From the Salmon

I was never much of a beer fan in college. It wasn’t until much later that I realized it was because what I was offered bore little resemblence to actual beer. Over the past few years, I’ve enjoyed exploring the wider world of fermented hops and malts. I’ve meant to write more about that exploration, but I keep forgetting to do so.

Earlier this evening, Brandon posted a comment about Belgian and belgian-style ales that I thought was worth breaking out and expanding on a bit, because, well, I can.

Chimay, Duvel, Achel, Orval, Westmalle, Rochefort, Westvleteren, Hoegaarden Wit (the mother of all white beers, and a beer that’s taken off in the states, recently).

If anyone, other than me, is interested in Belgian style beers, you can check out a few of these more widely available in the states that are brewed in a Belgian style:

Bell’s Oberon
Hennepin
Three Philosophers (actually a lambic/ale blend, I believe)
Hoegaarden (as I mentioned, becoming more available)
Celis White (now brewed in Austin, Texas...but it’s good anyway)
Blue Moon
La Fin du Mond (a french Canadian beer, one of the Unibroues)

Look for them in a specialty beer/wine store. There are lots more, these are just what I suggest because I’ve had them. Chimay, though a belgian trappist ale, is pretty widely available in the states. Though for the price, you should honestly be drinking Chimay out of a goblet in order to maximize your drinking experience. Also, if you’re going to be pouring Chimay, you should do so carefully as there’s a fine yeast layer that you’d be wisest to leave in the bottle.

I’m by no means a beer expert, and I’m still learning a lot. But what has drawn me to belgian ales is the variety and complexity. When I first started learning about beer, I thought that belgian was kind of a category, like pale ale or stout. But there’s actually a pretty broad range within belgian-style ales: ambers and goldens and wheats and others. Many (but not all) belgians are double- or triple- or even quadruple-fermented, each time with a different mixture of hops and malts. That gives you flavors that most other beers can only dream about.

Another thing I like about belgian ales is that many of them come in a corked 750ml bottle, which is kind of fun. And while it can be pretty hard to find an extraordinary 750ml of wine for 5 or 6 bucks, you can get some pretty amazing beer for that price.

Of those that Brandon listed, I’ve had Chimay and Duvel of the Trappist ales. And Hennepin, Three Philosophers, Hoegaarden, Blue Moon, and Fin du Monde of the belgian-style.

All the others I’ve tried have also been belgian-style, not true belgian (except I think I’ve tried something from Affligem. hmmm...):

• Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY (which makes Hennepin and Three Phil.) makes at least two others: Rare Vos and Ommegang. Both are worth tracking down.
• Unibroue, which, as Brandon said, is Canadian, makes a number of intriguing brews, but I’ve only tried Fin du Monde and Terrible (which is a lot better than it sounds).
• New Belgium in Colorado (makers of Fat Tire) have a few so-called belgian-style ales, but nothing that’s caught my fancy.
• North Coast here in northern California makes an ale called PranQster that is pretty tasty.
• Allagash in Portland, Maine, makes several ales. I’ve actually only tried their Quadrupel, which doesn’t seem to be listed on the web site. That was pretty fascinating, and definitely worth hunting for.

Anyhow, this is more a list than anything else. I don’t have time tonight to do more than that.

Feel free to suggest others. Brandon’s list certainly added a few that I’d like to track down. I’d be happy later to share more individual opinions in the ripples (although I might be slow to get back to you for a few days). I haven’t taken extensive tasting notes, so if I don’t remember, I might actually have to find me a little “refresher” before answering. And wouldn’t that be a shame?