The Beer Guy: Get the Belgian Beat

by Lew Bryson

American craft brewers make a lot of different beers. They'll try almost anything, it seems. But there's a country where the brewers have been doing that for centuries, a country where the weird and wonderful beers of yesteryear never died out, a country where brewers don't say "my beer is in such-and-such a style," they say "this is MY beer, it's good, drink it!" It's Belgium, the "Malt Disneyland" of Europe, and there are some very good reasons why you should learn more about Belgian beers, and about the beers from American brewers who have captured that spirit.

The first reason is easy: your customers already love them.

Philadelphia is the country's biggest market for Belgian beers. Other cities are just discovering them. Next reason: Belgians look at beer as wine to go with their meal. These beers pair magically with food, and the big-bottle format of many of them reinforces that.

Finally, a great reason: every bottle is an up-sell. You're happy with a better bottom line, your customers are happy with a great beer for less than a bottle of so-so wine.

Start with two classics: Chimay Red and Duvel. Chimay Red was the beer that old pros, like me, cut our beer appreciation teeth on in the 1980s: a big bottle with a cork, dark and rich, powerful and chocolatey. This was a beer that turned peoples' heads. When we found out it was brewed by monks...we were hooked.

Duvel, from the Moortgat Brewery, was another completely different beer experience. Duvel looked like a regular

American beer, only more so: it was a beautiful gold color, and had a huge white head that would billow right out of the glass if you weren't careful. But the taste was amazing: spicy, sweet and bitter at the same time, and deceptively easy to drink at 8.5%. We soon learned why it was named "Devil"!

These two beers probably introduced more Americans to Belgian beers than any others, and helped develop a host of American brewers who wanted nothing more than to brew beers with that same kind of pizzazz and exuberance. Locally, Sly Fox is brewing up Belgian types like Saison Vos, a crisp, spicy beer that can't wait to meet some cheese or steamed mussels. Legacy brings their Midnight Wit, a creamy, lively witbier ("white beer," a wheat beer made with spices and orange peel) that's one of the finest refreshers around.

Speaking of witbiers, you might want to try Allagash White from Maine, a beer considered to be the equal of the Belgians' own witbiers.

Allagash brews with a Belgian disregard for rules, making beers the way they want, the beers they like. They are quietly brewing some of the most adventurous beers in America. Port Brewing, on the other side of the country in California, is also brewing

some very adventurous beers in a Belgian vein. Brewer Tomme Arthur is a celebrity in brewing circles, and his Lost Abbey beers represent a fusion of Belgian tradition and American innovation.

If you're moving in the craft beer direction – or are already there – you can’t miss the Belgian beat. You see it in the new wave of sour beers – intentionally sour! – in the "double, triple, quadruple" big beer styles, you can even see it in Blue Moon Belgian White. A lot of Belgian-type beers are very approachable for people who are looking for an interesting trade-up from their everyday beer, but just don't care for a super-bitter IPA. You may even get the people who tell you, "I don’t really like beer." Try them on a Saison Vos or a big bottle of Duvel, and listen as they change their tune, and start grooving on the Belgian beat.

"Every bottle is an up-sell. You're happy with a better bottom line, your customers are happy with a great beer for less than a bottle of so-so wine."