Thanks for linking to your blog, Andy, I get a lot out of it (when I remember to look at it).
I have a love/hate relationship with many Belgian styles, but you may have talked me into giving this (or something similar) a try. Enjoy!
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Thanks! I’m similar on love/hate - the big shift for me was doing smaller batches. I don’t want or need 5 gallons of a triple – 2.5 gallons, I can manage.
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I rarely bottle but a big Belgian beer like that is perfect for it and I’ll make the exception. They condition well and the darker beers (and sours) will age for years.
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I am obviously the odd man out. I make large batches (6 gal. minimum), keg it, and don’t age.
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I always liked the idea of a honey lemon flavored beer. So this is my American pale ale i call Suspect 3. It is my favorite beer to brew. It is pilsner matl and honey malt , with motieka and lemon drop hops. This one i can drink all year.
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It is great fresh, agree with that. But for a dark belgian I don’t mind the aging, and I don’t usually like to take up my limited tap space with a 10% beer.
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I take my cues from what the Belgians do. Most beers are not aged. Plus, my incredible lack of patience!
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Funny how visiting beers at the source will do that. It happens to me in Germany.
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that BDSA recipe you posted in another thread sounded great.
re: “belgian beers”, after making a flawed but really interesting beer a few years ago that was a dark strong belgian but with a good amount of mosaic and el dorado hops and a not high IBU, the next project i want to do is trying a bunch of american hops for accenting dark belgian beers.
maybe im unaware of people or breweries doing this, please let me know. but that beer i made was flawed from massive underattenuation due to a bad ferment, but the mix of ripe fruity hops and dark candisyrup plus WLP500 yeast profile was memorable as extremely fruity and flavourful.
I want to do something like that again and try a bunch of different hops with it. please note again i want it ahem juicy/sweet and not bitter like an IPA
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I have advocated for years that you should not be a certified judge if you have not had the major beer styles in the country of origin.
Not sorry, it may seem elitist but how the h3ll can you judge a Pilsner if you have never been to the Czech Republic and have tried the vast varieties of Pilsners they brew. Sort of like saying you know all about IPA’s because you had a bottled Bells once
My personal observation is that Belgian beers don’t have the level of esters that many homebrewers try to get. My favorites are much heavier on phenols than esters.
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Because you’re judging homebrew pilsner
US availability for authentic versions of these styles hasn’t been bad for at least 20 years unless you live under a rock. If you care enough to be a beer judge, you know how to seek out fresh bottles, find beer bars with high turnover and clean lines that import kegs and firkins and have hand pumps, and even know which US breweries do the styles justice. I’ve been to a real ale festival with over 100 casks, and from what I hear, that’s even hard to find in England these days.
For niche styles, you might have to trust the guidelines. What’s a kviek taste like in Norway? No idea, but honestly I think it’s better to spread the word and get people interested in a new style instead of telling people “You should just go to Norway before you try to make this”.
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That’s ridiculous! How many judges would there be if that idea took hold?
So long as judges train their palate on some examples of the styles and develop a vocabulary to describe what they perceive, they can contribute to competitions. After all, at the end of the day a competition will separate the best beers from the category entries and hopefully provide some useful feedback to brewers.
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i think there is a danger to associating a style being only valid or “best” if from a particular place. its a trap thats easy to get sucked into, when the mind envisions everything that goes along with a particular beer style ie. glassware, pub/setting, language, music, smells and everything else. its an illusion and irrelevant regarding the beer.
there are even particular examples that discount this kind of “authenticity” mindset ie. unibroue making belgian styles in north america (though perhaps part of the credit it gets vs. say a US english language brewery making belgians is the fact that it is seen as more “authentically” “french” and so european etc.
guinness was essentially a ripoff of british stout porters that were popular, meaning guinness is of course an irish beer. but originally may have leaned on marketing it at least for export as a british style stout porter.
there are a LOT of just plain bad english ales brewed over there, there are a lot of really tight, dialed in english style or adjacent ales made in north america. its not a super hard style to do really well tbh and the reality is the various specs on bitters/golden ales etc can vary greatly.
I should clarify why I believe one should travel and taste beers in their country of origin. It’s not to taste say PU in the Czech Republic, Guinness in Ireland, Fullers in England. It’s about the local/regional beers you cannot find elsewhere that are to style but may enhance qualities not found in the major brands
Imagine judging an American Pale Ale when all you had was an imported SNPA. I am not a beer judge nor would I try to be one because I know I am not familiar with the vast beer styles out there and would do severe disservice judging those beers I am not familiar with. I think I can hold my own judging Pale Ales Stouts Porters etc and continental lagers but that is where my experience and expertise ends.
I have had wonderful interpretations of “American Beers” overseas also had beers that are not worth a damn. Likewise I had wonderful continental lagers etc here in the US. Just so happens those that stand out in my mind were and are brewed by European immigrants…imagine that.
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From what I saw overseas, they don’t have access to the American imports (or even the American hops) like we have access to beer globally. And while my trip to Belgium was absolutely incredible, there was some halo effect. The behind the scenes private tours had some things I hadn’t seen as well as some great information on how they brew, but the beers at bars were by and large the same styles I’ve had with the same serving as a good beer bar in the US (i.e. Max’s).
I’ve been drinking my long awaited Rye Imperial Stout. I brewed this in 2022 to in anticipation of my future retirement. It was brewed spur of the moment, so it’s sort of a “kitchen sink” beer, but it is smooth and full bodied. I retired on January 5th, so I am now able to enjoy it.
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Congratulations, on a great beer and on your retirement!
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