One of the three correct answers to the age-old question "
Why is Belgium?" (the others being
mussels and
french fries),
beer is a product which Belgium truly excels at producing. Strangely they have never seriously targetted the
export market, with the only extremely well-known
brand internationally being
Stella Artois. Ironically this is considered a fairly average
lager by the Belgians.
Belgium is one of the few countries whose traditional brews encompass more than just lager. A lot of the award-winning Belgian beers are the dark beers, related to the British bitter and even stout. The most famous Belgian beers are usually those brewed by monks from the many monasteries scattered across the country: the abbey at Leffe, for example, produces one of the best-selling beers in Belgium, and some of the Trappist monks' offerings are lethal drinks, some of them having up to 12% alcohol by volume (that's the strength of red wine).
Obviously the best way to sample Belgian beers is to go to Belgium: I've found some lovely beers (and lovely people) in all three of the Belgian cities I've been to. Alternatively try to find a Belgian bar, not too difficult across northwest Europe but trickier elsewhere. A couple of good Belgian bar/restaurants in London are the Belgo chain , or the small but worthwhile L'Abbaye on Charterhouse Street by the old Smithfield market.