And if not, why not?
Personally I get what I can only describe as a "dish water" flavour off most beers fermented with a Belgian type yeast. From talking to others I may be unique in this regard!
(http://i.imgur.com/jjQQ5uw.gif)
Belgian Beers .. I visit Brussels about twice a year - and I have to say - I absolutely love the place.
What I like most about Belgian beers is the diversity - the diversity in taste and also the diversity in the way they make beer.
From the Strong Triples or the Sour Lambic or the wonderfully sweet cheery beers - or the ones which are hard to define like Kwak or the trustworthy Leffe.
I get one authentic bottle of Westvleteren (a Trappist Beer) every year - from my friend who is on the 'list' - and its fabulous !
I think beers in Belgium have evolved from revolutionary and sometimes controversial brewing methods - but its these risks that they take that results in such fantastic results.
So - in short - Im a big fan of belgian beers !
love Belgians. they're what moved me to AG. that country was my 'gateway' beer
working on recipe for a dubbel and quad next. gonna throw some lacto yeast in half the quad
Not a big fan of them but when they hit the right spot....... 8)
Not a fan of them either, and would never buy one. However, when someone brings one to a tasting I do try them, and don't mind them, but just not into them. Not enough hops really, and not mad about the general Begium funkiness.
I was mad into craft beer - indeed, mad into homebrewing before I'd even tasted a Belgian beer. That was about 6 months ago. I've been slowly working my way through some of the more famous Belgian beers and I'm absolutely hooked.
I find them so complex, particularly saisons who's flavour I find absolutely fascinating. Even something as "mainstream" as a Chimay blue - just so complex.
I've got some big plans to brew a few Belgians myself this summer.
Quote from: Bubbles on May 20, 2013, 10:12:05 AM
I've got some big plans to brew a few Belgians myself this summer.
Prefer French myself ;)
I'm not a big fan, but then what homebrewers tend to make are the ones I don't like. I think the dishwater that Shane is tasting is probably the coriander addition, green coriander tastes like this for me.
I do like the stuff that no homebrewer tends to take on, which are the sours, but then they are nothing like the others.
which of those chimays, west, etc do you like/not like?
I'd be the same on Chimay, it's pish.
If it's in wheatbeers too then it's wheat or yeast you don't like.
shane, give the other chimays a whack. they're all v different from each other- dubble, tripel etc etc.
if you get the same taste in all the beers of one monastery, then its the yeast
Quote from: Tube on May 20, 2013, 11:49:50 AM
I've only ever had the one with the pale coloured label (I think) and as I didn't like it (that was a few years ago) I've sort of ignored Chimay as a whole since then.
The yellow/white label is the tripel and isn't an amazing beer (not sure if i've found a tripel that I love), the other two are decent beers! They really benefit from some ageing! It's worth buying a few bottles and leaving them in the cellar for a few years, obviously that would be better with Rochfort or Westie but also a lot more expensive!
I'm a fan of belgians that being said, I do find I don't buy them as often these days!
Tripel Karmeliet is one of my favourite beers
Quote from: imark on May 20, 2013, 02:32:55 PM
Tripel Karmeliet is one of my favourite beers
Best tripel available over here. My favourite in Belgium is tripel de graal
Have a few westvleteren 8 and 12 knocking about at home that are 6 years old. Aged black Albert and a couple of others
Quote from: delzep on May 20, 2013, 04:24:39 PM
Quote from: imark on May 20, 2013, 02:32:55 PM
Tripel Karmeliet is one of my favourite beers
Best tripel available over here. My favourite in Belgium is tripel the graal
Have a few westvleteren 8 and 12 knocking about at home that are 6 years old. Aged black Albert and a couple of others
Awe man! Beautiful beers. Did you try the Pannepot? I've been looking for a good clone recipe due to withdrawal symptoms. Don't think I'd have had the will power to keep them that long.
Aye pannepot is a good one. 'brugs beertje usually have some aged pannepot in stock
Never having tried any of the Westvleteren beers, how close-tasting is the St. Bernadus 12 to the Westie 12 ?
Very close. St bernardus used to brew for westvleteren
St. Bernardus 12 is fantastic as it their wit bier. There are Belgian styles for every pallet. It truly is an amazing beer producer. From gueze and lambic to wit, saison, dubbel, triple, dark beers, stouts, pales, ipa, lager, blondes, fruit beers....the list goes on. What we get here is a tiny proportion of what they produce, and we used to get less!
No beer lover will be disappointed with a trip over there. It is a whole other world of beer though so be ready.
Quote from: delzep on May 20, 2013, 05:17:36 PM
Aye pannepot is a good one. 'brugs beertje usually have some aged pannepot in stock
beertjes is prob my favourite place on earth
Quote from: Rossa on May 21, 2013, 06:26:29 PM
St. Bernardus 12 is fantastic as it their wit bier.
Yeah, their wit is amazing. 8)
A Tripel Karmeliet in the fridge for later. :)
Look what i just found out and its less than five feckin miles from the front door :)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Holy-Mountain-Brewery/438426766229751
Can anyone recommend some mid-strength Belgians which are available in Ireland?
I've loved all of the Belgian beers I've tasted but I don't think I've had one under 8%! ??? Would be great to drink a few Belgian beers without getting completely clattered.
There's Hoegaarden at 4.9%, Leffe 6.6%, Krieks are normally 3-5% and there's a couple of Pilsners out there as well that are all around the 5% mark.
Gonna have the second bottle of Westvleteren 12 from my brick later. :)
Chimay is not the greatest, and there are a lot of crap beers in Belgium but there are loads of really fantastic ones as well, including a lot of the ones already mentioned and there's a huge variety. Tim Webb's Good Beer Guide to Belgium is a fantastic resource in terms of analysing styles and doesn't hold back in calling out the rubbish.
I defy anyone to say Rodenbach Grand Cru tastes like dishwater, pickled onions maybe :), but not dishwater.
I did think though that the Chimay with the cream label had a big iso amyl acetate / banana kick. If you're getting it from wheat's as well maybe that's the dishwater.
In term's of mid-strength Belgian's La Rulles are the dogs - they have them in the Abbott in Cork and they even use American hops like Amarillo etc.
Quote from: mr happy on June 21, 2013, 11:23:51 PM
... and there are a lot of crap beers in Belgium
As someone who has spent 5 or 6 years (in total) working in .NL (Leiden/Amsterdaam) and primarily dinking Belgian beers (Winter and Summer) please explain what these "crap" beers are?
Newton Apple and other similar alcopops / fake lambics? Also, overly sweet blondes.
Belgian pils too are poor.
That was far enough below the belt that I didn't think it needed saying. (Mind the Redor pils at Brasserie Dupont is quite nice.)
I never worked up the courage to try Gordon's Finest either.
The tartan has always put me off for some reason. I like the glass though.
I don't know why quite a few pubs here stock the Mongozo range. They obviously must sell I suppose but they are vile. The coconut one is one of the worst beers I've ever had :-X