Belgian IPA

Belgian IPAs always seemed to me like a style that was ready to take off in popularity towards 2010 or so, but likely got pushed out by the focus at the time on black IPA as an emerging style. In the early 2000s, as IPAs had already become hot in craft beer, American craft brewers and homebrewers were learning more about classic Belgian styles and techniques and were beginning to offer American versions. Belgian brewers were also starting to dip their toe into the IPA water, or at least offer more hop-forward styles. 

The ironic thing to me is that I think the style was an early attempt to create a more drinkable IPA while still maintaining some flavor interest, which is exactly what brut IPA and later cold IPA tried to do. There is clearly some demand for these types of beers, but they often get lost in marketing and attitude and don’t really find their footing. But that’s an opportunity for homebrewers — make something that is tasty but hard to find.

Belgian IPA is one of the enumerated styles within the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style 21B, Specialty IPA, along with other faddish IPAs including Black IPA, White IPA, Red IPA, Brown IPA, Rye IPA, and Brut IPA. The Specialty IPA style is more of a competition entry category than an actual style, since it contains many actual styles that were made at one point or another. The other members of Category 21 are American IPA and Hazy IPA, which are more established styles.

History

Tracing the development of Belgian IPA is somewhat difficult because of Belgian attitudes and practices regarding beer styles. Belgians only loosely categorize beers by style, but then generally only talking about color, strength, and perhaps origin. If you find a Belgian beer that meets the profile of this style, it could be called something like a “strong golden ale.” But that shouldn’t mean you should confuse it with Duvel-like Belgian golden strong ales, as the balance is quite different. Belgians tend to think of beers as unique experiences, with each example worthy of discovery and investigation.

American craft brewers (and homebrewers) might be regarded as the source of the style, as they are (were?) fond of taking styles from around the world and adding more hops to them. So, take a Belgian tripel or golden strong ale and add more hops while increasing the bitterness? Boom, a new type of beer. What do you call it? Well, it’s like an American or double IPA with Belgian yeast and Belgian-type hop varieties, so Belgian IPA makes sense, regardless of where it was made. I’ll pause while purists complain about the use of IPA for beers that never went to India.

But Americans likely weren’t first in investigating more highly hopped Belgian-style beers. Belgians had been making interesting examples such as De Ranke XX Bitter and Poperings Hommelbier that have much higher levels of late hops than most Belgian beers. The De Ranke even pushes into IPA territory of bitterness at around 60 IBUs. Remember, Belgian beers are often drier than American beers, so that bitterness is more apparent on the palate. I would also point to beers like La Rulles Tripel using American hops (Amarillo®) and higher bitterness (around 40 IBUs) as an influence. Finally, Belgian singles have been pushing the attenuation and bitterness combination, albeit at a lower strength.

The name Belgian IPA can be applied to Belgian-style beers derived from either the American or Belgian brewing tradition. It is more of a modern competition entry category than a true style, as it allows what would otherwise be a curiosity to have a home. Green Flash claims their Le Freak as the first hybrid tripel-double IPA, a 9% ABV, 100-IBU beer dry hopped with Amarillo®. I can support that as the first common use of Belgian IPA as a name in 2006, even though I had seen them describe it as a Belgian-American Hybrid Imperial IPA and a Belgian-Style Imperial India Pale Ale. However, the Belgian beers I cited that influenced the style precede this date.

So, is this just a beer style created to account for a new, unusual beer from a certain brewery? Not really, as using the style name then allows other beers made with the same type of attributes to be described, understood, and ultimately evaluated side-by-side. And isn’t that what a beer style really is? Something different from existing styles? I’d argue it is.

Sensory Profile

A Belgian IPA is typically a very pale, dry, bitter beer that combines an expressive Belgian yeast profile with an elevated late-hop character. The hop profile tends to feature floral, spicy, fruity (citrus or stone fruit) notes, while the yeast has a fruity-spicy character. If dry hopping is used, there will also be a fresh green note as well. The harmonization of these components is critical since many combinations will produce unpleasant, clashing results.

The beers are typically of the strength of a strong pale ale up to the double IPA level (6–10% ABV), so alcohol may be noted in the aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel of stronger examples. The beers are well-attenuated, so they will finish dry with a light to medium body. Carbonation can be medium to high, particularly if leaning into the Belgian side of the profile.

The malt character is typically neutral, often with a Pilsner malt-like profile, grainy to very slightly toasted and honey-like. The perceived bitterness level is medium to high, but the bitterness should not overwhelm the yeast and hop flavors on the palate. There may be a sensation of sweetness on the palate that is enhanced by the fruitiness, but the beer should finish dry. The aftertaste should be clean, not harsh, with bitterness, hops, and yeast character lingering.

