Every year there is a competition where the World's best beers are chosen from a variety of categories by expert judges. The World Beer Awards are where a selection of the very best beers are promoted to consumers and beer trade. The judging is blind to ensure it is done fairly and held in three stages with the results announced in September.
At these awards, beers from all over the world are judged and they can win in various different categories. These categories range from best pale ale to best dark beer. Belgium produces a huge range of beers and many are entered into these awards in the hope of winning one of the many categories. I'm glad to say in the World Beer Awards of 2011 the Belgian beers had a very strong showing winning in a number of different categories in both the world and European divisions. Below I have listed the Belgian beers that have won an award at this year's awards. Two breweries did very well this year, Palm who make the Rodenbach Grand Cru and the Bavik Brewery who make the Petrus range of beers. They won a number of awards between them and they are the beers to try in 2011.
Rodenbach Grand Cru 6% Winner of 2 awards; world's best dark ale and world's best ale.
Sour fruit nose, grapefruit, with tart fruit and
smoked malt. Balsamic vinegar. Tart and tangy
fruit in the mouth. Bittersweet. Sweet acidity on the
finish. Wonderfully complex.
Oude Gueuze 6% World's best Lambic and Gueuze pale ale.
Musty lambic nose with sour apple fruit.
Earthy,bone-dry taste. Lemon, spritzy, refreshing.
Lightly tart. Sour in mouth and finish. Good example of style, a real thirst quencher!
Petrus Aged Pale Ale 7.3% World's Best Speciality pale ale.
Tart oranges. Earthy nose brightened by
grapefruit notes. Bone dry, funky, and tart. Sour
and refreshing. Big palate, acidic. Lambic characters -sour but perfectly balanced.
Petrus Dubbel 6.5% Europe's best Abbey/Trappist dark ale.
Mixed spice and bitter hops on the nose. Deep
herbal aroma - cinnamon. Sweet in the mouth
with herbs and hops. Complex herbal character. Sharp, citrus fruit. A lot going on.
Bavik Wittekerke Rose 4.3% Europe's best wheat fruit beer.
Huge raspberry aromas, grassy,
slightly sour. Wheat notes coming through.
More raspberries on the palate. Very sweet,
quaffable with a tingle of carbonation.
Rodenbach Vintage 2008 7% Europe's best speciality dark ale.
Slight sour note on aroma. Tart, acetic nose.
Strongly acetic taste. Sweet and sour in mouth.
Sharp, refreshing, palate cleansing. Musty, earthy notes.
Challenging and interesting, finish is dry with sweet and
sour notes.
Subscribe