Belgian IPA’s really only became recognised as a style at the start of this millennium. Not exactly a common style, even within Belgium, there have been a few hits and lots of misses that I’ve tried. My favourite has always been Chouffe Houblon.
American style BIPA’s seem to be an IPA with the normal ale yeast swapped out for a commercial Belgian yeast. The better ones seem to have started life as a traditional Belgian strong blond ale (or even a tripel) which have then been hopped up more than normal.
This beer falls into that latter category. Hapkin is a long-established strong blond ale, hoppier than your average Belgian Strong Blond thanks to the use of four different hops at four different times. And then for this BIPA the brewers have added three more US hops – Sabro, Amarillo and Centennial.
The result is lively, light-bodied Belgian blond ale with dominant yeast characters in the aroma. Orange citrus, peach and banana come through in the taste, a gentle but sustained hop bitterness dries the beer out and leaves a lingering peppery tingle.
A second version of this beer, with a dominant display from the Morpheus yeast supported by Cascade and Chinook hops
A Belgian IPA with Challenger, Smaragd and Citra hops, finished with a Belgian saison yeast
Hop bitterness, with dry spicing and just a hint of wild earthy funk
A bigger, hoppier version of the Noblesse Belgian Pale Ale
A Belgian classic - Duvel - with a current hop-driven twist
The classical Belgian Strong Blond Ale, jazzed up with an extra hop that changes each year
The 2015 special edition Duvel Tripel Hop features the Equinox hop
The 2016 version of Duvel's Tripel Hop, featuring an experimental hop from the Yakima Valley
This is now the permanent feature in the Duvel range, with the Citra version being voted the favourite of all the Duvel Tripel Hop varieties
The 'other' Duvel Tripel Hop in the range shows of Cashmere hops
The favourite of the Duvel Tripel Hop series is the Citra hop version
Five old-world hops are used in this fresh grassy Belgian IPA
The original Belgian IPA, from one of the three breweries in the 'Brewers Town' of Watou.
A seasonal batch of Hopus brewed in Spring, which is dry-hopped with Citra
by Brasserie d'Achouffe (Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat)
Best described as an extremely hoppy Belgian tripel style
A Belgian IPA with a strong citrus character and nice earthy bitterness
A Belgian IPA using Mapuche hops grown exclusively for Leffe on the plains of Patagonia
Another riff of the Troubadour Magma, this one is a more sessionable, last of the summer sun type of beer
The 2016 variation of Troubadour's flagship beer Magma features Maris Otter premium malt
The 2017 variant of Magma sees a change in malt and hop quantities, resulting in a fruity, earthy and dry IPA
The 2019 variant of Troubadour's Magma is a beer that has been made more sessional, with the addition of El Dorado and Nelson Sauvin hops
A perfectly balanced Belgian IPA, deceptively drinkable for the 9.5% ABV.
Not really fitting in to a style category - inviting sweet malt backbone with a good dose of hop bitterness.
Ella hops from Australia provide a tropical fruit character to this crisp and refreshing Belgian IPA
A Belgian style IPA, taking a step back to an older style IPA recipe
The second incarnation of this beer, featuring Columbus, Simcoe, Amarillo and Centennial hops
by
An Anglo-Belgian style IPA, with a big malt body and balanced hop character
A typical Belgian Blonde style ale, slightly on the sweeter side of things
A typical Belgian dubbel style beer, from a label with an interesting history
