Belgian Beers

I don’t know a ton about beer but I do know that one of my favorite hobbies is seeking out beers that I have never heard of and giving them a try. Sometimes I taste something that doesn’t sit well, but have never disliked a beer to the point of not finishing the bottle or pint. I try to remain aware of regions, breweries, and terminology but prefer to spend more time finding varieties I have not yet tried and giving them a shot.

One consistently true fact of trying different beers is that Belgian beers truly are a cut above the rest. I don’t know that I have ever tried a Belgian beer that I wouldn’t place in my top 20% of beers I enjoy most.

That said, here are a list of some Belgian brews that I enjoy enormously and that are easy to find in the US. In Atlanta all of these can be found at liquor stores and even at the grocery stores in the city.

• Chimay - all varieties
• Gulden Draak (favorite on this list, not in grocery stores but can find it at liquor stores)
• Hoegaarden
• Leffe Blonde
• Stella Artois
• Three Philosophers (technically brewed in the US but is really fantastic)

Costco sometimes sells a Belgian beer 18 pack with Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde, and Stella. Check out this site for more information about specific breweries and styles. I am especially fond of the Abbey / Trappist ales both for the taste and for the coolness of the history behind them. Here is the brewery that produces Three Philosophers.

I once worked very briefly (couple dozen hours) on the website 80beers.com. Though it isn’t perfect, it does have some pretty extensive beer listings and might be worth browsing through. It would have been a neat site to help with for a more substantial period of time but my full-time job really started to heat up and I ended all existing contract work as quickly as my contracts permitted. The only work I was really able to do was development of an administration panel.

EDIT: I made my first trip to The Brick Store Pub last week. If you live in the Atlanta area you owe it to yourself to visit this fantastic place. Their Belgian beer list will put any other establishment to shame and they serve everything correctly.