Belgian Beer Specialist

Beers of the World magazine, perhaps the premier beer magazine in the U.K., is back. This time, the magazine has gone digital. I wrote for Beers of the World about a half dozen times in the past, beginning in 2006, on the subject of Belgian beer. Most recently, I had an article on the beer…

This week, we welcome guest writer Carl Kins back to the site. Carl, an internationally known beer judge and author, lives in Kortrijk, West Flanders. You can read his full bio in this article here. Below is Carl’s take on all the recent press predicting the demise of the Trappist breweries in Belgium. From Carl:…

No, I didn’t say Belgian beer and chocolate. We all know they pair well, but how about putting Belgian beer inside chocolate? Let’s talk about chocolate. Because I like chocolate. So do a lot of other people, too. People with good taste. Yes, sounds like a great idea? In fact, Belgium-the greatest producer of artisanal…

There have been a number of articles in the last few weeks in several well-known media outlets that have sounded the alarm about the status and viability of brewing at the world’s Trappist breweries, primarily those in Belgium. One article, in Forbes.com, here, even went so far as to claim that the Orval Trappist brewery,…

The monks of the St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts received the “Authentic Trappist Product” designation and logo on December 10, making them the first official Trappist brewery in the U.S.A. As to the reasons for opening this new brewery: “Our brewery project is one of necessity. For over 60 years, we have cooked and…

The Orval Trappist brewery has announced the winners of the 2014 Orval Ambassador program. This from the Orval website: “For the 2014 edition, 325 cafés, taverns and restaurants have been rewarded for serving Orval. 231 establishments throughout Belgium, but also 7 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, 21 in France, 1 in Germany, 35 in…