The Belgian Beer Shop in Malta The beers we sell

OUR BEER RANGE

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THE BELGIAN BEER SHOP

providing a taste of Belgium to the Maltese Islands

We offer a number of beer styles often with a choice of beers in each style. Below are the styles and the beers. Each section starts with a description of the style. The styles are "Abbey" blonds, "Abbey" dark beers or dubbels, "Abbey" Tripels. Belgian Wheat/white beers. Barley Wines Flemish Amber Ale, Flemish Brown Ale, and finally fruit beers

We supply Van Steenberge beers (shown as VS by name in list) for home delivery and to bars, cafes, restaurants and shops in both Malta and Gozo

We supply Maredsous Abbey beers (shown as DM by name in list) for home delivery in both Malta and Gozo; and to bars, cafes, restaurants and shops in Malta only

We supply AB Inbev (shown as ab inbev by name in list) for home delivery only in both Malta and Gozo; We do not suply bars, cafes, restaurants and shops in either Malta or Gozo

ABBEY BLONDS

These are light golden Ales brewed by commercial breweries either under license from a functioning abbey or named after a non-functioning (possibly ruined) abbey. They are usually around 6-7% in strength. A hugely popular style that was possibly first brewed for the French market.

AUGUSTIJN BLOND

(vs)

33cl & 75cl

In 1295 the Augustinian friars started to brew Augustijn in their Ghent monastery. In the Middle Ages many monks and priests brewed and sold their own beer. Often, the water was contaminated and that is why it was safer to drink beer, since it was boiled during the brewing process. In 1978 the Augustinian friars sought a new partner for the brewing of their Augustijn beer. Van Steenberge was a logical choice, since it was located near their St Stefunus monastery and Jozef Van Steenberge could fully live his passion for top fermented beers. In 1982 he relaunched Augustijn, with secondary fermentation is the bottle. A decision that the brewery has never regretted.

Augustijn Blond is a beer for every occasion. When you drink the beer at a young age (up to 3 months after bottling), you will experience a fruity and hoppy taste. When the beer is more mature, it gets a deeper colour and a more pronounced flavour. It is amber blonde in colour with white foam head. The aroma is of malt, fruit and hop. The taste is mild combination of malt and hops with light touch of vanilla.The after taste is lightly bitter and soft.

Augustijn Blond recently won "Best Beer" at Latin America’s most important beer competition, th 2011 Copa Cervezas de America, beating hundreds of entries from all over the world

LEFFE BLOND

(ab inbev)

6.5%

33cl

The original Abbaye de Leffe at Dinant was devastated during the French Revolution and beer hasn't been brewed there for around two hundred years. In the 1950s the brewers of Stella Artois signed a licensing arrangement with the Abbey to brew and market the beer in return for a royalty. Leffe Blond is full bodied, well rounded, slightly sweet, and slightly spicy.

MAREDSOUS 6

(dm)

33cl

Moortgat's Maredsous 6 is an easy drinking Blonde with a balance of graininess and aromatic hop and a slightly bitter aftertaste.

ABBEY BROWNS/DUBBELS

These are dark malty Ales brewed by commercial breweries either under license from a functioning abbey or named after a non-functioning (possibly ruined) abbey. They are usually around 6-7% in strength. Abbey dubbels follow the style of the famous Westmalle Dubbel produced at the Abbey of our Beloved Lady of the Sacred Heart at Westmalle near Antwerp

AUGUSTIJN DONKER (vs)	7%	33cl	Augustijn Donker is not distinctly sweet, as many would expect from a dark beer. It tastes rather lightly smoked with a touch of nuts and caramel. Its colour is redbrown hazel with rich full foam head.The aroma is fruity (red fruit) and slightly smoked. The taste is mild with a touch of raisins and chocolate nicely balanced. The after taste is slightly bitter and semi-dry.
BORNEM DUBBEL (vs)	7%	33cl	Bornem Dubbel is a lively abbey beer that, after its first fermentation in the barrel, nicely evolves during its second fermentation in the bottle. Soft as velvet, this dubbel with a warm darkbrown colour and burgundy undertones has a fruity taste and hoppy after taste. Its creamy, rich and firm foam head crowns it.
LEFFE BRUIN (ab inbev)	6.5%	33cl	Leffe Bruin/Brune is a dark tasty, fruity and caramel ale with a slightly dry spicy aftertaste .
MAREDSOUS 8 (dm)	8%	33cl	Moortgat's Maredsous 8 is a fine well balanced, strong deep brown dubbel that is both sweet and fruity and bitter too. If bottles are kept to mature the beer develops a stout like flavour as it ages..

ABBEY TRIPELS

These are strong golden Ales brewed by commercial breweries either under license from a functioning abbey or named after a non-functioning (possibly ruined) abbey. They are usually around 8-10% in strength. Abbey tripels follow the style of the famous Chimay White brewed at the Abbaye de Scourmont in the Ardenne and Westmalle Tripel produced at the Westmalle Abbey

AUGUSTIJN GRAND CRU

(vs)

33cl

Van Steenberge's tripel is according to many, one of the best and finest beers of Brewery Van Steenberge. This beer is straw yellow in colour with a white foam head, a fruity and spicy hoppy aroma, the fruity "tripel" taste and a dry and bitter after taste

MAREDSOUS 10

(dm)

10%

33cl

Moortgat's Maredsous 10 is an orangy-blond big sweet tripel nudging into a barley wine..

WHITE/WIT/WHEAT BEER

These beers are brewed using wheat and barley rather than just barley. The use of wheat as well as barley is traditional to Germany and Belgium and is now finding favour with some British breweries too. Served cold the beers are cloudy, almost white in colour, have a refreshing light taste and are lightly spiced.

