My friend Kelsy recently shared a post asking people if they tried the beer again that turned them onto craft beer would they still like it? I thought hard about this question and even though I tried craft beer early on in the mid-90s, it was the time I spent in Belgium where I learned to appreciate good beer. It was everywhere and my 23 year old palate was in Disneyland! Even though I had been to a few brewpubs by this time, and was learning a lot about beer, my Belgian experience truly shaped me as a beer aficionado, and set me on the course I think has led me to become a writer.
My trip to Belgium the first time was to visit a friend of mine from high school named EJ who was there teaching on a Fulbright. He was living in the city of Ghent in a tiny apartment alongside college students. As he walked with me back from the train station, he told me that they were over 1200 different beers made in Belgium, and he was going to try as many as he could while he was in Belgium. Having just began to appreciate good beer myself, this sentiment excited me, and I spent a week learning about Belgian beer. I would make two subsequent trips back to Belgium, but I gleaned most of my knowledge from that first trip.
I think the first beer I tried was a Belgian Wit. The flavor of orange and coriander was something my palate had never experienced. I also was unfamiliar with beer made from wheat. I also found it interesting that most of the wits came in 10 ounce bottles. And one of my most vivid memories of barhopping in Ghent was watching a talented bartender simultaneously open three bottles of wit, and proceed to pouring all three beers into 10 ounce glasses with no spillage! It was impressive, and something I would enjoy seeing again!
As we visited a lot of bars in Belgium, it amazed me how extensive the glassware was. Someone told me good bars had glassware for every beer they stocked! It was hard for me to imagine this, and if you have trouble visualizing this, refer back to the picture at the top of this article. I was usually drinking a Duvel because it had been recommended to me early on while my friends and acquaintances ordered Abbey Ales and Lambics. Belgian strong ales appealed to me first, but I would try a great deal of styles within that magical week.
On a trip to the grocery store, EJ explained to me the story behind Trappist Ales, and I would later learn that only a few breweries in Belgium and elsewhere were allowed to carry the name Trappist Ale. I Learned about dubbels, and trippels and sometimes wish my simple 23 year old mind had the wherewithal to venture to Westvleteren to try their highly sought after beer when I had the chance! These ales were like nothing I had tried before, and if I had had more suitcase space, I would’ve brought back a lot more of it!
I was having a hard time processing everything. There really was so much beer, and we would walk into the grocery store and pick up single bottles for the equivalent of a quarter. This is where I would have my first introduction to Lambics. I had never tasted beer this sweet, and the Kriek was probably my favorite because of my love of cherries. I learned a lot about sours, and being in Flanders, I got to try a lot of sour browns and not really understand what I was tasting until years later when I would try ones in the United States and associate them with that trip. It was around 2010 that my friend Noah gave me an Enigma from New Glarus, and this sour brown took me back a decade. I love sours very much now, and I suppose it was in Belgium in 1999 where I cut my teeth on the lifelong interest in them!
There were so many beers to try, but two Belgian beers in particular really sparked my interest. Bush had a beer called Bush 12% that was very impressive. By the time I found it in the United States again, they had been forced to change their name to Scaldis. It’s still an impressive beer, and if you can find it I recommend trying this robust Belgian Strong Ale. The other beer was called Kwak after the sound a beer makes when it hits a glass. I got to drink it from the bottle in Belgium, but the glassware for this beer is shaped a little bit like a test tube, and it is propped up by a wooden piece that makes it look like a rocket launch. This is one of the most interesting presentations of beer in the world, and I recommend ordering it if you ever have a chance here in the United States, or make it to Belgium.
When I got back to the United States, I was sad when I couldn’t find most of these styles of beer in South Bend where I happened to be living. But within five years, I was living in Indianapolis, and fortunately Brugge, a Belgian style restaurant would open up, and for the better part of two decades, I was able to drink fresh representations of Belgian ales. If you live in the Indianapolis area, perhaps you have fond memories of their Tripel De Ripple. I was enjoying these beers and also found other Belgian themed bars in my travels across the US. It was about this time that a lot of Belgian beer began to be imported into the United States regularly, but for me there was always a difference because of the freshness I had experienced when I was in Belgium.
My palate has changed, but these beers are still some of my favorites. Sours are all the rage right now, but if someone asked me what my favorite type of sour is, it will still be a Flemish Sour Brown. Rodenbach makes a delicious one, and the Monk’s Cafe is also good. A lot of breweries are making Abbey styles ales, and a lot of them are excellent, but when I drink a good one, it just makes me want to go back to Belgium, and drink them at the source!
Most of us won’t have a chance to get to Belgium anytime soon, but there is no need to worry because plenty of American breweries are making very good Belgian style beers. You probably won’t have to look very far to find some, and if you’re not familiar with the styles, I wish you good luck and good cheer as you get to experience some of this wonder for the first time. If you’re into more robust beer, I recommend trying Belgian strong ales first. Abbey ales are very similar, and then maybe you can venture into sours, and a lot of the other styles of beer I didn’t have time to mention! Here in Indianapolis, I await Christmas time for Oaken Barrel’s Epiphany which is a lovely Abbey Tripel.
Besides being able to find Belgian beer in the stores, good Belgian themed bars exist all over the United States. One of my favorites is in Philadelphia, and a brewery in Flanders makes the Monk’s Cafe for this bar. I’ve mentioned the Map Room in Chicago before because it is an amazing place for Belgian beer. If you happen to be in the Cincinnati area, Taste of Belgium has multiple locations. I looked at some of their tap lists and they don’t disappoint. Recently a friend of mine told me about the Back Abbey in Claremont, California which is a great Belgian themed bar on the West Coast. I’m sure you know of other ones if you’re into Belgian beer, and feel free to contact me if you know a Belgian bar that needs to be on my list!
Good beer is everywhere, but the Belgians made a lot of great contributions to craft beer, and in so many places in the brewing industry, we can see this lineage. Maybe Belgian beer is not for you, but I ask that you give it a second chance. I’ve been drinking it for almost as long as I have been enjoying craft beer, and I’m glad there are so many breweries in Belgium doing what we do in the United States now. And the simplicity of the wit is something you can find almost anywhere, so in 2021 you have no excuse for not being aware of Belgium’s influence on craft beer!
So Much Beer So Little Time 