Question about Belgian ales.

It's typically the yeast that lends Belgian's their unique flavor.

A extra points for not calling them Belgium beers.

 

i think belgain is too broad of a term. do, you mean blonde, brown, dubbel, trippel, quad, saison, dark?

 

He's asking about a common taste between the styles.

 

^ yeah, looks like i misread that. i guess i would generally say the yeast with usually some spice and pepper profiles

 

Belgian ale yeast has very distinct flavors (generally the spicier notes), and to my knowledge a lot of sweetness in Belgian ales comes from the use of candi sugar.

 

There is not one. At least I do not feel there is a common thread. and I been drinking them for over 45 years now.
There are many different yeast types used in Belgian beer. and not all use sugar etc etc, its as different as they get IMHO.

 

I know the exact taste he's talking about. It's a dankness, almost a "rubbery" characteristic for lack of a better term. Hard to explain, but many, many Belgian beers share the note regardless of style.

 

I think the candy sugar is used more to dry the beer out and up the attenuation more than to sweeten it. If you make a Belgian style with pure malt, which has a lot of unfermentable sugars, you're going to end up with a much thicker, sweeter beer. That, I think, is one of the major failings of many American takes on Belgian styles.

On topic, I tend to think of Belgians as being divided into two broad, diverse categories. The first being the more "standard" styles like BPAs, BDAs, BSPAs, BSDAs, witbiers, dubbels, tripels, quads, etc. These tend to have similar yeast flavors of spices like corriander and also some fruity and bubblegum flavors. The second is the "sours," which tend to be sour, funky, and/or acetic. If anything, I think the most unifying aspect of Belgian styles (at least well made ones) is the higher attenuation. Even >10% examples have a much higher attenuation than most barleywines or imperial stouts/DIPAs, making them more light, dry, and crisp than their abv would imply. My least favorite Belgian beers are ones that are too thick and sweet.

 

I get a bit of banana and bubble gum. Usually more bubble gum than the German Hefes.

 

you tried all the Trappists and they seemed all alike to you?

 

Beers fermented with Belgian yeast generally taste... well, yeasty. Yeast is sort of an earthy bread flavor. The flavors that the Belgian yeast produces during fermentation and aging are typically sort of "spicy" - not hot, but more like clove or coriander with slight black pepper.

But honestly, all of these descriptions don't quite measure up to the actual flavor that Belgian beers have. The "Belgian" flavor is pretty unique.

 

Hope he doesn't expect an answer then.

 

You've tried all the Trappists and you don't taste similar yeast flavor characteristics?

 

The ‘Belgiany’ flavors within Trappist Ales are flavors that are generated by the yeast strain used to ferment the beer. Trappist style yeast strains produce a mix of esters (fruity flavors) and phenols (spicy flavors).

The strain used by Westmalle is available to homebrewers as Wyeast 3787. Below is the description that Wyeast provides for this strain:

“A classic strain selection for brewing Belgian dubbel or Belgian tripel. This Abbey strain produces a nice balance of complex fruity esters and phenolics, making it desirable for use in other Belgian style ales as well. A flocculent, true top cropping yeast (additional headspace is recommended), that will work over a broad temperature range. This strain makes a great Belgian style “House” strain.”

The other Trappist breweries use other yeast strains but they also produce interesting ester and phenol flavors.

Cheers!

 

So much misinformation in this thread...read ”Brew Like a Monk” by Stan Hieronymous. Lots of great primer info in there

 

Well, in a nutshell, there is no distinct character linking all Belgian beers, other than they are all distinct. There are numerous yeast strains, numerous brewing (and sometimes blending) methods, numerous hop varieties, and a multitude of spices in many beers, in addition to the wild yeasts and natural bacteria found in a number of beers.
Oftentimes saying something tastes ”Belgian” means it tastes ”different.” In many cases the drinker had yet to develop his/her ”beer vocabulary,” which is not a bad thing...it means that person is on the right path.
Think of some of the classic beers from Belgium: Duvel, Orval, Oude Beersel Gueuze, Saison Dupont, Wittekerke, Rodenbach, Chimay Blue, Corsendonk Pale, St Bernardus Abt 12, etc. All are completely different and unique beers, with nothing tying them together other than their country of origin and their historical significance.