You won't be Haacht off by these Belgian classics

Haacht is certainly a name I recognised, not just as the brewer of M&S Belgian Lager(!) but as one of the older family breweries in Belgium. So when I spotted its bar at this year’s Brew//LDN show, I was curious: with all the problems over Brexit red tape and with fewer mainland lorries coming over to the UK, why would a Belgian brewer be entering the UK market right now?

“Haacht sees the UK as the biggest European beer market, but also a complex one,” explained UK country manager Matthew Langley (left). “The UK has so many different beer categories, it’s not at all like Belgium. Setting up a subsidiary here is a real commitment to the UK market, and we have to set up now to smooth the imports – everybody is really confused about the rules.” 

The brewery has three main families of beers, plus a few individual brands and outliers, such as its Belgian Pilsner, Primus. Super 8 is the more mainstream line – Export is a pale lager, Flandrien is a strong (6.4%) blonde ale, Blanche is as you might guess a Witbier, and then there’s IPA (6%), which is more traditionally English in style than American or Belgian. For now, only the IPA and Flandrien are coming to the UK.

Then there’s the Charles Quint line of three strong beers, which aren’t coming over, and thirdly, the family that Belgian beer lovers are most likely to recognise which is the Tongerlo abbey beers. 

These remind us that, while Trappist beers can only be brewed in the abbey precincts, almost all ‘abbey beers’ are actually brewed commercially, with the brewer having licensed or bought the name. Here, there’s three regulars – Tongerlo Lux is the Blond (6%), then the Dubbel is Tongerlo Nox (6.5%), and lastly there’s the Tripel, Tongerlo Prior (9%).

So what of the beers? 

Haacht had Super 8 IPA on draught at the show – deep chestnut-brown and dry-sweet, with notes of toasty malt, biscuit and grapefruit, it’s a very nice modern take on a classic English IPA. Flandrien on the other hand is more classically Belgian in style – a little candy sugar and spicy hops, its sweetness balanced by a drying alcohol warmth. If you like Leffe, say, you’ll probably like this. 

Why two Belgian Blond ales in the mix? Well, Tongerlo Lux is noticeably different from Flandrien – sweetish, yes, but with estery notes of melon and spiced apple, and a crisp dry edge. It’s lovely, but then the other Tongerlo beers are even better. 

Nox (right) is dark and plummy-sweet, lightly roasty and ashy, with hints of wine and cocoa, and a drying hoppy bitterness. Prior Tripel is fruity and lightly floral, full-bodied and estery-smooth, with hints of Weissbier-like banana and lemon, and a boozy warmth balanced by peppery drying hops. 

All in all, it’s a pretty solid line-up. Nothing too crafty, but well-made examples of Belgian – and English – classics. Langley adds that, in Belgium at least, Haacht also has several seasonals such as a Belgian Saison and a Tongerlo Christmas beer. “They’re also going to bring out a Stout,” he added. “On one level they’re very staid, and on another they continually surprise me!”