Today we feature a beer which is a bit different, it is a Saison Ale, which is a term we have never heard of before at Hoppsy, but by the taste of this magnificent beer there are bound to be more stoires of Saisons in coming months if this is any indication- it is sensational. The beer in question is Saison Dupont which is produced by Brasserie Dupont which is located in Tourpes in Belgium. The brewery only dates back to the 1950′s and is found on a farm which dates back to 1759. The Dupont Beer is a 6/5% alcohol volume beer and like many great Belgium beers is fairly cloudy and light yellow in colour- not unlike Hoegaaden and has a fruity and spicy aroma and taste- and being bottle fermented is well carbonated, and there’s a cork like champagne to pop when opening the bottle. The beer is available outside Belgium and is a popular Belgium beer in the USA, and we found it here in Australia at one of our specialty beer stores. Look out for it when you are wanting something a bit special.

We don’t usually do stories on alcohol free beers but we accidently tried this one on a road trip through Belgium recently. To wash down our sausage and frites we grabbed an interesting looking Stella Artois bottle and proceeded to the cashier, only to find a few minutes later it was alcohol free- the horror, but no the beer was good. It had a similar taste to the Stella we know and love but it was a little sweeter and a perfect ‘beer’ for the driver, although after a couple the rest rooms stops got a bit closer together. The beer has 0.5% alcohol content and is most enjoyable served about 2 degrees. The beer is available throughout Europe and hasn’t reached many other markets but when it does it will make welcome change to the sickly sweet soft drinks the dedicated driver has to stick to, keep an eye out for the red and white label.

 The Bieres de Chimay or the Chimay Brewery was founded inside the Notre Dame de Scourmont abbey in Chimay in Belgium back in 1863 and are regarded as on of the finest brewers in the world. The Beer was brewed by the Trappist monks who also made some of Belgium’s finest cheeses including a beer cheese. Today the brewery is a far cry from the past and produces 120,000 hectoliters of beer every year. The Peres Trappistes or Chimay Blue is regarded as the finest of the beers, its fairly strong with a 9% alcohol content and is a dark ale. It is known as the ‘Grand Reserve of Beers’ The beer like good wines and of course Chimay cheese is best kept for a few years from brewing to develop the rich and smooth taste. It has a rich and fruity flavor which some say is quiet peppery. The beer is one of Belgium’s most popular and is a lovely beer to relax and enjoy like a good port and served in a wide open mouth glass which will allow all the aromas and flavors explode into a beautiful bouquet.

Leffe Blonde (pronounced Leff) is one of the world’s best blonde beers and being Belgium it’s not hard to see why. This beer dates back to about 1240 when the monks at a local monastery near Dinant started brewing. The beer has developed over the years into one of Belgium’s most popular beers and can be purchased pretty much around the world. The beer has a very smooth and somewhat fruity taste with hints of apple, cloves and even cherry. The beer is a little stronger than the average with a alcohol volume of 6.6% in most markets. With the blonde blonde beer market growing the Leffe will only become more popular. Try one next time you order a beer, you are sure to love it.

Have you been into one of those new style European style pubs which are popping up everywhere around the world and wondered why your beer is coming in a special glass? Well many of the European brand especially the Belgium brands have had glasses made to best suit the drinking of their beer. Like good wine beer needs to breath and different shape glasses make the beer breath differently and of course presentation is also an important factor. Belgium has some great pubs some sell upwards of 300 different varieties of beer and they have a different glass for each one. The perfect Belgium beer glass has beer filling 2/3 and a creamy fluffy head taking up the remaining third. They usually cut the top of the head with a knife then give the outside of the glass a bit of a rinse before serving… Delicious.

Well the Belgium’s know how to brew great beer and it’s hard to find one that tastes as good as Hoegaarden. This refeshing and somewhat citrus tasting beer is flavoured with spices including  coriander and curacao orange peel and then refermented. The Hoegaarden brewery is a relatively new brewery only opening in Hoegaarden just outside of Flanders in 1966 but using recipies with origns dating back centuries. A few years back there were plans to move the brewery to the owners InBev’s (who also own Stella) brewery in Jupille but after the employment considerations and the need to keep the taste and quality it was decided to keep the brewery operating at Hoegaarden.

Stella Artos or just Stella as it is affectionately known is Belgium’s mot popular beer and is very popular throughout the world; infact is one of England’s most popular beers. The beer dates back to 1366 but the current tasty recipe dates back to the more recent times of 1926 when it was first brewed for a special  Christmas beer. The name Stella means Star and was used to commemorate the season. The beer was so tasty and popular the brewery decided to continue making it and now makes up about 75 percent of Belgium’s pilsner market making over 8.6 million hectoliters of it a year. You might be wondering what is a hectoliter well it is a unit of measure used for homogenized products equivalent to 100 litres so this would represent 860 million litres- an amazing amount of beer.