Which Belgian ale should I drink first?

Hahah you need to read the eatig while drunk thread if you haven't already.

steampunk beer.

It's all in the glass design. As admrl almost discovered to his detriment.

Re: poll - Do you want to keep the best for last?

Well, maybe. I want to have the best overall experience, which might entail drinking the highest rated beer in the middle of the session.

Gee, there really is nothing that will suck all the joy out of something like trying to quantify it.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Gulden Draak is one of my favorite Belgians, but the only other one of these I've had is the Piraat, and I don't remember how it ranked. Maybe go from lowest alcohol to highest? I'd save the GD for last.

Yeah I had to drink Kwak because "max drunk kwak" or some shit...

;)

I've only had Gulden Draak and Piraat, but I would favor the former out of those two, I think. We have a bar here that has at least a few Belgians on tap at all times and a bunch in bottles, and all I've really learned is that drinking a lot of the stuff is a good way to feel woozy.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Sorry for not liveblarging. BTW I don't know much about beers, for the first 8 years after I turned 21 I think I had about 4-5 beers a year (not much of a drinker). It is only in the last year that I have started to throw back the brewskis after work or whatever. My favorite beer so far is a dunkelweiss (forget the brand) that I had in Germany last November, but that had a bit of a halo effect since it was during a vacation after a really long year. (feel free to lol at me going on hols in Germany in November)

Results so far:
Bruegel - Kinda bland, not bad but didn't seem worth the bother to import it
Gulden Draak - Really strong alcohol taste, like someone put a shot of JD in the beer. Would not get again.
Augustijn - I forget. I don't think it was that great though.
Bornem Triple - Not too bad, but not exactly nectar of the gods or anything.

DRINKING RIGHT NOW:
Piraat
Bit of a light amber color, a bit yellow. Has the same yeasty flavor that all of these beers have. Despite a deep fondness for leavened bread, I can't really say that I like these yeasty beers. I also prefer a bit more carbonation than this beer has. Kind of a smooth bittersweetness to the beer overall, without the overpowering alcohol of Gulden Draak. Probably my favorite so far of all these, I would possibly get it again.

A lot of Belgian beers just turn my stomach. I love other beer, btw.

mmmmmDuchesse = desert island territory, for me. i love that sweet&sour-y, lactic, gastrique thing it brings

St Bernardus Abt 12 is my fukkin jam.

ever had a rochefort? that's where you go next iirc. that or orval

or a delirium

chimay

i find chimay quite dull but you should probably not listen to me, i'm ruined by lambics

i just noted its absence in this thread as it is good and widely available. im not remotely a maven of belgian beers.

bought a big'un of Gulden Draak for the bottle alone, it was damn good

made a rabbit stew with westmalle recently - the beer was very nice as accompaniment too.

rochefort 10 is all-time. orval is great but not similar at all

I tried rochefort 6 and was surprisingly disappointed as everyone raves about them

I know they get progressively stronger so I still have my hopes up for 8 and 10

that is true, was just throwing it in xp

rochefort 8 is very good but yeah 10 is mindblowing

I'm an Achouffe stan, myself, when it comes to these beers.

Delerium is also my shit

st bernardus is really great

I'm at the local pub savouring the rochefort 8 and it is pretty amazing

Having a pint on the day mum passed three years ago today

I trace our habitual paths and cannot get used to her absence

I'm sure i will never though

so out of the rocheforts, number 8, the special, is definitely my absolute favourite so far

i was also p determined to find the best chimay, and after tasting all four, the tripel/blanche/white/cinq cents is the winner

in terms of general belgian ales, i had a piraat triple hop dry hopped, which i couldn't find info for on the web, and was good but taste-wise it had no trace of hops, so i suspect the bar i had it at had it sitting around far too long. potentially this could be a good one too though

have you gotten to try the Houblon Chouffe?

No but it sounds like my kind of beer

I'll keep an eye out for it but ratebeer says it's not available in los angeles

Actually untappd just found a place that sells it

Will go grab one tomorrow

Then back to tasting all trappist beers

NB Gulden Draak is a barleywine style, so you're supposed to sip it from a glass a bit like a champagne or something. I absolutely love it, so many flavours it's like eating a meal.

Some Tripels are like that too but they're too good to sip

I also recommend Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale if you like the sour type. It's not aggressively sour like Cuvee de Jacobins.

i had a piraat triple hop dry hopped, which i couldn't find info for on the web

About 13,200 results (0.47 seconds)

NB Gulden Draak is a barleywine style

lol no

I'll keep an eye out for it but ratebeer says it's not available in los angeles

check out Whole Foods or any beer store

Maybe a mod should rename this thread Which Beer Googler should I FP at will?

Albert

Did you bother clicking through those links that google sent you to? They provide very little info and most results are only for the triple hop not the triple hop dry hopped, which isn't even on their official website you dipshit

Also come to los angeles. There's a beer in a back alley with your name on it

Aww, you missed me tho:
Beer in the new era

i didn't want to meet you then

now i do

People, people, beer should be bringing us together, not tearing us apart!

NB Gulden Draak is a barleywine style

lol no

anyone who has a choice of belgian beers and chooses chimay is a disgusting savage fyi

In Beijing the choices were Hoegaarden and Chimay Blue.

lol, you have found the exception

Two bottles in on Chimay Bleue - first time having it - and am floating :)))

oiiiiii that’s the stuff :-)

Jelly.

anyone who has a choice of belgian beers and chooses chimay is a disgusting savage fyi

― imago, Tuesday, 2 May 2017 11:20 (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

literally belgian beer 101. belgian coors. belgian budweiser

powerful snob energy so sorry

Except the 'Belgian' part cancels out the Coors and Budweiser, sorry.

wouldn't Jupiler be the Belgian Coors?

have no recollection of drinking Chimary tbh. Rochefort 10 for me thanks

Aye, that's a pretty naive take. Stella/Jupiler are for sure the prominent macro lagers in BE.

(xp: to imago)

St Bernardus Abt 12 thank u

I'll take Stella & Jupiler over Coors & Budweiser, hands down. Mentioning Chimay in the same breath is performative af.

obviously chimay isn't literally a mass-market lager but cmon it is as basic as 'proper' belgian ale gets

stella and jupiler literally do not figure in my ideation of anything involving belgium and beer

That's true, but it's proof positive that basic can be good not bad when done right.

xp

that sweet massaman gai posting to the what are you listening to thread energy

lol

just been drinking an ostbuigrinzvlet 283 special reduction, only 3 bottles brewed

Chimay is pretty basic Belgian beer, sure, but Chimay Blue is still, well not top-tier, but second-tier anyway.

captaine jay vee's transcendent experience has not been ruined by my dreadful messageboard grousing, we may be assured

Tbc my 'jelly' was less 'omg I wish I could get my hands on that priceless ambrosia' and more 'ten Dry January days to go... a Chimay would really hit the spot right now'. 'Second-tier' is correct.

i haven't had a proper belgian beer in months. months! i'd like to pretend a Duvel will do but really fuck it I just want Cantillon

No, this cheap swill has not been ruined for me, merci bien. It’s doin’ the damn thing until my fave local Belgian beer bar re-opens in the (near?) future, alcohol gods willing.

And, yeah, I hit the St Bernardus when I’m there :)

that is the one brew that people can successfully bribe me to do things with