Your Favourite Belgian Brew

[Curry]

Hey Guys,

Some of will know that I am off to Brussels next year from my where to drink post. I am now interested in what Belgian to drink. Maybe I can compile a list from your answers to this short but not so easy question.

Q. If you could have any three and only three Belgian brews regardless of availability, what would they be?

If enough people respond I will try and make a list based on popularity

Cheers

Curry

RESULTS (updated 28/06/06 @ 1830est)

1. Trappist Rochefort 10 (12 votes)
2. Chimay Grande reserve (Blue) (7 votes)
3. Triple Karmeliet (Bosteels) (5 votes)
4. Westverleten 12 (3 votes)
4. Delirium Tremens (3 votes)
4. Duvel (3 votes)
7. Gulden Draak (Brouwerij Van Steenberge) (2 votes)
7. Deus (2 votes)
7. Chimay Cinq Cents (White) (2 votes)
7. Rose de Gambrinus (Cantillon) (2 votes)
7. Westmalle Tripel (2 votes)
7. Hoegaarden Forbiden Fruit (2 votes)
7. Goulden Carolus (Het Anker) (2 votes)
7. Girardin Lambics (2 votes)
7. Leffe Blond (2 votes)
7. Leffe Radieuse (2 votes)
7. Gouden Carolus Grand Cru de Kaiser (Het Anker) (2 votes)
18. Piraat Ale (Brouwerij Van Steenberge) (1 vote)
18. La Wambrechies (1 vote)
18. Huyghe Delirum Tremens (1 vote)
18. Pannepot (1 vote)
18. Drie Fontaine Schaerbeekse Kriek (1 vote)
18. Belle-vue Selection Lambic (1 vote)
18. Affligem Tripel (1 vote)
18. St. Idesbald Triple (1 vote)
18. Orval (1 vote)
18. Dulle Tieve (De Dolle) (1 vote)
18. Westvleteren Blond (1 vote)
18. Oerbier (De Dolle) (1 vote)
18. La Devine (1 vote)
18. Rodenbach Grand Cru (1 vote)
18. Grottenbier (1 vote)
18. Poperings Hommel Bier (1 vote)
18. De Koninck (1 vote)

 

[goatherder]

rochefort 10. three times.

 

[bindi]

rochefort 10. three times.

Yep, and Chimay blue :beerbang:

 

[bconnery]

Hey Guys,

Some of will know that I am off to Brussels next year from my where to drink post. I am now interested in what Belgiums to drink. Maybe I can compile a list from your answers to this short but not so easy question.

Q. If you could have any three and only three Belgium brews regardless of availability, what would they be?

If enough people respond I will try and make a list based on popularity

Cheers

Curry

Come on, give us 5 at least...

Something from Cantillon is a must.
Personally the Rose de Gambrinus but the Lambic or Gueze would do as well.
Or just all three and more

Westverleten 12 ( I haven't tasted this one myself but the guys over on BA appear to regard it as one of the Holy Grail's so it might be worth a try...)

Rochefort (insert number here)

Chimay Blue is a great one but can be had here fairly easily. Freshness might play a part but personally I found it very tasty here and in Belgium.

Gouden Carolus Grand Cru de Kaiser is a personal favourite. The Grand Cru itself is pretty good too

 

[mhan7073]

My top three would be triple karmeliet, delirium tremens (but I'm desperate to try delirium nocturnum and delirium noel, you couldn't smuggle one back for me or something...) and chimay grand reserve (blue).


Having said that, for everday beers in Belgium, hoegaarden is hard to beat. Served with mussels, chips and mayonaise.

Personally I'm not really a fan of leffe or orval, but Rochefort seems pretty popular. I've not gotten around to trying it myself, and my local Dan Murphy's doesn't stock it.

But whatever you do, drink a magnum of belgian beer, if not a jeroboam. One of the best things you can ever do I reckon.

Mic

 

[sinkas]

1) Piraat Ale (Brouwerij Van Steenberge)
2) Gulden Draak (Brouwerij Van Steenberge)
3) Rochefort 10

What can I say the brewers at Brouwerij Van Steenberge cought my imagination.

 

[Malnourished]

Sorry to be contrary but I question the logic of going to Belgium and drinking beers you can buy in a bottle shop here!

As for recommendations, The Good Beer Guide to Belgium will help you decide what you want to drink. It's my favourite book. :super:

 

[bindi]

Sorry to be contrary but I question the logic of going to Belgium and drinking beers you can buy in a bottle shop here!

True <_< but they don't taste the same here.

 

[smashed jaffa]

westmalle

WESTMALLE

WESTMALLE

Sorry Didn't mean to shout! :beer:

 

[Lindsay Dive]

I recently had a friend who raced a Porsche at SPA and he bought back 6 fresh Belgian Beauties for me.
My pick was the Gulden Draak...absolutely sensational.

At $9.50 for 330ml here in Sydney, I wont be rushing out to buy many.

 

[Kieren]

Favourite belgian brew?

