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Dear Friend of Flanders,

In view of the COVID-19-situation, specific safety measures and additional restrictions are currently in place across Belgium. You will find more detailed information on following website. For the latest travel advice to our country, please consult your local authorities.

If you are travelling to Flanders, Brussels or elsewhere in Belgium for a duration of 48 hours or more, you will need to complete a Passenger Locator Form, within the 48 hours before your arrival in Belgium. 

Take good care of yourself and each other and keep it safe and healthy.  

We hope to welcome you again soon, with twice the heart, love and hospitality. 

Warm regards,
VISITFLANDERS.

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Belgian beer varieties

belgian beer varieties

Known for their strength, sourness, complexity and bitterness, Belgian beers are brewed in surprisingly diverse ways. For example, spontaneous fermentation allows the brewer to use the cool outside air around the hopped wort to ferment instead of using yeast. While macerated cherries are the base of our sour Kriek Lambic beer. 

Did you know we have around 1,500 beer brands and more than 700 different taste profiles? From Pils and Trappist beers to Flemish Red Ales and geuze: our Belgian beer diversity comes in all colours, flavours and alcohol percentages. From high and low to spontaneous and mixed fermentation, from light to dark and from fruity to sour … there’s something for everyone.

Pils

Belgian Beer Weekend (c)Milo profi
Stella Artois, Jupiler, Maes, Primus, Cristal … Low-fermentation or Pils beers are the best known. It’s a light, golden-coloured beer that can be lightly or heavily hopped.

Abbey beer

Abbey beer

A few of our beers are made by monks. Only those Abbey beers that are made by monks, wear the title of Trappist beer. In fact, across the world only 11 breweries can carry the Authentic Trappist Product (ATP) label. Six of those 11 breweries can be found within Belgium, making our region arguably the spiritual home of Trappist beer. 

The best-known are a relatively sweet dark brown (the ‘double’, or ‘dubbel’) and a sharper, generally heavier blonde (the triple, or ‘tripel’).
Grimbergen, Leffe, Tongerlo, Westmalle and – of course – Westvleteren …
Cheers!

Witbier

Witbier (c)projectNADA
Witbier is an often unfiltered and cloudy wheat beer with notes of coriander and orange peel. Try for example a Hoegaarden or a St. Bernardus Witbier.

Lambic & Geuze

Morte Subite Brussels (c) milo profi
Lambic (Lambiek) is a copper – to amber-coloured beer produced by spontaneous fermentation. Geuze (Geuze Boon) is made by blending young and old Lambics.

Speciality beer

Liefmans(c)Rob Mitchell
Anything else falls into the speciality beer category. In terms of flavour, they vary enormously. We have a great offer of sweet, bitter, fruity, smooth and strong speciality beers. Think Duvel, Brugse Zot, Kasteelbier, Lucifer …
Belgian beer brewers over the years
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