Monthly Archives: November 2009
#26 – Steenbrugge Dubbel Bruin
Size: 330 ml ABV: 6.5 % The beers of Steenbrugge are steeped in a rich beer-fuelled history – 925 years to be exact! It was then in 1084 that a certain Arnold of Tiegem – the dude kissing the potato … Continue reading →
Filed under 6, Abbey Beer, Abbey Dubbel, Palm
Tagged as Abbey Beer, Amandus, Arnold, Arnoldus, beer, Belgian, Bruin, Brussels, day of beer, Dubbel, mashing fork, Mertens, monastery, Oudenburg, St Peters, Steenbrugge, Tiegem
#25 – Leffe Brune
Size: 330 ml ABV: 6.5 % Almost every UK supermarket now seems to stock Leffe, in both 330ml and 750ml varieties. Since being taken over, most recently by In-Bev, the saturated marketing ploy is clearly evident. It hasn’t always been … Continue reading →
Filed under 7, Abbey Beer, Abbey Dubbel, InBev (Belgium)
Tagged as Abbey Beer, Albert, Artois, Belgium, Bruin, Brune, Dinant, French Revolution, InBev, Leffe, Lootvoet, Meuse, monks, Namur, Norbertine, St Norbert
#24 – Fruli Strawberry
Size: 330 ml ABV: 4.1 % I love the ‘Good Beer Guide: Belgium’. I love the ‘Good Beer Guide: Belgium’ so much because of its waging of war on the fruit flavoured beers. I asked author Tim Webb why he … Continue reading →
Filed under 4, Fruit Beer, Huyghe
Tagged as Fruli, Guide, Huyghe, Strawberry, Van Diest, Webb, wheat
#23 – Cookie Beer
Size: 330 ml ABV: 8 % Ecaussinnes make the unusual Cookie Beer with speculoos – a type of brown shortcrust biscuit made with traditional christmas spices such as cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Whatever were they thinking? The biscuits are generally … Continue reading →
Filed under 2, Belgian Strong Ale, Ecaussinnes
Tagged as beer, Belgian, Belgium, biscuit, Cookie, Ecaussinnes, Hasselt, Speculoos, St Nicholas
#22 – Lamoral Tripel
Size: 330 ml ABV: 8 % Lamoral Tripel is more than a beer. It is in many ways a celebration of national pride. It may seem a long time ago, but Belgium and the present day Netherlands were under Spanish … Continue reading →
Filed under 6, Abbey Tripel, Van den Bossche
Tagged as 80, beer, Belgian, Brussels, Catholic, Count, Duke of Alba, Egmont, Eighty Years War, Hoorn, iconoclasm, independence, Inquisition, Lamoral, Netherlands, Phillip II, Spain, Tripel, Van den Bossche, William of Orange
#21 – Hoegaarden Forbidden Fruit
Size: 330 ml ABV: 8.5 % I had decided to tarry a while longer in the Dovetail, and having been so mightily impressed with the Grand Cru (#20), decided to partake in the darker sister beer – the Hoegaarden Forbidden … Continue reading →
#20 – Hoegaarden Grand Cru
Size: 330ml ABV: 8.5 % Hoegaarden is reknowned for it’s plain wheat beer, which is something of a shame as it is a common concern of many beer fans today, that the quality of Hoegaarden (#81) has declined since it … Continue reading →
Filed under 8, Belgian Strong Ale, Hoegaarden (InBev)
Tagged as AB, Celis, Dovetail, Grand Cru, great growth, Hoegaarden, InBev, label, Pierre, sediment, wine
#19 – Barbar Belgian Honey Ale
Size: 330 ml ABV: 8 % This beer was probably the first Belgian beer I ever drunk back in 2000, when I was travelling through the lowlands while supporting England during the European Football Championships. I was actually driving at … Continue reading →
#18 – Pater Lieven Bruin
Size: 330 ml ABV: 6.5 % Pater Lieven translates from Flemish as the ‘Father of Lieven’ – the father being a certain patron saint of the local parish – St Livinus. Now, any art lovers may have heard this name … Continue reading →
#17 – Rodenbach Grand Cru
Size: 330 ml ABV: 6 % Rodenbach is an extremely unique brewery in that after brewing and fermenting in the normal fashion, the beers are aged in oak casks – something of a Flemish tradition. There are about 300 … Continue reading →
Filed under 8, Rodenbach (Palm), Sour Ale
Tagged as Belgian beer, Flemish, Grand Cru, Michael Jackson, Rodenbach, Roeselare, sour ale
#16 – Westmalle Dubbel
