Belgian Beers

Thanks my UK & German friends! I googled it and apparently you need to put in the full string: http://www.belgianstyle.com/mmguide/style/abbey.html I learned from the other links you gentleman provided too! While I'm asking, what are some of the current finest craft quality small brewery in UK? aka British style ales -breweries/being produced today? ...and in addition the question ...Germany?

There is no such thing as bad beer in Belgium, just as there no such thing as bad frittes in Belgium.

steve, I've found a few of the web links in Rick's books to be out-of-date, but fortunately someone has provided the correct link for the information you wanted. One question about Belgian Beers - do they serve Guinness there?

"There is no such thing as bad beer in Belgium". Beg to differ there. Oerbier was one of the worst I've ever tried (unless you're looking for a beer with an aftertaste of chalk). Jupiler, Cristal and Maes are just as bland and flavorless as Bud, Miller and Coors. By the way, since the OP asked, my favorite brewery in Germany is Schmucker, but it's only available in the area where I live. They brew a full line of different styles, but their best are the Märzen and the Doppelbock.

"One question about Belgian Beers - do they serve Guinness there?" Yes, and actually, I can't think of another non-Belgian beer that you can reliably find in the country. Even Heineken is rare south of the Dutch-Flemish border. BTW, James, I'm a big fan of both Leffe and Duvel, particularly the Leffe Tripel they don't sell in the US. Chimay Grand Reserve is about as close to the Nectar of the Gods as I ever hope to taste in my lifetime. Westvleteren, though, is a great example of the marketing strategy of making something more desirable by making it scarce. Decent beer, but didn't remotely live up to its Holy Grail reputation for me.

http://www.beermad.org.uk/writings/belgianbeer.shtml is a good single-page introduction.

The late, great beer writer Michael Jackson (not the pop singer) was an evangelist for Belgian beers to the English speaking world. He stopped posting on his website some time in the late 1990s or early 2000s, but the site still exists. A lot of the information on it has grown obsolete in the past decade, but it still provides a good overview of Belgian styles. Check out this page: http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000213.html His "Good Beer Book" contains some suggested beer/food pairings, but I don't see any on the website.