The Blog
Stories, tastings and field notes from Brussels' beer cellars.
Featured · News & Community Hops Make Us Strong: A Bilingual Song for Belgium
A bilingual FR/NL song about beer, Belgium, and the last thing we still share. Written and composed in 2026 by Doctor Beer — a Brussels sommelier still looking for the rapper who'll give it its human voice.
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News & Community The End of the Craft Beer Golden Age?
When America sneezes, Belgium catches a cold. A deep dive into the crisis shaking the global beer world.
Tasting Notes Belgoo Bloemekei IPA — the Marols bouquet with a zwanze wink
The most floral Belgian IPA from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw owes its name to a Marols word that means both « bouquet of flowers » and « fart » — a zwanze wink from Jo Van Aert, a former sales rep turned master brewer. Exotic dry-hop, lychee, grapefruit, passion fruit. Doctor Beer tastes.
Tasting Notes Patton Le Général — the amber ale of the 75th Ardennes anniversary
At Rolley, in the very farm where Patton decorated McAuliffe on 30 January 1945, a certified-organic amber ale marks the 75th anniversary of the Liberation. Doctor Beer tastes this brewed page of history, born from the alliance between the Ferme du Château de Rolley and Ardennes brewery Lupulus.
Tasting Notes St. Bernardus Kombine — when Watou meets Freising
Kombine 2025: an unfiltered Helles from St. Bernardus and Weihenstephan, the world's oldest active brewery. Three firsts for the Watou house, a fully assumed style oxymoron, and a meeting that spans a thousand years of monastic history. Doctor Beer tastes.
Tasting Notes Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel — 2022 vintage, four years in the cellar
Four years in the shadows of a Bruges cellar have transformed the first Belgian Quadrupel into a masterpiece of patina, candied dark fruit and port-like depth. Doctor Beer awards a sovereign score to this Brouwerij De Halve Maan legend.
Tasting Notes Triple Moines — the Meuse valley in a glass
Seven kilometres from the Notre-Dame de Leffe Abbey, the Brasserie du Bocq has been brewing from Purnode a Belgian Tripel whose kinship with its great sister of Dinant feeds a legend murmured from café to café. Doctor Beer tastes the 2024 Triple Moines.
Tasting Notes Witz Bio — the neo-orthodox Belgian wit manifesto
An organic wheat beer brewed in Brussels with wheat and oats — and no added spices. A quiet slap at the Hoegaarden orthodoxy from Brasserie de la Senne, Brussels' guardian of bitterness and brewing authenticity. Doctor Beer tastes.
Tasting Notes Big Nose — Novabirra
Big Nose by Novabirra: Emanuele Corazzini's Belgian Triple, 9%, brewed at De Ranke. Three malts, Nugget and Willamette hops, dry-hopped with Alsace Triskel.
Tasting Notes Blonde de Blaugies (BDB) — Brasserie de Blaugies
Blonde de Blaugies (BDB): the farmhouse triple blonde from Brasserie de Blaugies, 8%, unfiltered and bottle-refermented. Floral, cereal, spicy.
Tasting Notes Boon Millésime 2020 — Oude Schaarbeekse Kriek
Boon Millésime 2020: an Oude Schaarbeekse Kriek from Brouwerij Boon, lambic and Schaerbeek cherries. Ruby red, cherry, oak and vanilla.
Tasting Notes Crianza — Brasserie de la Senne
Crianza by Brasserie de la Senne: a Brussels Flemish Red-Brown of mixed fermentation, aged over a year in oak with Brettanomyces. Ruby red, fruity, woody, tart.
Tasting Notes Gulden Draak Cuvée Prestige Bourbon: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dragon
Tasting notes for Gulden Draak Cuvée Prestige Bourbon (Lot 3, 2022), a bourbon barrel-aged Belgian dark strong ale by Van Steenberge.
Tasting Notes Silly Scotch Sauvignon Blanc Barrel Aged
Scotch de Silly, a malty ale born from the Great War, aged four months in Sauvignon Blanc barrels: a ten-percent Walloon grand cru, vinous and oak-driven.
Tasting Notes 5310 — the postcode beer from Eghezée
The 5310 is an artisan Belgian blonde born in Eghezée in 2021. Brewed at the Brasserie à Roulettes — 18 batches, 18 stories. Available at Doctor Beer Brussels.
Tasting Notes Lambiek Fabriek Brett-Elle: Oude Geuze
Tasting notes for Lambiek Fabriek Brett-Elle, an oude geuze from Pajottenland.
Recipes & Guides The Art of Beer Tasting
A certified sommelier's method: the five tasting steps, the right Belgian glassware, and ideal serving temperatures.
Recipes & Guides Cooking with Belgian Beer
Iconic beer recipes, a food & beer pairing guide and a chef's techniques — by a certified Belgian beer sommelier.
Tasting Notes Bourgogne des Flandres — the art of Flemish blending
A certified sommelier tastes Bourgogne des Flandres, the Bruges red-brown ale born of Flemish blending: young Timmermans lambic married with an oak-aged brown ale. 5% vol — available at Doctor Beer Brussels.
Tasting Notes Bruxellensis by La Senne — the rebel soul of Brussels
A certified sommelier tastes Bruxellensis by Brasserie de la Senne, the wild Brett pale ale of Brussels: Brettanomyces bruxellensis, modern hopping, light copper and hazy. 6.5% vol — available at Doctor Beer Brussels.
News & Community The End of an Era: Belle-Vue, the Gueuze That Marked Football History
AB InBev is ending Belle-Vue Gueuze. A century of Brussels history fades with it — the Vanden Stock family, RSC Anderlecht, and a beer that was a ritual as much as a drink.
Brewery Visits De Dochter van de Korenaar: Belgium's Hidden Treasure
I went looking for a hidden treasure in a sliver of Belgium stranded inside the Netherlands. Blind tastings, a barrel cellar few ever see, and an evening that refused to end.
Tasting Notes Straffe Hendrik Wild 2023: Brett-aged Brugs Tripel
Tasting notes for Straffe Hendrik Wild 2023, a Brett-refermented Brugs tripel by De Halve Maan.
Tasting Notes Ensemble di Montalcino 2019: Barrel-Aged Barley Wine
Tasting notes for Ensemble di Montalcino 2019, a Brunello barrel-aged barley wine by De Dochter van de Korenaar.
Recipes & Guides Orloff Roast with Orval
A Belgian classic revisited with Orval Trappist beer, Orval cheese and Ardenne ham — the holy Belgian trinity, on one plate.
Brewery Visits Brasserie Taymans: The Authentic Rebirth of a Brussels Lambic Legend
North of Brussels, in Jette, gueuze is coming back to life. Six brothers, grandsons of the last brewer, have woken a lambic legend after fifty years of silence.