HOEGAARDEN

(ab inbev)

33cl

Peter Celis reintroduced White Beer to Belgium in the late 1960s, brewing in the town of Hoegaarden. His brewery flourished but sadly a major fire in the 1980s meant he needed considerable finance to continue. This was provided by Interbrew (Stella Artois), who bought Hoegaarden from Peter in 1990. And they still brew the beer today in Hoegaarden and export it world wide

CELIS WHITE

(vs)

25cl

For his next project Peter Celis decided to introduce Belgium's rich brewing tradition to America and in 1992 built a brewery in Austin, Texas. He repeated his success story with many Americans enjoying Belgian style white beer - Celis White as he called it. In 1996 the American brewers Miller bought the Texas brewery, then in 2000 closed it and in 2002 sold the equiptment to a small Michigan brewer ! (Miller was subsequently bought by South African Breweries).

Peter moved back to Belgium and contracted his beer to the Belgian brewery De Smedt who were then taken over by Heineken! And Finally Van Steenberge has now won the contract from Celis to brew Celis White which is flourishing at its new home.

BARLEY WINE

Barley wine is an English term used to describe wine strength ales. This description seems appropriate for our next two beers

PIRAAT

(vs)

10.5%

33cl and 75cl

Piraat islight-amber coloured ale with full foam head and aroma of bittery, spicy, malty and alcoholic scents. What follows is a perfect combination of malty, sweet and hop bitter tastes, after which you are drowned in a very long, semi-sweet after taste with bitter undertone. A tremendous digestive beer that delights your tastebuds.It is an adventure of a beer, a real treat.

GULDEN DRAAK

(vs)

10.5%

33cl

Gulden Draak (Golden Dragon) owes its name to the gilded statue on top of the Belfry in Ghent. Legend says the gilded dragon first featured on the prow of the ship with which the Norwegian king Sigrid Magnusson left on a crusade in 1111. He offered the statue to the emperor of Constantinople (Istanbul) to put it on the cupola of the Aya Sophia. Some hundred years later, the Flemish count Baldwin IX had the showpiece transported to Flanders, and the Norwegian dragon ended up in the the city of Brugge (Bruges). After the battle of Beverhout in 1382, the inhabitants of Ghent took the dragon as war booty and put it on top of their Belfry. In the Belfry is where all communal charters were kept, and the dragon had to protect these documents and it was also the symbol of the freedom and might of the city. This imposing symbol has lasted for over 6 centuries and so needs an equally imposing beer named after it.

Gulden Draak is a dark tripel (or barley wine), which in itself makes it an exceptional beer. But it is the complex taste with hints of caramel, roasted malt and coffee in combination with the creamy hazel head that makes it unique. Gulden Draak is a top fermentated beer with secondary fermentation in the bottle. For this secondary fermentation, wine yeast is used, and this contributes to the unparalleled taste.And of course, a unique beer deserves a unique presentation. That’s why Gulden Draak is presented in a white bottle with the a black banner, the golden dragon and the red letters.

Gulden Draak can be drunk as an aperitif or a dessert (Tip: Replace the whisky in Irish coffee by Gulden Draak) or whenever you have the time to sit back and relax.

FLEMISH AMBER ALE

Amber Ale was the everyday beer before the rise of Pils/lager. Many Flemish breweries still produce an amber ale with the most famous being Antwerp's De Konninck. These beers are similar to traditional English Bitter and Dusseldorf's Altbier

BRUEGEL

(vs)

5.2%

33cl

In the second half of the 16th century, Bruegel was the best painter of his time. Today Bruegel is one of the best of Belgium's amber ales. Unlike some, Bruegel is a living beer with secondary fermentation in the bottle. Its full bodied flavour, refreshing after taste and aromatic head make the second bottle all the more inviting. Van Steenberge's Bruegel is also a great-tasting refreshing alternative to lager. The ideal drink to have with lunch. This beer combines well with all spices, from a hearty warm meat dish to a spicy salad.

FLEMISH BROWN ALE

This is an ancient style of beer that only still exists in Flanders. The beer is aged for several years at the brewery and the beer is dark , fruity, a little sour but very refreshing. Flemish brown ale is used in Belgian cooking in dishes like Gent's signature dish - Stoverij, which is a slow cooked beef stew.

MONKS CAFE

(vs)

5.5%

33cl

Monks Cafe is a sweet and sour aged brown ale - an ancient Flemish beer style - produced by Van Steenberge for the Monks Cafe in Philadelphia. Monks Cafe's typical flavour is characterized by a well-balanced, very slight sourness. This first flavour impression is soon followed by a second pleasant discovery: a slight bitterness followed by a hint of sweetness.

FRUIT BEERS

There's ancient style of beer still brewed in Belgium that creates beer that is refreshing but from mildly sour to very sour. If such a thought grabs your attention, when in Belgium look out for OUDE GUEUZE. But such beer would offend some so there is an equally ancient tradition of adding cherries to the brewing process, so alleviating the sourness with the sweetness of the cherries. These cherry 'kriekenbiers' became widely popular and other fruit beers are now produced too

BRUSSELS KRIEK

(vs)

3.5%

25cl

Van Steenberge's Brussels Kriek is a modern take on this beer style as it uses Celis White (see above) as the base beer to which cherry juice is added. It is very fruity. Try it at the George in Qawra or Exiles in Sliema

BRUSSELS FRAMBOZEN

(vs)

3.5%

25cl

Van Steenberge's Brussels Frambozen is a modern take on this beer style as it uses Celis White (see above) as the base beer to which rasberry juice is added. It is very fruity. Brussels Frambozen beer is now only available in Malta at the George Pub and Diner on Triq it-Turisti in Qawra and cannot be ordered from us

OUTLETS IN SLIEMA

OUTLETS ST JULIANS

ANDREWS BAR, ST GEORGES BAY