Belgian Beer Appreciation Thread (2024)

What a delicious, iconic beer. Saison Dupont.

 

mo

More than just hints of citrus I’d say. I found this one really interesting; not at all what I was expecting. Do you find it easily enough where you are?
Santé!

 

Rochefort is readily available here, a fact to which I credit my beer geekery.

 

Seeking a sessionable Belgian? Look no further than Westmalle Trappist Extra. Preliminary review below. Cheers!

4.04/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
330mL bottle (packaged 4/7/2022, best by 4/7/2024—close enough) into a Westmalle chalice. Pours a slightly hazy pale golden color with a billowing clean white head, patchy lace.

Aroma is subtle—pale bready malt, some fruity esters, light funk.

Taste is likewise subtly bready, fruity, funky. Dry. Hard minerally water.

Mouthfeel, where most Belgian beers do not disappoint, is spot on. Assisted by the quality of the water, this beer washes over the palate and finishes clean and crisp. Just the right amount of Old World hops to give the feeling but not the taste of bitterness.

Overall a highly seasonable Belgian pale. Maybe not quite in the same class as its elder brother, Westmalle tripel, but still an enjoyable beer in its own right.

 

Suarez Family Brewery - Lo and Behold (Flanders-style Red).

Aroma of tart cherry, some oak, a little caramelly malt. Taste is moderately sour, just a touch acidic. Less fruity and more tannic. Finish is fairly dry and a bit minerally. Thin to medium bodied. It's good but it needs more depth to the flavor to measure up to the Belgian classics of this style.

 

Val-Dieu Winter Ale. Cheers!

4.09/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
750mL bottle (best by 03/08/24, so presumably 3 August using Euro date format) into a saison glass. Pours a glowing golden honey with a billowing eggshell head, great lacing.

Aroma is bready and sweet, lightly funky and spicy. Belgian yeast, subtle pear notes.

Taste is earthy and bright with grassy notes and a touch of funk. More apple and pear, good balance between sweet and bitter, crisp hard mineral water.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, prickly carbonation on the palate with a crisp finish, aided by floral Old World hops.

Overall a well crafted, enjoyable Belgian pale. Perhaps a little heavier body for winter but this would be welcome year round.

 

Da Boss and i were out and about yesterday and stopped in at Sideways Farm Brewery in Etowah, NC for a pit stop and a refreshment. She had a Lemongrass Blonde and i had the Dubbel. Both were solid beers. If you find yourself in the apple orchards of Henderson County (just south of Asheville), it is worth a stop to try one of their small batch beers!
Cheers!
Tom

 

Well...!?!



Cheers!

 

Brabant, from Sketchbook Brewing, a BBA Belgian dark ale. This reminds me off Boulevards BBA Quad. I will have to keep an eye out for more offerings from Sketchbook.

 

A bottle of Duvel with dinner tonight

 

Rodenbach 2019 Vintage Oak Aged Ale (Barrel No. 137)
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/216/619231/

I never pass up a chance to try one of these Vintage releases, and this one is very nice. i should have tried for a back-lit shot though.

Appearance: Poured a 750ml caged and corked bottle into a tulip. A thin bubbly tan head on a clear reddish brown. The head disappears almost immediately. No lacing.

Smell: Vinous smells. Wood and leather to a lesser degree. Some fruit, leaning towards cherry.

Taste: A base of red wine. So well melded that individual flavours are hard to pick apart. A smooth and mildly sour finish.

Mouthfeel: Light body and carbonation.

Overall: Very smooth and complex. Sweet/sour balance is right on. A top Flemish Red. Smoother and more completely melded than most of the other Vintage series.

 

Unibroue Saison Libre
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22/608581/

From the Unibroue summer mixed pack.

Complete review in the NBW thread: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-199.677179/page-2#post-7980129

 

As much as I love the Orval glass, this thread got me thinking…

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/does-glassware-matter-when-drinking-beer.676343/

And even though I didn’t do a side-by-side, the glass made a marked difference. Looks like there will be a side-by-side is in my future.

 

It is indeed a pretty chalice but too open ended IMO to focus aromas.

I look forward to reading your thoughts here.

In a past thread I did a side-by-side tasting of Orval and my homebrewed version of Orval:



https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-side-by-side-2022.664160/page-4#post-7531474

Cheers!

 

It will be cross posted next weekend.

BTW, the link you posted went to an earlier page. Below should work. Nice review.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-side-by-side-2022.664160/page-7#post-7531474

 

Framboise - Lindeman’s

Occasionally one finds a familiar beer that they have never reviewed. This is one for me.

Super sweet, ton of raspberry purée, nice tart nibble. Such a great summer treat.

 

Rouge - Chimay

So good.

 

It was this beer that made me realize that there were some really awesome beers out there, and they weren't the ones that I had been uses to drinking up until then.

 

P'tite Maudite
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22/673361/

A Belgian Dark Ale from the summer Unibroue mixed pack.