OT: Belgian Beer

Tom BB

After reading numerous posts about beer on the Flanders spoiler thread, I think we need a thread dedicated to the subject.

Do we have many enthusiasts on here?

I order beer online every 6 weeks or so. Current favourites apart from Duvel and Leffe are Westmalle Dubbel, Chimay in all guises, Boon Kriek, Achel Dubbel and Kwak.

Anyone got a decent Belgian bar near to them? There's one about 10 miles away from me......only been there twice though.

graeme_s-2

There's a bar in Coventry called Inspire which specialises in bottled craft beers, often a lot of it Belgian. I drink there regularly, including going to their beer tasting night the first Wednesday of every month (so this week - woot!).

Have really enjoyed getting the opportunity to taste a wide range of beers. Last month's beer tasting (and I suspect this month's will be too) was supplied by a booze cruise they did to Bruge. They also run an off licence in Coventry, so I usually have a few interesting beers kicking around the house.

Favourite new beer is the St Feuillien Saison. I like a lot of the American craft beers too, or european/British beers done in the style of American IPAs. Popped down to the off licence after Flanders yesterday and stocked up on a few different Imperial IPAs

rick_chasey

Devonshire Cat in Sheffield is good if you like a pub which gives you 8 page menu for beer at the bar.

durhamwasp

Theres a bar in Durham sells a wide selection of Belgian beers.

Yesterday i was drinking Grimbergen, Primus (both bought at B&M stores), Stella, Stella4 and Marks n Spencer Belgian lager!

johnr76

Graeme_S wrote:

There's a bar in Coventry called Inspire which specialises in bottled craft beers, often a lot of it Belgian. I drink there regularly, including going to their beer tasting night the first Wednesday of every month (so this week - woot!).

Have really enjoyed getting the opportunity to taste a wide range of beers. Last month's beer tasting (and I suspect this month's will be too) was supplied by a booze cruise they did to Bruge. They also run an off licence in Coventry, so I usually have a few interesting beers kicking around the house.

Favourite new beer is the St Feuillien Saison. I like a lot of the American craft beers too, or european/British beers done in the style of American IPAs. Popped down to the off licence after Flanders yesterday and stocked up on a few different Imperial IPAs

What is the bar and off licence called? I'm going to be working in Coventry a lot more soon so could do with something to do whilst I'm there.

Where is the bar?

Cheers.

disgruntledgoat

Do you mean Achel Brune?

Sorry, let me take my pedant hat off...

I brew Belgian style beers as well as a long and expensive habit of drinking them. There are a number of real gem pubs that know their stuff in some unlikely places... The New Inn in Appletreewick, North Yorkshire is probably my favourite.

Beer Cafe in Glasgow is good too and the Brewdog bar in Glasgow has some really obscure microbrewed Belgians on the menu.

Tom BB

Achel Bruin actually I've just checked on the bottle :oops:

Saw another of my favourites in the beer cupboard too- Delirium Tremens

bigmat

Best beer in the world in my opinion. Seek out West Vleteren (sic) for rarity value - brewed by monks but only officially sold direct from the Abbey I think. Good stuff. I love the Westmalle Tripel, Duvel, Grimbergen, Leffe, Orval, Straffe Hendrick - really its all good, even the cooking lager tastes great over there (don't know what they do to Stella over here) and the "bitter" equivalent Palm goes down really well (and Dubbel Palm over winter is great). Never been a huge fan of Delirium Tremens - its OK if its nice and cold, but try drinking a warm one on a hot summer's day - veers dangerously close to Special Brew territory!

Loads of Belgian pubs in London - favourite is a little one in Clerkenwell called Dove Tail or something like that. Belgo / Bierodrome also OK. There's a great off licence round the corner from my in-laws in Harrogate as well which has a seriously impressive range and the owner loves to chat about his produce!

shockedsoshocked

I got completely trolleyed off Duvel at a party once. I can still feel the head ache.

Go to the House of Trembling Madness in York. Usually have some obscenely high percentage Belgian Trappist Beers on offer.

RonB

Please make mine a Hoegaarden Verboden Vrucht. But where is the Belgian Bar nr Stoke though?

edit - That might be a dutch beer, though I might get away with it!

graeme_s-2

johnr76 wrote:

What is the bar and off licence called? I'm going to be working in Coventry a lot more soon so could do with something to do whilst I'm there.