Size: 330 ml ABV: 7 % The third Trappist brewery of my adventure already, although the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle (or Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) was only founded in 1794, and not conferred Trappist status until 1836. In … Continue reading →
Filed under 7, Abbey Beer, Abbey Dubbel, Trappist Beer, Westmalle
Tagged as Abbey Beer, dark, Dom, Dubbel, froth, Heart, Martinus, Sacred, strong, sweet, Trappist, Westmalle
#15 – Piraat 9
Size: 330 ml ABV: 9 % Feast your eyes on any shelf in a decent Belgian Beer store, and you will find a number of beers dedicated to life at sea. Van Steenberge brew Piraat which of course is Flemish … Continue reading →
Filed under 9, Belgian Strong Ale, Van Steenberge
Tagged as beer, blond, energy, gallon, morale, Piraat, Pirate, sea, Somalia, Van Steenberge
#14 – Abbaye de Malonne Blonde
Size: 330 ml ABV: 6.3% Malonne is a small village in Namur, where the Abbey Notre-Dame de Malonne once sat. The abbey was built in the 7th Century by an Anglo-Saxon monk named Saint Berthuin. The Abbey was the centre-piece … Continue reading →
Filed under 6, Abbey Beer, Belgian Ale, Lefebvre
Tagged as Abbey Beer, Berthuin, blond, festival, luck, Malonne Namur Notre Dame, procession, Saint, shrine
#13 – Trappistes Rochefort 10
Size: 330 ml ABV: 11.3 % The story of the Trappistes Rochefort Beers starts on very much the same vein as that of the Grimbergen beers (#8, #9). Abbey makes beer – Abbey gets destroyed by plunderers – Abbey reforms … Continue reading →
Filed under 9, Abbey Beer, Abt/Quadrupel, Rochefort, Trappist Beer
Tagged as Belgian beer, Observance, Saint-Remy, Trappist, Trappistes Rochefort
#12 – Timmermans Tradition Gueuze
Size: 330 ml ABV: 5 % This is a tough ask – to sum up Gueuze in a paragraph or two. How can one possibly do that without delving deep into the world of lambic? Well here’s the whistle-stop tour. … Continue reading →
Filed under 5, Lambic - Gueuze, Timmermans
Tagged as Anthony Martins, Brussels, Gueuze, hops, Lambic, oak, old, Payottenland, sour, Timmermans, Tradition, yeast, young
#11 – Abdij van Roosenberg Blonde
Size: 330 ml ABV: 7.2 % The Abdij van Roosenberg, or as it is most commonly known – the Abbey of Waasmunster is a strikingly post-modern complex which sits in the East Flanders countryside just a stones throw from … Continue reading →
Filed under 7, Abbey Beer, Belgian Strong Ale, Van Steenberge
Tagged as Abbey, Belgian beer, Monte, Roosenberg, Thuysaert, Van Steenberge, Waasmunster
#10 – Kwak
Size: 330 ml ABV: 8 % Talk about Kwak, and almost certainly conversation will revolve more around the glass, than the actual beer itself. Served in a round-bottomed hourglass that is unable to stand freely unless attached to a … Continue reading →
Filed under 6, Belgian Strong Ale, Bosteels
Tagged as Bosteels, De Hoorn, Dendermonde, hourglass, Kwak, Pauwel, test tube
#9 – Grimbergen Dubbel
Size: 330 ml ABV: 6.5 % In 2007 as previously mentioned (#8), Alken-Maes was a bit-part of the major deal which saw Heineken team up with Carlsberg to usurp British giant Scottish Courage. Heineken effectively then became the worlds second … Continue reading →
Filed under 7, Abbey Beer, Abbey Dubbel, Alken-Maes, Phoenix
Tagged as AB/InBev, Alken-Maes, Carlsberg, Dubbel, Grimbergen, Heineken, Stella Artois
#8 – Grimbergen Blond
Size: 330 ml ABV: 6.7 % In 1128 St Norbert of Xanten built a majestic abbey for the eponymously named Norbertine canons of the time in a quiet place called Grimbergen. It is very unusual for an Abbey to have … Continue reading →
Filed under 6, Abbey Beer, Alken-Maes, Belgian Ale, Phoenix
Tagged as Abbey Beer, Alken-Maes, Belgian beer, Grimbergen, Heineken, Norbertine
#7 – Chimay Red
Size: 330 ml ABV: 7% Chimay is an authentic Trappist brewery, located at the Scourmont Abbey deep in the Hainaut countryside. The Abbey was formed in 1850 and beers have been brewed there since 1862. There are 171 Trappist monasteries … Continue reading →
Filed under 7, Abbey Beer, Abbey Dubbel, Chimay, Trappist Beer
Tagged as Abbey, Belgian beer, Chimay, Premiere, Scourmont, Trappist, Val Dieu
