Belgian Beer Guide: Every Style, History & 10 to Try
Belgium is a small country — roughly the size of Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote combined — but its beer culture is the richest, deepest and most diverse on the planet. While Germany has the Reinheitsgebot (a purity law limiting ingredients), Belgium never had rules. That creative chaos produced dozens of styles that don't exist anywhere else.
If you want to really understand beer, you have to go through Belgium. And if you can't fly to Bruges this weekend, Rock N Hopz stocks 61 Belgian references waiting for you at La Tejita.
The great styles of Belgian beer
Witbier — Belgian wheat beer
Light, refreshing, hazy, with orange peel and coriander. Hoegaarden is the best-known example, but craft versions go way beyond it. It's the perfect beer for a Canarian summer: smooth, lightly spiced, with a moderate ABV (4.5-5.5%).
Profile: Smooth, citrusy, spiced. ABV: 4.5-5.5%. For fans of light beers.
Blonde Ale / Golden Ale
The gateway into Belgian beer. Golden, fruity, with that unmistakable Belgian character that comes from special yeast strains. Easy to drink but with more complexity than any industrial lager. Duvel is the classic example — looks simple but hides 8.5% alcohol.
Profile: Golden, fruity, deceptively strong. ABV: 6-8%. Watch out for the second one.
Dubbel — The dark one with character
A monastic style, dark as burnt caramel, with flavors of nuts, raisins, figs and toffee. It's the coziest Belgian beer — like a malty hug. The Trappist versions (Westmalle Dubbel, Chimay Rouge) are the absolute benchmarks.
Profile: Dark, sweet, malty, spiced. ABV: 6-7.5%. For quiet nights.
Tripel — The strong blonde
Don't be fooled by its golden color and innocent look. Tripel is a bomb of complexity disguised as a friendly beer. Notes of honey, bread, tropical fruit, white pepper and an alcohol warmth that never burns. Tripel Karmeliet is possibly the most perfect Belgian beer ever brewed.
Profile: Golden, strong, complex, spiced. ABV: 8-9.5%. Drink with respect.
Quadrupel — The most intense
If Tripel is strong, Quadrupel is nuclear. Dark, dense, with flavors of plums, chocolate, dark caramel and an ABV that hovers around 10-12%. It's a beer to sip slowly, like a good whisky. Westvleteren 12 — considered by many the best beer in the world — is a Quad.
Profile: Dark, intense, complex. ABV: 10-12%. One glass per session is enough.
Saison — The farmhouse beer
Born as a drink for farmhands in Wallonia (the French-speaking part of Belgium), Saison is dry, spiced, with lively carbonation and a finish that begs for another sip. It's the Belgian beer that pairs best with food — its dryness cleans the palate between bites.
Profile: Dry, effervescent, spiced, rustic. ABV: 5-8%. Perfect with food.
Lambic — Wild fermentation
This is where Belgium gets truly unique. Lambics ferment spontaneously — the wort is left exposed to open air and wild yeasts do their magic. The result is sour, complex, fruity and unlike any other beer in the world.
Gueuze is a blend of young and old lambics. Kriek is lambic with cherries. Framboise with raspberries. And versions from producers like Lindemans, 3 Fonteinen or Cantillon are masterpieces of fermentation.
Profile: Sour, complex, fruity. ABV: 5-7%. For adventurous palates.
Trappist beer
It's not a style but a designation: a beer can only be called "Trappist" if it's brewed inside a Trappist monastery, under the monks' supervision, with profits going to social causes. Only 14 Trappist breweries exist in the world — 6 in Belgium (Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren and Achel), and the rest spread across the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Spain and the USA.
Each one has its own personality. Orval is hoppy and dry. Rochefort 10 is dark and powerful. Chimay Bleue is fruity and elegant. If you see a Trappist on the menu, order it.
The 10 Belgian beers you have to try
- Tripel Karmeliet — The perfect tripel. Three grains (barley, wheat, oats), absolute balance
- La Chouffe — Spiced blonde ale, Belgium's most famous gnome
- Chimay Bleue / Grande Réserve — Dark Trappist, fruity, elegant
- Delirium Tremens — Strong golden ale, the pink elephant everyone recognizes
- Westmalle Tripel — The original tripel, the one that defined the style
- Orval — A one-of-a-kind Trappist: hoppy, dry, with brett (wild yeast)
- Rochefort 10 — Dark quadrupel, complex, one of the best in the world
- Lindemans Kriek — Lambic with cherries, the perfect entry into sour beer
- Saison Dupont — The world's reference saison
- Duvel — The blonde that looks innocent but packs 8.5%
Belgian beer in Tenerife
Finding good Belgian beer outside Belgium isn't easy. Most bars in the Canary Islands have Leffe and Hoegaarden at best — the most commercial versions, brewed by AB InBev (the world's biggest brewing multinational).
At Rock N Hopz we carry 61 Belgian references: Trappists, lambics, saisons, dubbels, tripels, quads, witbiers and blonde ales. Probably the biggest selection of Belgian beer in the Canary Islands.
Where to start? Order a Tripel Karmeliet if you want something elegant. A La Chouffe if you want something fun. Or a Lindemans Kriek if you want something completely different from anything you've tried before.
