Belgian Pale Ales defy many common expectations of Belgian
beers; they’re not sour, not funky, and not high in alcohol. They are an “everyday” beer that is both
refreshing and easy to drink. The
bitterness should be low, the color should be a nice copper or amber, and
balance is critical. There is generally
a restrained, malty sweetness on the finish that can become cloying, but
shouldn’t. This residual sugar, along
with unique contributions from the yeast, can often be interpreted as fresh cut
apples or newly pressed cider. There
will likely be a breath of pilsner malt flavor behind this. Orange or other citrus flavors may also be
present, but should be situated in the background. Phenols can come through in the nose, but
should be mild. Saaz hops are used
traditionally, and are often aged to suppress bitterness, but other varieties
can be successfully substituted.
Historical notes on this particular style are not easy to
come by. The BJCP (2008) style
guidelines suggest that Belgian Pale Ales were “produced by breweries with roots
as far back as the mid-1700s” and that “the most well-known examples were
perfected after the Second World War with some influence from Britain,
including hops and yeast strains.” The
document goes on to note that this type of beer is “most commonly found in the
Flemish provinces of Antwerp and Brabant.”
Because
of the delicate balance of this style, and the low alcohol that comes with it,
Belgian Pale Ales are exceptionally delicate creatures. Draft options are preferable, but sadly
difficult to come by. Bottles don’t tend
to age well on their trip overseas (or across the continent), so the conscious
connoisseur may want to either consider a trip to the brewery or hunting down some
draft handles. Try to date your bottles,
or at least find your selection in season.
And if it’s been sitting on an unrefriderated shelf at a “big box” relailer…
beware.
Another
shortcoming of this style is its approachability. This may not sound like a problem on the
surface, but it definitely becomes one when a brewery assembles an offering
strictly to appeal to the masses. This
abuse of the style is most flagrant Eagle Rock’s Unionist, Hangar 24's Belgian
Summer Ale, Smuttynose's Star Island
Single, and, as one would expect, Blue Moon’s Rounder. I guess this is an
arguable point, but I just don’t like seeing good breweries intentionally make
beer below their potential just for the sake of attracting more drinkers. I guess these dumbed-down versions may make
decent “gateway” beers for your Budweiser drinking friends, but they do not
hold a candle to their well-crafted peers.
Ultimately it’s not that aggressive of a style to begin with, so I just don’t
understand neautering its already subtle characteristics.
While
traditional Belgian Pale Ales are not born to be funky, Brettanomyces can be
used to spice things up a bit. This
clearly takes the beer out of the conventional style guidelines, but the result
is generally worth the deviation. Orval is certainly the most popular
example of this, and Green Flash's Rayon
Vert is probably the most common American offering, but The Commons Brewery’s Flemish Kiss is, in this
humble reviewer’s opinion, unquestionably the best. Mikkeller also does a good job here with his Årh Hvad?!, but it is not very easy to
find.
Speaking
of guidelines, the parameters for this style are fairly tight. According to the BJCP they are…
Original
Gravity: 1.048 to 1.054
Final
Gravity: 1.010 to 1.014
SRM: 8 to 14
IBU: 20 to 30
ABV: 4.8% to 5.5%
I
wanted to try as many beers in this style that I could, but the restrictions listed
above left a pretty small window open for commercial examples to sneak through,
so I had to broaden my scope a little bit and allow some of the fringe entries
to participate as well. For this
analysis I used the following specifications…
- The beer must be less than
or equal to 7.0% ABV
- The beer must be fermented
with a Belgian yeast strain
- There must be some malt in
addition to pilsner (Crystal, Munich, etc.)
- The SRM must be around 10,
give or take five
I felt like these slightly expanded guidelines kept me true
to the spirit of the style, without opening the project up for everything that
had “Belgian” on the label.
The twenty five beers in this analysis included…
The
ideal serving temperature for a Belgian Pale ale is probably around 40-45°F,
but the malt base really opens up on the later end of that, so don’t be afraid
to enjoy it slowly. The traditional
glassware for this style is a snifter, tulip, or bolleke (a bowl-shaped
vessel). I personally don’t own a
bolleke, but I found the former two options great for harnessing the beer’s delicate
aromas.
Belgian
Pale Ales are very easy to pair with food.
Suggestions can be found here…
This
beer is also a very fun style to homebrew…
And
for additional reference, the following were my opening comments and concurrent
analysis on the project…
In
the end, I would recommend the following five Belgian Pale Ales to someone who
is trying to better understand the style…
·
Brouwerij
De Koninck - De Koninck (traditional
Belgian example)
·
Brouwerij
de Musketiers’s - Antigoon by Robert
Wiedmaier (traditional Belgian example)
·
Brewery
Ommegang - BPA (American made
example)
· White Birch Brewing - Belgian Style Pale Ale (American
made example)
·
The
Commons Brewery - Flemish Kiss (with
Brettanomyces)
-Matt
Taste: This beer features an incredible complexity considering
its relatively low ABV. There’s an
intresting staleness, followed by brown sugar, tobacco, caramel, dark cherries,
and oak (4.25/5).