Brewing Ingredients and Methods

The base malt for a Belgian IPA is usually something very light in color, continental Pilsner or domestic 2-row malt. Some additional pale base malts may be used for character, but crystal-type malts are usually avoided. Additional maltiness helps support the beer, but too much flavor will start intruding on the hops and yeast, so avoid malts that have strong toasted, bready, or biscuity flavors. Plain sugar can be used for up to 20% of the recipe, as in many Belgian beers. White table sugar is fine, whether derived from beets or sugar cane. Candi sugar/syrup is not needed.

A mash schedule that favors attenuation should be used, whether a step mash or a conversion near the lower end of the single-infusion temperature range (149 °F/65 °C). Remember that the sugar will also increase attenuation. Starchy adjuncts are usually not used, as the beer is expected to have a lean mouthfeel and clear appearance.

As an IPA, the beer needs to be well hopped. The hop choices are often European, including noble-type hops like Hallertauer, English-derived hops like Golding, with some modern American hops that feature stone fruit, citrus, or tropical notes also welcome. Amarillo®, with its apricot character, is a known good choice. I personally would avoid anything that is too intense with dank, garlic, onion, resiny, or woody notes. Remember that the hops will need to complement the yeast, not completely dominate it.

A Belgian yeast strain is pretty much a requirement in order to get the characteristic yeast profile. Anything that would work in a tripel, Belgian golden strong ale, or other similar strong pale Belgian beer would likely be suitable. I’ll list some of my favorites later. Understanding the fermentation profile of the yeast is important, since the yeast must complement the choices made in hopping. Yeast that produce apple, pear, citrus, or banana esters would likely work, while phenols may be peppery or clove-like.

Modern IPA hopping techniques can be used, as well as traditional methods. Anything that gives bitterness, aroma, and flavor is welcome. Traditional dry hopping is common. It is not necessary to use ingredients and techniques associated with hazy IPAs, including thiolized yeasts and biotransformation, to get the desired character. 

Homebrew Example

My example combines ideas from my favorite tripel and double IPA recipes. The starting gravity of 1.068 may seem low, but look at the finishing gravity at 1.004. That is what will give you the alcohol level of a double IPA with the mouthfeel of a tripel. I’ll achieve this attenuation by using an infusion mash with a mashout as described earlier, while using a significant amount of table sugar (white beet sugar for me, as it is available in my area).

I like using continental (Belgian, French, or German) malts in this beer as the flavor profile is more authentic to me. Most of the malt is Pilsner malt, but I’m using a portion of Vienna malt for a little additional flavor and maltiness, and the aromatic malt is all about malt aroma and richness. While not in the same ratio, I would use similar malts when making a number of pale German lagers like helles, festbier, and Maibock. 

I’ve chosen a mix of continental and New World hops for this recipe, using some of my favorites like Tettnanger, Styrian Golding, Amarillo®, Citra®, and Galaxy®. I’m looking for the floral, spice, and citrus character of the continental hops to mix with the apricot of the Amarillo® and passion fruit of Galaxy®. My hopping uses first wort hopping, late hopping, whirlpool hopping, and dry hopping. These are designed to reduce harshness while promoting hop aroma and flavor.

My water profile is simple ­— just some neutral water adjusted with calcium chloride to give a rounder malt flavor at a level to promote proper enzyme activity in the mash. I don’t want the added sulfate load from water salts to compete with the hops and yeast, so I avoid calcium sulfate. The beer will be dry enough with attenuation; I don’t need to sharpen the finish with sulfates.

My yeast choice may be a little unexpected as it isn’t a strain associated with Belgian IPAs, but I have a reason. I’m using WLP510 (Bastogne Belgian Ale) yeast, which is the non-Brettanomyces strain used at Orval. It’s what is used in the La Rulles tripel, which is a favorite of mine. If you can’t source this yeast, my second choice is the Westmalle strain, which can be found as Wyeast 3787 (Belgian High Gravity) or White Labs WLP530 (Abbey Ale). I would also be happy with the Duvel strain — Wyeast 1388 (Belgian Strong Ale) or White Labs WLP570 (Belgian Golden Ale). Brewers preferring dry yeast might try the Fermentis SafAle BE-256 Belgian Strong Ale dry yeast. or Mangrove Jack’s M31. Just note that Belgian yeast strains are often finicky, and might have different temperature requirements for best performance. In my experience, I like to let the fermentations free rise in temperature to encourage complete attenuation. Given this, I try to start the fermentations on the cooler side so there is room to run.

I love the complexity of Belgian beers, and I think well-hopped Belgian beers can be made, provided some care is given to the choices of yeast and hops. I intend to explore these beers in my next trip to Belgium and see if there are any newer developments to inspire future brews. As for now, I think it is a fun experiment to compare cold IPA or brut IPA with Belgian IPA as I’ve described. You may find some similarities that will bring greater variation to your beer rotation. 

Belgian IPA by the numbers

OG: 1.058–1.080
FG: 1.008–1.016
SRM: 5–14
IBU: 50–100
ABV: 6.2–9.5%