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Nicole Simeone
Just the Facts: Belgians
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Just the facts. An unbiased dive into the Belgian style beer world.
Anyone who’s been on a brewery tour can tell you there are four key ingredients used in all beers:
- Water
- Yeast
- Hops
- Grains
The combination of those core items is what makes beer so diverse. In the case of our subject today, variety is definitely their spice of life.
The label of Belgian, or Belgian style, doesn’t refer to one specific brew. We are going to talk about a range of beers that fall under the Belgian umbrella. And it doesn’t apply to a location where the beer is brewed either. Well, sort of. We’ll get to that. I mean to say that a Belgian beer doesn’t necessarily have to be brewed in Belgium to get the designation.
Before I start deep diving, though, there are some housekeeping items I want to get to first. Sours are often placed underneath the Belgian umbrella.
Here at Nerd Girls Are Cool, we are treating Sours and Belgians as two separate entities. Why, you ask? Because we said so. Perhaps an unsatisfactory answer, but an answer none the less.
Second, Belgians get associated with high alcohol percentages and can be daunting to some drinkers. While some knock the ABVs out of the park, that is not indicative of the entire genre. Plenty achieves their flavor end games without going overboard and making you tiddlier than a game of Tiddlywinks.
And lastly, Belgians are generally ale rather than lagers. Meaning they are made with top-fermenting strains of yeast. These are yeasts that work in the higher temperatures, somewhere between 55 and 85°F. Lagers use bottom-fermenting yeast, which activates at cooler temperatures and takes more time to ferment. This is hardly a defining characteristic of the subcategory. Ales are the predominant product in the beer industry. But, it’s worth noting all the same.
Now to start in earnest, what the f is a Belgian style beer?
The answer to that question is a bit fluid. Pun intended.
Beer has been a big deal for a long, long time. And just like now, people had a distinct vision of what beer should be. Especially, those Renaissance Germans. Some of you may have heard of the Reinheitsgebot. Thank god this is a blog and not a podcast because I cannot pronounce that word. If you haven’t heard of that word there, you might have heard about the beer purity law, and that’s the same thing. This was an order to dictate the exact ingredients that could be used in the brewing process and control what products were “pure German beer.”
The 1516 version of the order is the most popularly referenced, but they had been working on it long before 1516. Brewers in Germany, if they wanted their beer to be given the stamp of approval, were restricted to using water, barley, and hops. Rye and wheat were not included in the edict to protect bread pricing. And yes, that wasn’t me typoing, yeast was not added on the list of pure ingredients. Yeast wasn’t a known thing yet, which means beer was basically magic.
Anyway, if we turn our attention over in the region where modern-day Belgium is situated, I want you to imagine a huge castle with sentries posted on the parapets. One of them yells very loudly in the direction of Germany, “We fart in your general direction.” I also imagine insults about smelling of elderberries and such were hurled. My imagination is running away with this article.
Needless to say, the idea of pure beer wasn’t a priority in the Belgian neck of the woods. They took no stock in keeping with adding only water, hops, and malt. Often, they even included sugars, peels, and other additives into their recipes. This hodgepodge attitude toward beer put the region on the path that led to the style we know today. It’s also why it’s hard to nail down specific qualifiers and characteristic traits.
This is where I start speaking in general terms. Exceptions to the rule will abound.
There is a religious aspect associated with Belgian beers. During the heyday of religious institutions, monks and nuns were mostly responsible for the production of beer as a safer beverage alternative. Today, there are two terms thrown into the Belgian box of words, Trappist and Abbey. Often you will hear these used to reference the style of the beer at hand. And that would be wholly incorrect. These are not beer styles; instead, they are a designation for the organization that produces beers.
To be allowed to use the Trappist designation, the following criteria must be met:
- Be brewed in a Cistercian monastery
- Monks/Nuns must be involved in the production
- The proceeds must go to the upkeep of said monastery or benefit charities
- The brewery must not be the primary occupation of the monastery
There are only fourteen locations in the world officially allowed to use this designation, which is why you don’t see it very often. Most are in Europe; however, the US does boast one location with the name. The beer produced at Spencer Brewery in Spencer, Massachusetts, is brewed by the monks from St. Joseph’s Abbey.
In researching for this article, I have learned that Spencer’s has branched out from its cornerstone offerings, all of which are examples of traditional Belgian style beers. This includes two IPAs. So, yes, there is now a Trappist IPA.
An IPA is most certainly not a style associated with the Belgian umbrella in a classic sense. Certainly, Belgian style IPAs are a thing, just a modern hybrid of two different styles. For the context of the use of the term Trappist, having the moniker attached to an IPA highlights the fact it is not a reference to style. It’s a badge of honor for jumping through hoops.
There are far fewer hoops involved in getting the Abbey designation. For a brewery to be able to call their product Abbey, the organization will need one or more of the following criteria:
- Be brewed in a non-Trappist monastery
- Produced by a commercial brewery in conjunction with/or by agreement with a monastery
- Abbey like branding
A much lower bar to hit, wouldn’t you say? The relative ease in getting the designation makes it far more common to see on the shelves, thus the term Abbey ale being tossed around as if it were a style to be brewed. Although, the products produced from Abbey organizations are similar to those put out by Trappist breweries.
But, before I get to some of the actual brews found under the umbrella, I should probably mention the styles preoccupation with glassware.
