Belgian beer, province by province.
Belgium's brewing character changes with its provinces, from the sour, oak-aged ales of the Flemish coast to the farmhouse saisons of Wallonia and the lambic valley around Brussels. Pick a region to explore its beers, breweries and a traveler's guide.
Flanders
The Dutch-speaking north: Trappist tripels, oak-aged Flanders reds, and the lambic valley around Brussels.West Flanders
Belgium's coastal province and the spiritual home of sour, oak-aged ales. West Flanders gives us the tart Flanders Red of Rodenbach and Verhaeghe, the revered Trappist Westvleteren, and the abbey-strong ales of St. Bernardus, plus the brewing city of Bruges.
East Flanders
Centered on Ghent and Oudenaarde, East Flanders is the land of the sweet-and-sour Oud Bruin, perfected by Liefmans, alongside powerful golden ales like Gulden Draak and the pink-elephant icon Delirium Tremens.
Flemish Brabant
The province wrapped around Brussels holds the Pajottenland and the Senne valley, the only place on earth where true lambic spontaneously ferments. This is the country of geuze, kriek and faro, from Boon, 3 Fonteinen, Lindemans and Timmermans, as well as the brewing capital of Leuven.
Antwerp
Home to the Trappist abbey of Westmalle, which defined the Tripel, and to Antwerp city's beloved amber bolleke from De Koninck. The historic brewing town of Mechelen adds the regal Gouden Carolus of Het Anker.
Limburg
Belgium's easternmost Flemish province, home to the Achel abbey on the Dutch border, long counted among the Trappist breweries, and a quiet landscape of orchards and farmland.
Wallonia
The French-speaking south: farmhouse saisons, Ardennes Trappists, and rolling abbey country.Hainaut
The saison heartland of French-speaking Wallonia. Hainaut's farmhouse breweries, above all Dupont in Tourpes, made the dry, spicy Saison a world benchmark, while the Trappist abbey of Scourmont brews Chimay.
Namur
A rolling province along the Meuse, known for farmhouse and abbey-style ales from family breweries like du Bocq, brewed in the village of Purnode.
Liège
An eastern Walloon province with deep brewing and distilling roots, home to the Val-Dieu abbey whose ales are still brewed within the monastery walls.
Luxembourg
The forested Belgian Ardennes, sparsely populated and beer-rich. This is where Orval brews its singular dry-hopped ale, where Rochefort releases its quiet Trappist classics, and where the Achouffe gnome pours La Chouffe.
Walloon Brabant
The French-speaking half of old Brabant, just south of Brussels, home to family breweries like Lefebvre in Quenast and a tradition of abbey and spiced ales.