Where is the bar?

Cheers.

The bar is Inspire, it's on New Union Street in the city centre opposite an area called the Bull Yard. There are 3 medieval church spires in Coventry City centre. The first is the bombed out cathedral, the second is the Holy Trinity Church, which is adjacent to the cathedral, and the third is Inspire, which is the best place to drink in Coventry. I think Inspire is only open Wednesday-Saturday at the moment, and if it's quiet in the week they sometimes close early, but as the weather improves they'll open earlier into the week and be more reliably open on week nights.

The other bar in town worth a look (which also has a decent, but smaller selection of beer) is Browns, which is near the cathedral/Coventry University on Earl Street. Browns is open every day, but shuts at 6 on a Sunday, they also do a cracking breakfast in the morning.

The off licence is called Alexander Wines, and is on the corner of Providence Street and Berkeley Road South in Earlsdon. Open midday till 10pm every day. If you go there you will spend money, it's like a sweet shop for grown ups.

graeme_s-2

BigMat wrote:

Best beer in the world in my opinion. Seek out West Vleteren (sic) for rarity value - brewed by monks but only officially sold direct from the Abbey I think.

You're right, Westvleteren is only available direct from the Abbey at certain times, which is why I've never had it. I am a big fan of St Bernardus Abt 12 though, which is brewed down the road from the abbey using all the same ingredients, with water from the same source. It's even brewed with the same yeast strain, as St Bernardus used to brew Westvleteren 12 under licence from the Abbey.

hommelbier

Must admit to a liking for Gouden Carolus Classic but at 8.5% it's usually one at a time. Otherwise it's Poperings Hommel Bier from Watou, near Poperinge.

Although there is a good range available down in Newton Abbot (Tuckers) we usually call into Delhaize in Ieper to stock up on the way back to UK as they have a good range at reasonable prices.

johnr76

Graeme_S wrote:

johnr76 wrote:

What is the bar and off licence called? I'm going to be working in Coventry a lot more soon so could do with something to do whilst I'm there.

Where is the bar?

Cheers.

The bar is Inspire, it's on New Union Street in the city centre opposite an area called the Bull Yard. There are 3 medieval church spires in Coventry City centre. The first is the bombed out cathedral, the second is the Holy Trinity Church, which is adjacent to the cathedral, and the third is Inspire, which is the best place to drink in Coventry. I think Inspire is only open Wednesday-Saturday at the moment, and if it's quiet in the week they sometimes close early, but as the weather improves they'll open earlier into the week and be more reliably open on week nights.

The other bar in town worth a look (which also has a decent, but smaller selection of beer) is Browns, which is near the cathedral/Coventry University on Earl Street. Browns is open every day, but shuts at 6 on a Sunday, they also do a cracking breakfast in the morning.

The off licence is called Alexander Wines, and is on the corner of Providence Street and Berkeley Road South in Earlsdon. Open midday till 10pm every day. If you go there you will spend money, it's like a sweet shop for grown ups.

Good stuff thanks. I used to leave on the Canal Basin but don't go back much these days. Now I'll be working up there a few days a week and staying over I at least have something to do now!

ddraver

I can never remember the names the next morning, I'm a big fan of going into the shop/bar, saying what I like and then letting the barman decide. Theres a bar in Leiden that has something like 500 options of beer - How anyone can make a decision among them is beyond me...

Tom BB

RonB wrote:

Please make mine a Hoegaarden Verboden Vrucht. But where is the Belgian Bar nr Stoke though?

Its in Leek just around the corner from the Italian restaurant Primo Piano (which is a reasonably good place to eat too)


Forum get together to get merry on Belgians finest anyone?

andyrac

Ship & Mitre in Liverpool usually has plenty of Belgian beers......were I first tried Fruli...

Tom BB

Oh and Blakeys in Newcastle do a few different Belgian Beers too-and often have good music on too (selfish plug that one as me and alot of my friends play there!)

MrTapir

I like Brugse Zot (both blonde and bruin) and also had some LaChouffe in a Smaak kafe in Brugge that was very tasty. There were others but i cant remember the name, i did write most of them down on a beermat that had a fat jolly monk on it.

