Beer Style Guide: Get to Know Belgian IPA with Em Sauter
The Belgian IPA is a beer style that actually has two versions and we will go into the differences in this column. A Belgian IPA in Belgium is not the same as a Belgian IPA here in America.
With the popularity of American IPA, the specialty IPA subgenre of IPA became more and more popular in the early 2000’s as breweries used the popularity of the style to explore other avenues within the IPA framework. This allowed for huge growth in this sector of brewing and spawned many styles. This evolution is still happening now and it’s very exciting.
The American IPA variant of the Belgian IPA stemmed from substituting Belgian yeasts in their American IPA recipes thus adding a phenolic and fruity dryness to these beers. This is a delicate dance as clashing in these beers can occur pretty frequently so when a brewer gets this balance correctly, I count that as a triumph otherwise it’s just messy. This style became popular during the mid 2000’s to around 2014 and has since almost disappeared.
How is Belgian Style IPA Made
American style Belgian IPAs will be brewed with American pale malts, American or South Hemisphere hop varieties and Belgian ale yeast. Flavors of the Belgian IPA are very hop driven with flavors of citrus, pine, and tropical fruit with just the unpinning of a Belgian yeast strain with notes of clove and ripe pear.
The Belgians took this style and added more hops to their strong pale ales that were already very Belgian in character (clove, fruit, very dry). Belgians are using hops like Styrian Goldings from Slovenia and British hops so the hoppiness isn’t pine and grapefruit like American IPAs but more dried hay and floral. Belgian versions tend to be stronger in ABV than American versions and brewed with European pale malt as well as sugar to add an extra layer of dryness to the beers and help raise ABV. I prefer this version of Belgian IPA because it is more balanced and the yeast strain is more prevalent in its flavor profile than in American versions.
Tasting Notes
Belgian IPAs have a lot going on and they tend to be higher ABV so putting them with food can pose a challenge as I find phenols can clash with many elements of foods. If you are working with American style Belgian IPAs, I would lean into desserts like fruit tarts or carrot cake, sweet items that can harmonize with the fruitiness and alcohol warmth. For Belgian style IPAs, think of what would work well with styles like Trappist tripels and go from there. Roast chicken or rustic French dishes like coq a vin would be great with this.
Beers to Try
La Chouffe Houblon Chouffe
My favorite Belgian IPA and a big beer at 9% ABV. This is my favorite La Chouffe beer as it is the most balanced Belgian IPA out there. Find fresh for an experience that is unreal.
Flying Dog Raging Bitch
One of the only larger breweries to make this style nowadays is Maryland based Flying Dog. Big American hop character plus a Belgian yeast strain, high ABV (8.3%) and big IBU (60+) make this a very nice example of American style Belgian IPA.
Your Local Brewery
Ah the cop out answer but this seems fitting since this style is not really seen nowadays so chances are the best place to find one of these styles in the wild is at a smaller brewery where they have more leeway into brewing different beer styles.