One bottle I’ve been letting condition in my fridge is the Hopus Ale from Brasserie Lefèbvre SA, directly out of Belgium. This is an interesting twist on the typical IPA I’m used to, generally that of the English or American variety. True to their roots, this bottle conditioned blonde is considered a Belgian IPA and is packaged inside a suctioned rubber release cap.
If you’ve been following our site for some time, you’ll notice I’m a big fan of IPAs. All of them. Flying Dog Brewery out of Maryland created their take on a Belgian-style IPA. And they called it, Raging Bitch. If the name isn’t awesome enough, the actual beer itself, is. Almost in the sessionable range, this sits at 8.3% ABV and 60 IBUs.
The story goes that Flemish brewer, Hildegard, visited the United States in early 2005 and was so intrigued by the American Craft Brewer’s IPAs that upon her return to Belgium, she ventured to brew her own. What was born was the Urthel Hop-It, a Belgian IPA at 9.5% ABV.