There is another belgian beer pub in Chinatown (london) i think that my mate says is really good, i'll find out the name from him. Also if you are ever in Philadelphia, there is a fantastic place called Eulogy which has a massive menu of about 8 pages just of beer, and about 10 different belgian beers on tap.

For shops, Bitter Virtue in southampton has a good range of belgian beers (and correct glasses, and also does excellent british beers on draught), as does the Hogs Back Brewery shop which is in Tongham, west of Guildford.

pottssteve

If you can get it then I would highly recommend Abbaye de Val Dieu. It's my local Belgian brewery and I often ride past it as it's in a nice area. I prefer the blonde version but they also do a range (dark, dubbel etc.) Lindemans is also nice - bottle fermented and fizzy, a bit like champagne. Very refreshing.

Steve

disgruntledgoat

AndyRAC wrote:

Ship & Mitre in Liverpool usually has plenty of Belgian beers......were I first tried Fruli...

I spent a few hours of my stag do in there last weekend. They had a Belgian beer festival on. I enjoyed an Achel Blonde, a Tripel Karmeliet, a Westmalle Dubbel, a Westmalle Tripel and was then removed for my own safety.

Gulden Draak is excellent too. A dark tripel from Ghent.

Pop Quiz: How do dubbels and tripels get their name?

graeme_s-2

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Pop Quiz: How do dubbels and tripels get their name?

I've heard a bunch of different explanations for this, none of which I've found particularly convincing. I'll try this one. Dubbel as in twice as strong (by abv) as the brewer's "normal" brew, tripel as in three times as strong.

disgruntledgoat

Your nearly there. It's on gravity which, all things being equal will result in a greater ABV, but not by that order of magnitude.

Gravity measures the amount of fermentables suspended in the beer and will reduce as they are converted into alcohol.

The simple beers that used to be brewed in the monasteries would start out at about 1.035 (ending up at 3.5%abv or something), the Dubbel would be twice that at 1.065-1.080 and the Tripels at 1.080-1.100.

You can see some of this in the naming of some Belgian beers in degrees plato (the above expressed as a whole number with the 1 knocked off) such as Rochefort 6,8,10 and St. Bernadus 12.

Tom BB

disgruntledgoat wrote:

AndyRAC wrote:

Ship & Mitre in Liverpool usually has plenty of Belgian beers......were I first tried Fruli...

I spent a few hours of my stag do in there last weekend. They had a Belgian beer festival on. I enjoyed an Achel Blonde, a Tripel Karmeliet, a Westmalle Dubbel, a Westmalle Tripel and was then removed for my own safety.

Gulden Draak is excellent too. A dark tripel from Ghent.

Pop Quiz: How do dubbels and tripels get their name?

That's a fair amount to take on in itself!!! Really didn't like Tripel Karmeliet when I tried it and don't like Gulden Draak either. I'm quite chuffed with this thread if I'm honest-I thought that it'd get one or two replies at best before FF turned it into a contador thread!

bigmat

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Your nearly there. It's on gravity which, all things being equal will result in a greater ABV, but not by that order of magnitude.

Gravity measures the amount of fermentables suspended in the beer and will reduce as they are converted into alcohol.

The simple beers that used to be brewed in the monasteries would start out at about 1.035 (ending up at 3.5%abv or something), the Dubbel would be twice that at 1.065-1.080 and the Tripels at 1.080-1.100.

You can see some of this in the naming of some Belgian beers in degrees plato (the above expressed as a whole number with the 1 knocked off) such as Rochefort 6,8,10 and St. Bernadus 12.

I have a bottle of Straffe Hendrick Quadruppel :shock: in my cupbiard at home, along with various other delights. Had a relatively dry weekend so might treat myself tonight!

ddraver

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Your nearly there. It's on gravity which, all things being equal will result in a greater ABV, but not by that order of magnitude.

Gravity measures the amount of fermentables suspended in the beer and will reduce as they are converted into alcohol.

The simple beers that used to be brewed in the monasteries would start out at about 1.035 (ending up at 3.5%abv or something), the Dubbel would be twice that at 1.065-1.080 and the Tripels at 1.080-1.100.

You can see some of this in the naming of some Belgian beers in degrees plato (the above expressed as a whole number with the 1 knocked off) such as Rochefort 6,8,10 and St. Bernadus 12.

