BElgian Beer

Put “beer” and “European country” in the same question and the answer most people would come up with is Germany. But the country that has the most intriguing and varied selection of beers—not only in Europe but the world—is Belgium. This is all the more remarkable because Belgium is about one-eighth the size and one-sixth the population of Deutschland. Belgium’s 100 breweries collectively yield about 650 beers which in breadth almost rival the wines in France.

Belgians, like Americans, drink pilsners—light lager beers such as Budweiser—most of the time. It is the smaller specialty beer category, however, that is truly, well, special. Brewers of these beers are fiercely individualistic and often idiosyncratic. They make a range of beers with extraordinary complexity and often considerable alcoholic strength, sometimes exceeding 10 percent (most American beers are between 4 and 6 percent) alcohol. Higher alcohol produces more esters, which create more complex aromas. Unfortunately, the higher alcohol content of Belgian beers makes them illegal in some US states.

Abbey beers are one of the numerous styles of Belgian beer made by monasteries or by commercial breweries commissioned to make them. Trappist beers are brewed only by monks in one of five monasteries—Chimay, Orval, Westmalle, Rochefort and Westvleteren. Chimay, the first monastery to brew commercially, is the best known and makes three Trappist beers, each with a different colored label. Red, lightly sweet with pleasant cinnamon notes, is the most common. White is drier and hoppier. Blue is rich with lots of nutty and chocolate flavors, but not heavy, despite an alcohol content of 9 percent. That’s because Chimay and many other higher alcohol Belgian beers have great balance.

Another characteristic that sets Belgian specialty beers apart from other brews is that they go through a second—and sometimes a third—fermentation in the bottle, much like Champagne. This gives them finer bubbles than American beers - which are frequently injected with carbonation - and produces a more desirable mouthfeel. Often these second and third fermentations are done with different yeasts, a unique feature of Belgian brewing.

Unlike the other Trappist breweries, Orval produces only one beer, an orangey gold brew with a funky nose but a refreshing, bracingly dry taste. Try this one with stinky cheeses.

Tiny Westvleteren authorizes production of St. Sixtus, a malty and viscous brew with dried fruit flavors. Affligem Tripel Abbey Ale, brewed under agreement with the Benedictine order, has delicious honey and apricot notes that would go marvelously with pork dishes. Tripel (Triple) is the most alcoholic of the abbey beers at about 8 to 10 percent. Yet it is the most delicate and the lightest in color. Dobbel (Double) beers are darker and heavier with chocolate and dried fruit flavors that would go well with rich stews of lamb. Singel (Single) beers are the lightest at 6 percent alcohol. Witkap Singel is a light, unfiltered beer with a fresh citric taste, the kind of beer monks might quaff after mowing lawns at the monastery.

Red beers, so called because the Vienna malts used impart a red color, are made in the province of West Flanders. The best example is Rodenbach, which makes serious brews aged in large oak casks. Aging (another benefit of secondary fermentation) for up to five years is common in Belgian beers and stands in marked contrast to mass-produced American beers which stress freshness because they deteriorate with age. Rodenbach Grand Cru gets two years in wood and emerges with a deep burnt amber color, somewhere between amontillado and olorosso sherry, and a fruity but very tart flavor, reminiscent of sour cherries.

Saison or farmhouse style beers were originally laid down in winter to be drunk in summer. So they had to be sturdy enough to go the distance. The Dupont Saison has a funky nose that reminds me of English farmhouse ciders. Yet, it’s surprisingly light and clean tasting.

Duvel, Belgium’s best selling specialty beer, doesn’t fall into any category but is distinctive enough to create its own. Beer expert Michael Jackson calls Duvel “one of the five greatest beers in the world.” This strong golden ale (about 8.5 percent alcohol) has the greatest head of any beer I’ve seen. The taste is complex and the finish incredibly smooth.

Belgian white or wheat beer is an ancient style of beer revived in the 1960s. Wheat gives the beer a cleaner, more thirst quenching taste than barley, perfect for summer drinking. Wheat beers, like Blanche de Bruges, also have liberal lacings of spices (in this case coriander, Curacao orange peel and black pepper) which make them good accompaniments for spicy foods.

Belgian Lambic beers stretch the definition of beer. Lambics are wheat beers brewed only in an area west of Brussels. Their most salient characteristic is that they are spontaneously fermented. Lambic brewers are dependent on the unique microflora of the Senne Valley for fermentation, so they try not to disturb these organisms with such niceties as cleaning the brewery.

Straight Lambics are fruity and very dry, almost sour, with little carbonation. Gueuze Lambics are a combination of old and young Lambics, the latter of which provide some carbonation. These Lambics can improve with age for up to two years. Sugar or caramel is added to Faro Lambics to give them a sweet and sour taste. Most common in the United States are flavored Lambics like Lindemans Framboise, a juicy and effervescent raspberry flavored Lambic, and Boon Kriek, a cherry flavored Lambic with a winy color. If Lambics are too much for you straight, try them in mixed drinks like Framboise with Champagne for a Belgian version of a Kir or Guinness and Kriek.

In recent years, consolidation in the Belgian beer industry and pressures by the European Economic Community have caused some Belgian specialty beers to be discontinued. Others are more difficult to get. Fortunately, US microbrewers have picked up some of the slack. Brewery Ommegang makes three excellent Belgian-style beers at its facility in Cooperstown, NY--Ommegang, Hennepin, and Rare Vos. Some of all three are aged in nearby Howe Caverns for up to two years. Ommegang was founded (and since sold to a Belgian company) by Americans Wendy Littlefield and Don Feinberg, who import Belgian beers through their company, Vanberg & DeWulf. Littlefield is optimistic about what some of her US colleagues, like New Belgium in Ft. Collins, Colorado are doing, too. “The US is a hotbed of activity,” she says.

This article first appeared in the March/April, 2003 issue of Specialty Food Magazine.