This small collection of mine barely scratched the surface. Most of these are reasonably common and recognizable. The one with its own wooden stand, though probably isn’t. This glass is intended to be used for one beer. Yup. One. Pauwel Kwak by Brouwerij Bosteels is the beverage meant for this glass. I’ve not seen them in the States other than in the Total Wine I purchased the gift box set of the drink and the glass in. In Europe, or at least France, bars have these babies on hand for serving when they have Kwak. Dedication right there.
The other glass i want to spend a minute on is that tulip glass. Ubiquitous, to say the least, at bars and breweries these days, but for those juicy IPAs. The Belgian beers were there first. The benefits of the design include trapping aromas for the drinker to breathe in and encouraging voluminous heads. The Tresemme of glasses, if you will.
Why is this important? Some would say that the glass you drink out of doesn’t matter. Beer is beer. Drink up. But, since the progenitors of the style felt it mattered, we’re going to operate with that in mind. The aroma is a significant element when talking about Belgian style beer. So, when you’ve got it, flaunt it.
When reading beer descriptions, you’ll find a lot of talk about the nose or aroma. With the IPA culture currently going strong, the smells coming off a beer are attributed to the hops in the beverage. But, we won’t be talking about hops that way today. For most, if not all, Belgian style beers, the hops used in the process are not aromatic hops. The versatile pellets are relegated to the back seat of the recipe. Bittering hops are selected. Their purpose is to balance out the beer to keep the liquid from being sickly sweet tea water.
The scents and notes you get when smelling Belgian beer comes from two sources, esters, and volatile phenols. They are compounds created during the fermentation process. When organic acids and budding alcohol mingle in the wort, esters are born. The resulting aromas can range from banana to apples to honey. Volatile phenols are not always welcome in the end product, but in this style, they are. These are responsible for the clove or peppery and sometimes smokey aromas typical to the style.
Moving down into what you’ll find in those glasses, let’s circle back around to those monasteries and what they typically produce. Spencer Brewing, for example, has three core beers. Two of those being high ABV beverages. This is not an uncommon find among the monastic output, which is probably what gave rise to the myth we talked about earlier. Brewing higher alcohol content beers require more malt to be included in the recipe. Grains were generally the most expensive ingredient in beer during the Catholic monastery heyday, increasing the price point at which they would be able to sell their products.
Dubbels, Tripels, and Quadrupels are three of the most identifiable beers found underneath the Belgian umbrella, and they are closely associated with the Trappist/Abbey label. No one is exactly sure where these names came from. You can probably guess at their translations from French, so I will skip over that. Theories run rampant in regards to the exact origin. Today, their names have taken on an indicator of sorts as to their ABV range, with Dubbel being the lowest of the three and Quadrupel being the highest.
Dubbels
Generally, amber to dark brown in color and can be a bit hazy. Malt is going to play a dominant role in the flavor and aroma, cocoa, raisin/prune, or other dark fruit flavors being very typical. Caramel can also join in the fun if candi sugars are used during the brewing process. The bitterness from the hops is typically undetectable in Dubbels as they are taking the edge off of the sweetness of the other ingredients.
Tripels
These beers appear bright yellow to a golden color. Candi sugar is often used in these beers as well, although the result here is a light body and kicks up the aromas and flavors. Typically, the clove-like spice from the phenols and fruity esters dominate the taste. Definitely, beers to sip on given the 8-12% swing on their ABVs.
Quadrupels
For Quads, the color range is anywhere from deep red all the way to a reddy brown. The malts, again, playing a substantial role in the end result. The palette is rich and malty with spicy notes and sweetness following along the sip. The big sister of the bunch, these come in anywhere between 9-14%.
Another common beer found under the Belgian and Trappist/Abbey labels is the Strong Ale, which is not exclusive to either. You’ll find English and American versions of this beer with regularity right alongside the Belgian style version. Typically, strong ales are a more intense version of the Dubbel in terms of aromas, flavors, and, yes, alcohol.
How on earth did those monks stay upright, let alone get anything done if they were drinking 14% beers?
They didn’t drink those beers. Ok, they probably did but on special occasions. The beer they put on their own tables for consumption was very different than what they put out for sale. Not surprisingly, they are often referred to as table beers. Today, people like to use “crushable” to describe a beer you can spend all day drinking. Table beers are most certainly that at 1-3% ABV. The appearance of these beers ranges from light to dark brown. Again, the malts being a significant contributor to the palette with hops being relegated to the position of wingman.
But wait! Monks didn’t have a monopoly on the evolution of the Belgian style. Given the water situation for beer’s European history, farmers would often brew their own beer for inhouse consumption. Homebrewing isn’t a new thing, after all. Saisons and Bière de Gardes were born out of this process. Both names are French, saison meaning season and bière de garde, meaning beer of keeping. These monikers are indicative of when the products were taken out for drinking. These were brewed, kegged, and stored in cellars until the summer months. Although given different names, the two beer styles are similar in nature. Their appearance ranges from a pale to almost amber coloring, and both are malt forward with fruity and spicy noses and palettes.
And that, my friends, is where I am going to leave you for now. Remember, this is hardly a comprehensive list. Rather a primer for what is to come.
CJ has been itching to get to Belgians since before the Great Sour Debate. To say she has strong feelings about these beverages would be an understatement. So, we will be taking to the page again next week to throw down our thoughts on this genre of beer.
Cheers, Nerd Girls!
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