Belgian beer is about much more than just hops and alcohol content. Here’s a beginner’s guide to the different types of beer in Belgium.
Belgium has a passionate relationship with brewing, with roots that stretch back to the Middle Ages. Home to both the world’s largest brewing company, Belgian-Brazilian AB InBev, and numerous local small and large breweries, the country takes great pride in its beer culture. In fact, Belgian beer is listed on UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list. Whether you find yourself in Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, or any other Belgian city, you can choose from countless varieties of light summer beer, fruity beer, and dark beer. Perhaps you’d like to try dark beer mixed with cider or beer with flavors of cactus or coconut?
Belgian Beer – History and Traditions
The brewing tradition in Belgium emerged in the countryside, small towns, and monasteries as far back as the Middle Ages. Belgium, located in the heart of Europe and having been under various regimes, has been influenced by both French wine culture and German and English brewing techniques.
What characterizes Belgian beer is yeast varieties that impart rich flavors, ample malt providing sweetness and higher alcohol content, and exciting flavor additions.
Belgian beer can be challenging to categorize since different types belong to several categories, but here are some terms it might be nice to know.
Trappist Beer / Abbey Beer
Trappist beer is one of the most well-known and traditional Belgian beer types.
For Trappist beer to carry the ATP (Authentic Trappist Product) logo on the bottle label, it must be brewed in a monastery that is a member of the International Trappist Association, supervised by a monk or nun, and the proceeds must go towards the maintenance of the monastery or charity.
The most common types of Trappist beer are Dubbel (6–7%), which has a brown color and flavors like caramel, raisin, or licorice, and Tripel (7–9%), which is lighter, stronger, and has more hop flavor.
There are six Trappist breweries in Belgium: Westmalle, Westvleteren, Achel, Chimay, Orval, and Rochefort.
Strong Ale
Strong Ale can be further divided into Blond Ale, Golden Strong Ale, Trappist Single, and Belgian Tripel.
These types of beer can be light like pilsner or have a slightly more golden tone. They are characterized by a fruity and spicy taste and aroma. The alcohol percentage starts at 6% and goes upwards, and they often have a lot of carbonation and foam.
Examples include Duvel and Delirium Tremens.
Saison
Saison is a light ale with a lot of carbonation characterized by citrus and pepper. It is brewed with a special yeast type known for tolerating high temperatures.
Saison was originally produced on farms in Wallonia, the French-speaking southern part of Belgium. The beer was brewed in the fall and winter to give seasonal workers something to do, and they drank it in the summer while working in the fields.
This beer is typically a bit dry with hop and spice flavors, light or golden in color, and has an alcohol percentage of 5–7%.
Some types include Saison Dupont, Saison d’Erpe-Mere, Saison de Dottignies.
Spéciale Belge
Spéciale Belge was created in the early 1900s in an attempt to create Belgian special beer that could compete with British ale and German lager. It has a lot of malt, medium strength, and a red or copper-brown color. The taste is well-balanced and slightly fruity.
Examples include Bolleke De Koninck, Palm, Tonneke.
Brut
Brut is strong beer fermented like champagne. The bottles are regularly rotated a quarter turn and stored slightly tilted until all the yeast collects in the bottleneck. Then the yeast is frozen and removed, and the bottles are topped again.
This beer is dry, has a lot of carbonation, and fruity notes. The alcohol percentage is 8–12%.
Examples include DeuS, Malheur Malheur Bière Brut, Grimbergen Magnum Opus Brut Beer.
WitBier
Wheat beer, white beer, or witbier is unfiltered beer brewed with 30–60% raw wheat. It is light and slightly cloudy, often with added coriander seeds and dried orange peel to give a mild, fruity, and spicy taste. It has a moderate alcohol percentage of around 5%.
Examples include St. Bernardus Wit, Jan de Lichte, Brugs Tarwebier (Blanche De Bruges).
Lambic
This is spontaneously fermented wheat beer aged in wooden barrels. Only local wild yeast is used, and it is brewed in open vessels. It has a lot of carbonation and is often added with fruits like cherries, raspberries, and apricots.
Gueuze and Kriek are two of the most well-known and popular variants.
Fruit Beer
Fruit beer is very popular in Belgium and has a low to medium alcohol percentage (2.5–6%). It is flavored with fruit, fruit juice, or fruit extract. Common additions include raspberries, lemon, pear, apricot, banana, and strawberry.
Prominent fruit beer producers include Timmermans, Lindemans, Lambiek Fabriek.
Flemish Sour Ales
Flemish brown, old brown, or red-brown beers have mixed fermentation. This style originates from the southern parts of Belgium and Flanders, meaning old barrel-aged beer is mixed with regular “young” beer. It is often reddish-brown or brown in color, has an alcohol percentage of 4.5–8%, and can have flavors of caramel, chocolate, or red fruit.
Some breweries include Rodenbach, Liefmans, Vander Ghinste.
Hopefully this was a good introduction to some of the Belgian beer styles.
Santé!
Curious about what to eat in Belgium? Read more about Belgian food here.
