Golden Ale

Belgian Golden Ale is definitely a must try for every beer lover. Belgian style beers are usually offered in a variety of flavors, styles, aromas, types and strengths. There are strong, sweet, sour, wheat, dry, golden, fruity and malty ales – a flavor for everyone. Belgian golden ales are considered to be rough and unique, yet strong and bold in flavor. In fact, Belgian Golden Ale contains very high alcohol by volume – nearly 9%. Basically, Belgian Golden Ales are characterized by fruit and floral aroma, pale color and a substantial amount of alcohol content.

Belgian Golden Ale has absolutely been a major breakthrough in the world of beer. It is mainly represented by Duvel of the Moortgat Brewery in Brussels, Belgium. The manufacturers use fermented ale yeast as a main ingredient and utilizes the latest and modern technology to produce a delicious, strong yet pale beer. Belgian Golden Ale is characterized by its distinctive aroma and palette flavor.

Moortgat’s Duvel was originally a dark beer with strong and deep flavor.  The manufacturers used yeast cultures before but in 1945, beer drinkers slowly shifted their preference on beer flavor. They started to prefer light beers such as Pilsner type lagers. During this time, the sales on dark beer started to grow static while light beers were in great demand on the market.

This event facilitated in extensive research being done into beer consumption and the excellent quality of Duvel Golden Ale was formed. The manufacturer reduced the malt content that turned the ale’s color from dark brown to pale gold. The creation of Belgian Golden Ale involves three tedious processes of fermentation, four temperature changes and two months of maturation to produce a devilishly strong and refreshing beer that can be paired with almost any kind of food.

Duvel of the Moortgat Brewery produces an amazing style of beer that is recognized for its crisp flavor of pear and apple notes. Through the years, Belgian Golden Ale Duvel has been able to retain its popularity of being one of the strongest beers in Belgium. In fact, it has been noted as ‘nen echten duvel’ which translates to ‘real devil’ in Brabantian Dutch.

The popular brands of Belgian Golden Ales are New Belgian Hoptober, Moinette blond, Grimbergen blond and New Belgium Skinny Dip. The New Belgian Hoptober contains 6% alcohol by volume and is usually available from August to October. Its main ingredients are Centennial, Willamette and Glacier hops which produce a citrus scent.  This certain golden ale is produced by mashing the pale wheat malt with oats and rye.

The New Belgium Skinny Dip is produced using kaffir lime and malt that creates a bright citrus scent. Its main ingredients are lime leaf and cascade hops with around 4.2% ABV. This beer is usually available from the months of May until September.  Moinette Blond is widely known to be a refreshing beer with 8.5% ABV and distinguished for its bitter, sweet and fruit aroma and flavor while the Grimbergen Blond is noted for its light fruit taste with rounded, sweet and bitter flavor.