Belgian Ale

Classic Beer Style Series #6

by Pierre Rajotte

Pierre Rajotte traveled the globe in search of the ultimate brew and found that Belgian ale is the pinnacle of artistic brewing complexity.

Genres: Beer, Brewing

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1992

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat dated in that the number of Belgian beers and brewing supplies available in the U.S. has proliferated beyond what the author could have imagined at the time this was published. Many domestic brewers have had great success in adopting and adapting nearly every Belgian style imaginable as well. That said, this is well worth reading as it contains a wealth of information about the history of various Belgian styles (some of which are basically extinct), their methods of production, and the traditions/philosophies involved. While on a scale well beyond the majority of home-brewers, the section where the author describes the production of a new beer (from recipe creation all the way through to bottle conditioning) at his home in collaboration with the brewer from Chouffe is tremendously illuminating. The small recipes section is diverse, authentic, and creative and each recipe is laid out with all grain or extract/partial options.

[Christopher Murtagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy has a great prose style for someone writing brewing books, I would not be surprised if he wrote fiction or was an accomplished journalist.

Rajotte provides a good overview of the classic beers of Belgium. The book was clearly written before the craft beer movement, but I don't think that harms it much given the subject matter. This is about the magic of the traditional Abbey Ales, Trappist and just the general beers of the small brewers of Belgium. Filled with little tips and brewing philosophy. The concept to just brew with the water you've got struck a chord with me, (why ape the style of some other place?.. I always thought if Guinness can't to this day make a drinkable lager, how's a bit of gypsum and toothpaste going to make your IPA taste like it's from Burton on Trent. And why copy some other style anyway, much more fun to make your own.)

It's about making the most of time honoured basic methods but taken to the absolute limits of care and dedication. And embracing variety. Embracing balance and creativity. And bamboozling the drinker with a barrage of unusual adjuncts and unexpected flavours.

I loved this book, and the spirit of it.

There's a nice chapter which is a brew with a Belgian brew master, that is like hanging out in a brewery on the best of days.

There are other Belgian brewing books out there, one I can think of that I haven't read that is well recommended. Not sure if this is better than that, but this is well worth it. And there are recipes included too. How many? A few, more than you will get around to trying.

[Lucas Mol · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was written in 1992 and it shows. It contains a lot of information that was useful two decades ago but not so much any more. Of course, the author is not to blame for this - it is an old book and the world of homebrewing has changed at an incredible rate since it was written. My other complaint is that the book is just too small to cover such a broad range of beer. Although there are still some good snippets in here, I highly recommend the three books Farmhouse Ales, Brew Like a Monk, and Wild Beers which were released in 2004-2005, also by Brewers Publications. They split Belgian ales up into three separate books, all of which are much longer than this book!

[Adrian Alvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent little book that goes into a little more detail about brewing Belgian ales. The recipe and ingredient chapters were interesting, though short. All in all this was like reading a few good magazine articles about Belgian brewing techniques.

[Mitch Romig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously not comprehensive, but it covers quite a bit considering its size.