones that carry a wider variety of craft beers and imports.
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Good to know, maybe I just never noticed it because I never sought it out. I'll check for it next time.
 
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