Items13The creator’s order
  1. 1Hoegaarden BreweryHoegaarden BreweryWitbier: 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…0
  2. 2De Koninck BreweryDe Koninck BrewerySpéciale 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…0
  3. 3Dupont BreweryDupont BrewerySaison: 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…0
  4. 4LeffeLeffeBelgian 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…0
  5. 5Duvel Moortgat BreweryDuvel Moortgat BreweryBelgian 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…0
  6. 6Westmalle BreweryWestmalle BreweryDubbel: 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…0
  7. 7Westmalle BreweryWestmalle BreweryTripel: 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…0
  8. 8Rochefort BreweryRochefort BreweryQuadrupel: 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…0
  9. 9Orval BreweryOrval BreweryTrappist 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…0
  10. 10Rodenbach BreweryRodenbach BreweryFlanders 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…0