When you think of beer, Belgium springs to mind pretty quickly.

The history behind Belgian beer is really interesting. Breweries are generally associated with abbeys because the drinking water was too polluted for people to drink, but beer was safe due to the fermentation process so as part of their salaries workers would be provided with beer.

Obviously, the beers abbeys brewed were relatively low alcohol so the workers weren't constantly drunk, and quite light because they didn't want to waste time and energy (and therefore money!) roasting the malts necessary for darker beers. So therefore the original abbey beers were probably quite different from the high alcohol dark beers we associate as being Belgian today.

Nowadays we have access to lots of great quality authentic Belgian beers in Scotland, both on tap and in bottle. I'm going to do a mini-series on different types of Belgian beer.   

Belgian lager - Heverlee

Heverlee is a Belgian lager that has historical links with Belgium's largest abbey, the Abbey of the Order of Premontre based in the town of Heverlee, just outside of Leuven. Back in 1129 when the abbey was founded, there was a brewery that brewed beer for the monks working there. Unfortunately, the brewery closed down in 1550 but Heverlee is currently part of the abbey's massive restoration programme, which will include a brand new brewery.

The monks are heavily involved in the creation of Heverlee beer and they receive royalties from Heverlee sales to further fund the abbey. They have set up a project on the abbey grounds to develop a large vegetable patch with disabled people which was funded by Heverlee sales. If you get a chance, I highly recommend going to visit the abbey, it's absolutely beautiful!

The current Heverlee is strongly based on the old recipe the monks brewed back in the 12th century and contains a mixture of malt, maize and the renowned Saaz hop which is commonly used in pilsners to give a fruity aroma without the bitterness. It's a draft only beer and pours a lovely light golden colour, with nice carbonation. In Belgium, beer is generally enjoyed with a large head so I tried it with the standard 'two fingers' of head, which was frothy and bubbly. The beer itself was very drinkable, not too strong and had a sweet and fruity taste. As Belgian beers go it's pretty low alcohol at 4.8% ABV. If you see it at your local bar, you could try it the Belgian way with two fingers of head!

Belgian Pale Ale - Duvel

Duvel has a strong link with Scotland because it actually uses a Scottish yeast strain in its brewing process! It also has a rather unusual maturation process where it is originally stored in warm cellars for two weeks and then moved to cold cellars at seven degrees for a further six weeks. This is supposed to help give it a frothy, bubbly head so popular with the Belgian brewing style.

I was lucky enough to meet Sven Dekleermaeker, a very experienced brewer, now working for Duvel so I bombarded him with questions on what the best way to drink Duvel is. Duvel is a bottle conditioned ale so it has some yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Because of this, Sven recommended always storing it upright, and he said he preferred drinking it without the yeast. This caused some controversy and heated discussions around the table to which the result was that 'it's up to you.' So I recommend trying it with and without to see which you prefer. He also recommended storing Duvel in the fridge and drinking it at around 7 degrees if possible. If you can, try drinking Duvel from a proper Duvel glass. It has a special 'D' shape cut out the bottom which produces the most amazing whirlpool of bubbles!

Duvell pours golden in colour with an amazing, thick head and quite a lot of carbonation. It's very light and fruity and Sven told us the hops are only added for aroma rather than bitterness. You can taste malt and banana with a stronger finish since it's around 8% ABV. Obviously, drink responsibly but don't be put off by the high alcohol content since you wouldn't be able to tell it's so high. Duvel manages to balance a light, flavoursome taste without the smack of alcohol.

Belgian Amber Ale - Troubadour Magma

Magma is the most popular beer by Troubadour and favourite of master brewer Stefaan Soetemans. It's named Magma because of its orange colour and the smell is supposed to be like an erupting volcano. I can vouch for that claim! It smells absolutely delicious. It's very fruity with notes of peaches, mangoes and citrus due to the dry hopping. This balances perfectly with the sweet, caramel flavours you'd expect from a Belgian ale. You can tell the hops are added for aroma rather than the bitterness they provide for traditional style IPAs as it's just the right amount to balance out the sweetness. A warning though, aside from the Speciale, Troubadour beers tend to be pretty strong and this one is no exception at a rather hefty 9% ABV!