Left to right: Mt. Tam, Chimay, Beaufort

Belgian-Style Strong Golden Ale

STYLE NOTES: Pale yet potent, with alcohol levels that often top 10 percent, Belgian-style strong golden ales can ambush the unsuspecting. Because these brews can resemble delicate pilsners visually, with flavors to match, many drinkers don’t see the punch coming. No wonder so many strong golden ales sport names that suggest the underworld, as if to signal the danger therein. Savor them slowly.

Duvel (Flemish for “devil”) is the undisputed pack leader and one of the most admired brews in Belgium. Whether from that country or the United States, most other strong golden ales emulate Duvel to some degree. The style relies on pale, lightly kilned malts, yielding a beer of pilsner-like color, rarely darker than pale gold. Fruity aromas dominate, with any malty character in the background. Instead, look for the banana, citrus, and pear notes typically produced by Belgian yeast strains, perhaps with hints of ginger, clove, and spice cake.

Most brewers add candi sugar to augment the alcohol without adding body, so these strong ales sit surprisingly lightly on the tongue. They typically open sweet but finish dry, with Champagne-like carbonation. Hops contribute some balancing bitterness but little or no aroma. Strong golden ales resemble Belgian-style tripels but tend to be crisper and dryer.

Properly poured, strong golden ale generates a thick, frothy head. Custom calls for serving the beer in a thick-stemmed goblet to accommodate that generous foam.

BEERS TO TRY: Avery Brewing Salvation; Bière de Belœil; Brooklyn Local 1; Duvel; Lucifer; Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza; North Coast PranQster; Russian River Damnation; SAXO; Unibroue Don de Dieu; Victory Brewing V-12.

CHEESE AFFINITIES: The alcoholic strength of these ales makes them good partners for aged cheeses with concentrated flavors. Consider alpine cheeses similar to Comté or Cheddars that are more mellow than tangy. Many of these beers make a sweet impression that links them to cheeses with caramel notes, such as Goudas. Strong golden ales have enough vigor for milder washed-rind cheeses, and their palate-scrubbing effervescence appreciates the soothing contrast of a silky triple-cream cheese.

France’s Beaufort, a hefty alpine wheel resembling Swiss Gruyère, amply rewards the cheesemaker’s patience. The finest wheels receive at least twelve months of aging, and eighteen months is not too long. Over that time, the massive rounds are washed repeatedly with brine to nurture the hard rind and encourage flavor-enhancing bacteria. Gradually, the internal paste becomes firmer; its color deepens from ivory to gold; and the flavor and aroma intensify. Made in the Savoie region from raw cow’s milk, a well-aged Beaufort matches strong golden ale in power and offers similar fruity and spicy notes. It melts on the tongue, leaving behind a nutty sweetness and an intoxicating scent of toasted hazelnuts, brown butter, buttered toast, and dry-aged beef.

Not a country renowned for its cheeses, Belgium nonetheless produces at least one wheel that perfectly complements its strong golden ales: the famous Chimay. Created by Trappist monks from raw cow’s milk, Chimay Grand Cru weighs about 4½ pounds and receives about two months of aging, with repeated brine washings, before release. Under its thin orange rind is a semisoft, springy, butter-colored interior with mild eggy and earthy aromas. On the spectrum of stinky washed-rind cheeses, Chimay occupies the mellow end. It doesn’t need an alcoholic monster to tame it, but it does want a muscular beer with enough effervescence to counteract its dense creaminess.

Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt. Tam, a plush cow’s milk triple-cream, cushions the tongue-tingling carbonation of strong golden ale. Many triple-cream cheeses have a lactic, sour-cream tang that clashes with strong ale’s gentle sweetness, but not Mt. Tam. Its unusual recipe calls for washing the curd, a procedure that yields a sweeter, less acidic cheese. A fully ripe Mt. Tam has an interior as spreadable as buttercream frosting, with a mild and buttery taste. A younger Mt. Tam may retain a firm core, but the cheese will still welcome the ale’s palate-refreshing bubbles.

MORE CHEESES TO TRY: Abondance; Appenzeller; Beehive Cheese Promontory; Bleu des Basques; Bleu Mont Cheddar; Le Maréchal; Raclette; Tumalo Farms Capricorns; Montagne du Jura; Pilota.