That's like trying to answer whether a tree falling in a forest makes a noise with know one around to hear it.

But to put three out there

Rochefort 10

Hoegaarden Forbiden Fruit

Deus - hugely expensive but perfect for a special occasion. Like no other beer i've tried.

 

[apd]

<pedantic>

Kieren, Lindsay, thank you for using the correct adjective, "Belgian", rather than "Belgium".

Belgium is the country.

Belgian beer is the beverage.

</pedantic>

 

[Hopsta]

1. Trappist Rochefort 10

2. La Wambrechies - not well known but this is a beautiful beer and deffinatly one of my favourites (if not the favourite) i once posted here about this beer to see if anyone had any recipes but not much was known about it. Found this on ratebeer Ale blended with gin. The " LA WAMBRECHIES " beer is brewed with the finest malt and hop. Old Malt Jenever 40% is added before passage into the heating room. It is a high fermentation beer, refermenting in the bottle. An exclusive product by the CLAEYSSENS Distillery."

3. Deus - one of lifes little luxuries, $55 aus for a champagne size bottle.

 

[monkale]

1- Rochefort 10 :beerbang:


2- Chimay Grand Reserve ( oh how I luv him so ) :super:


3- Huyghe Delirum Tremens (strong golden ale)


But asking me to name my 3 favourite children when I have 20 is a hard job to do


Cheers Monkale

 

[Doc]

It is really hard when the Belgian Beer Cafe Heritage is one door up from my office, and I have to walk past it to catch the bus. Even harder if I've had a shit day.
I enjoy many, but the ones I always go back to are:

Leffe Radieuse
Rochefort 10

Doc

 

[Ash in Perth]

I was in belgium recently.. a couple of good ones:

Westvleteren 12 -Very hard to find. look for 'de bier tempel' or something like that. its a little beer shop that had it. i got them in brugges but apparently the owner has another store in brussels that might have it too. Its the only place aside form the monastary that may have it (www.sintsixtus.be give them a call to see if they have any at the monastary). cost be about 4Euro ($7 AUS) at the beer shop but only 27Euro for a carton at the monastary but they ran out before i got there. I have 2 of these aging aswell as one of their weaker beers, the '8'. If they are less than 6 months old dont waste them, they get much better with age so bring them back to aus.

Chimay Grande reserve (Blue) - although this is common as anything over here even, you can get it cheaper than frites over there. found it at 2.70Euros for a 750mL bottle in a supermarket.

Girardin Lambics - The real stuff!

Stick to stuff you cant get over here. Supermarkets sell beer cheaper than anywhere else, around 1Euro per bottle of good ones. Pubs charge up to about 4Euro for a glass.

Hope this help

 

[Curry]

I thought this one might open a Pandoras Box, but hey its good to get some great gen.

bconnery: Yeah I know 3 is a bit tight, but I wanted to try and get a definitive list

Malnourished: thanks for the recommendation on the book

apd: I stand corrected, thanks for pointing that one out

Anyway keep e'm coming; Ill edit my original post with the results so far.

Cheers

Curry

 

[tangent]

sorry but i gotta add leffe blond and chimay white
sweet as hell and sweet and bitter (and cost me $24 for the 2x330ml bottles at The Bar)

 

[colinw]

Oh dear, so many lovely Belgian brews.

My favourites in no particular order.

Chimay Grande Reserve (Blue)
Westmalle Tripel
La Chouffe
Duvel
Tripel Karmeliet
Hoegaarden Forbidden Fruit
Hoegaarden Grand Cru
Cuvee de Koninck
Blanche de Namur
Delirium Tremens
Leffe Radieuse
Leffe Vielle Cuvee
Rochefort 10
Rodenbach Grand Cru

and not Belgian but definitely Belgian inspired

La Fin Du Monde (Unibroue, Canada)

 

[Voosher]

Here's the top 20 (with ratings out of 5) blatantly copied from Ratebeer.

Some of these were limited releases and won't be available.
More food for thought though.
Chimay Blue gets a guernsey in the mid-20's...


Westvleteren Abt 12
4.52

Drie Fonteinen Framboos (Framboise)
4.45

De Dolle Stille Nacht Reserva (2000 version)
4.38

Rochefort Trappistes 10
4.35

Westvleteren Extra 8
4.27

Belle-Vue Slection Lambic
4.24

Drie Fonteinen J & J Oude Geuze Blauw
4.2

De Dolle Speciaal Brouwsel 20
4.2

Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze 1998 (50th Anniversary)
4.17

Abbaye des Rocs Brune
4.17

Struise Pannepot
4.16

St. Bernardus Abt 12
4.14

Drie Fonteinen J & J Oude Geuze Roze
4.13

Rochefort Trappistes 8
4.13

Rodenbach Alexander
4.12

Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru
4.12

Eylenbosch Framboise Cuvee Speciale
4.1

Girardin Gueuze Black Label
4.1

Cantillon Goldackerl Gueuze
4.09

Bush Millennium Cuve 2000
4.06