Tradition (apparently) is to "count" backwards, so you start with a good Trippel then get lighter as the evening progresses...

rick_chasey

Tom BB wrote:

disgruntledgoat wrote:

AndyRAC wrote:

Ship & Mitre in Liverpool usually has plenty of Belgian beers......were I first tried Fruli...

I spent a few hours of my stag do in there last weekend. They had a Belgian beer festival on. I enjoyed an Achel Blonde, a Tripel Karmeliet, a Westmalle Dubbel, a Westmalle Tripel and was then removed for my own safety.

Gulden Draak is excellent too. A dark tripel from Ghent.

Pop Quiz: How do dubbels and tripels get their name?

That's a fair amount to take on in itself!!! Really didn't like Tripel Karmeliet when I tried it and don't like Gulden Draak either. I'm quite chuffed with this thread if I'm honest-I thought that it'd get one or two replies at best before FF turned it into a contador thread!

You're just lucky I didn't punt it over into cake stop .

No_Ta_Doctor

*Dons beer nerd hat*

First exposure to Belgian beer was aged 17, in a bar in a sleepy village near Bergerac. They had quite a range, for some reason, but we tended to settle on one that we called "Dubbel". Needless to say we got a touch wobbly. It didn't have any label, but I remember the maroon coloured bottle cap. That was late eighties, and for about ten years after that I tried desperately to find that beer again. Found plenty of Chimay of various types, Duvel as well, but the mysterious Dubbel was nowhere to be seen. Finally, in a beer shop window in Copenhagen, I saw it. It was Westmalle, of course, but now it had a nice label on as well as the monk's marketers caught up with modern life.

Westmalle Trippel is one of my alltime favourites, as is the Rochefort 10, and the Westvleteren is always a treat if you can find it.

Later, on a beer trip to Brussels I had the chance to sample some of the Gueuzes and lambics - spontaneouly fermented in cooling basins left open to the evening breeze. I recommend the Bier Circus bar for any real enthusiasts. If you've never had an authentic tooth enamel stripping Gueuze then you're in for a shock. I love the stuff, Cantillon especially, but Driefontein and Boone are good too (at least some of their varieties are), though one of my mates likened it to drinking Saracens malt vinegar. It's an acquired taste...

Other than that, the Flemish Reds - Rodenbach Grand Cru and Duchess du Bourgogne are fantastic sour ales, with deep oakyness from maturing for months on end in oak barrels. Gorgeous.

*removes beer nerd hat*

MrTapir

BigMat wrote:

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Your nearly there. It's on gravity which, all things being equal will result in a greater ABV, but not by that order of magnitude.

Gravity measures the amount of fermentables suspended in the beer and will reduce as they are converted into alcohol.

The simple beers that used to be brewed in the monasteries would start out at about 1.035 (ending up at 3.5%abv or something), the Dubbel would be twice that at 1.065-1.080 and the Tripels at 1.080-1.100.

You can see some of this in the naming of some Belgian beers in degrees plato (the above expressed as a whole number with the 1 knocked off) such as Rochefort 6,8,10 and St. Bernadus 12.

I have a bottle of Straffe Hendrick Quadruppel :shock: in my cupbiard at home, along with various other delights. Had a relatively dry weekend so might treat myself tonight!

Yes I've had that, its brewed in the Half moon brewery in Brugge which also does Zot. Strong stuff that is, is it 11% or so?

APIII

My wife works in Farringdon, so it's a convenient excuse to meet her at Dovetail after work for a few. For a city the size of London, there are surprisingly few places with a good range of Belgian beers, but Dovetail is one of the best.
Beer prices have rocketed in the last year. I've just brought some Duvel, Westmalle, etc back from Bruges this weekend and it cost less than a quid a bottle. It's double or triple that over here and is only going to get more expensive

pottssteve

APIII wrote:

My wife works in Farringdon, so it's a convenient excuse to meet her at Dovetail after work for a few. For a city the size of London, there are surprisingly few places with a good range of Belgian beers, but Dovetail is one of the best.
Beer prices have rocketed in the last year. I've just brought some Duvel, Westmalle, etc back from Bruges this weekend and it cost less than a quid a bottle. It's double or triple that over here and is only going to get more expensive

Maybe that's why they call it Dubbel and Trippel.