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Hoegaarden Brewery
Witbier: Hoegaarden
The gentlest way into Belgian beer, and the bottle that brought its style back from the dead. The last local wheat beer brewery in the village of Hoegaarden closed in 1957, and a decade later a milkman named Pierre Celis set out to revive the style. It is brewed with wheat and spiced with coriander and orange peel, and at 4.9% it works as a summer pint as well as a tasting. Expect a hazy pour, a soft, bready body and a peppery citrus lift. It now belongs to AB InBev and turns up almost everywhere, which is exactly what makes it the witbier to measure the others against.
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De Koninck Brewery
Spéciale belge: De Koninck Bolleke
Antwerp's everyday amber, and the best answer to anyone who thinks Belgian beer has to be strong. The spéciale belge is a copper ale built for an evening of rounds, and the Bolleke is lightly malty and lightly hoppy with a hint of caramel, at 5.2%. It takes its name from its round glass; the word means little ball. One change worth knowing: since 2025 it has been brewed at the Duvel Moortgat brewery rather than in Antwerp itself. Drink it on draft if you can find it, and fresh if you cannot.
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Dupont Brewery
Saison: Saison Dupont
The farmhouse ale every modern saison gets measured against. Dupont has brewed it at its farm brewery in Hainaut since 1844, and the style began as a beer made to quench the thirst of seasonal farm workers. It pours hazy gold at 6.5%, with a clear bitterness, no sweetness and aromas of grapefruit and clove. It is the most food-friendly bottle here: try it with roast chicken, mussels or a sharp cheese. If the saisons you have met so far tasted sweet or fruity, this one will reset your idea of the style.
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Leffe
Belgian blond: Leffe Blonde
Abbey beer at its most approachable. Leffe takes its name from the abbey of Notre-Dame de Leffe, where Norbertine canons began brewing in 1240, though the beers are now brewed at the Stella Artois brewery in Leuven for AB InBev. The blond is sweetish, gently spicy and rounded, a fair picture of what an abbey blond aims for without the bite of a tripel. Purists will steer you toward smaller abbey brewers, and they have a point, but Leffe is the one you are most likely to find, and it makes a sensible step between a witbier and the stronger golden beers further down.
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Duvel Moortgat Brewery
Belgian strong golden ale: Duvel
Pale as a lager, strong as a winter warmer, and widely treated as the definitive version of its style. The Moortgat family first called it Victory Ale to mark the end of World War I; the name Duvel, dialect for devil, came later. At around 8.5% it is dangerously easy to drink: a huge white head, pear and spice in the nose, and a crisp, dry finish that hides the alcohol well. Pour slowly, leave the yeast in the bottle, and take the name as a warning about the second one.
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Westmalle Brewery
Dubbel: Westmalle Dubbel
The Trappist dark ale that most dubbels get measured against. Westmalle refined its brown ale into this double brown in 1926, and it pours a dark red-brown at 7%, with caramel, malt and fruity notes of ripe banana over a dry finish that comes from refermentation in the bottle. It is rich without being heavy, which makes it the right bottle for a cold evening or a bowl of beef stew. If Belgian beer to you means pale and strong, this is where the darker side begins.
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Westmalle Brewery
Tripel: Westmalle Tripel
Beer fans call it the mother of all tripels, and it still earns the title. The Trappist monks of Westmalle brewed their first tripel in 1934, and this is the bottle to judge every other one by. It is clear golden and 9.5%, soft and creamy on the tongue, with ripe banana and hops in the nose and a long, dry, bitter finish. Try it beside a Duvel to learn the difference between the two strong pale styles: the tripel is fuller, spicier and more yeast-driven. Let it warm a few degrees from fridge cold before you judge it.
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Rochefort Brewery
Quadrupel: Trappistes Rochefort 10
The strongest bottle on this list and the benchmark for the dark, strong ale that bars call a quadrupel. Rochefort 10, the blue cap, is 11.3%: dark brown, with port wine, leather, apricot and spice over a firm malt backbone that keeps all that strength in balance. Written records of brewing at Rochefort go back to 1595, though the 10 itself was developed in the late 1940s. Chimay Blue and St. Bernardus Abt 12 are worthy stand-ins if the store is out, but Rochefort is the one to try first. Pour a small glass and take your time; it rewards an hour more than a gulp.
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Orval Brewery
Trappist pale ale: Orval
A style of one. Orval is a hoppy pale Trappist ale with a twist: during conditioning the brewery adds hops for aroma and a wild yeast, Brettanomyces, which keeps working after the bottle is sealed. Fresh, it is bitter and hop-forward. Give it six months or more and the bitterness softens, while a dry, slightly tart, earthy character takes over. Buy two bottles, drink one now and put the other in a dark cupboard: it is the cheapest lesson in how Belgian beer changes with age.
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Rodenbach Brewery
Flanders red ale: Rodenbach Grand Cru
The sour beer that wins over wine drinkers. Rodenbach ripens its beer in oak and then blends old with young, and the Grand Cru takes about two-thirds aged beer to one-third young. That gives it a sharp, winey acidity, cherry and balsamic notes, and a gentle sweetness underneath. At 6% it is lighter than it tastes. If it proves too sharp at first, the standard Rodenbach uses more young beer and is a softer introduction. Serve it cool, in a wine glass if you like.
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Liefmans Brewery
Oud bruin: Liefmans Goudenband
The brown cousin of Flanders red, and East Flanders' own take on a sour beer. Oud bruin is maltier and less vinegary than the red, with caramel, toffee and chocolate under a gentle sourness, and Goudenband is the classic bottle. It drinks almost like a dessert beer, so pour it after dinner or alongside a chocolate tart rather than with a meal. Liefmans has belonged to Duvel Moortgat since 2008.
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Boon Brewery
Gueuze: Oude Geuze Boon
Gueuze is a blend of young and old lambic, a spontaneously fermented beer, left to referment in the bottle until it sparkles. Boon's version, from the village of Lembeek, blends lambics matured for one, two and three years in oak, and pours at 7% with citrus, apricot and oak in the nose and a long, dry, intense finish. It is sour, but clean rather than harsh. Look for the word oude on any gueuze label: it marks the traditional, unsweetened kind, which tastes nothing like the sweetened versions.
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Cantillon (brewery)
Kriek: Cantillon Kriek
Sour cherries steeped in lambic, about 200 grams to every liter, at the Brussels brewery that doubles as the city's Gueuze Museum. The result is tart, dry and fiercely fruity, nothing like the sugary cherry beers on supermarket shelves. Cantillon is harder to track down than the other bottles here, so buy one when a specialty store has it in. If not, Oude Kriek Boon is an easier-to-find traditional kriek and a fair stand-in.
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