With hundreds of active breweries, each with its own distinct character, narrowing them down to a top 10 list was not an easy task. You know when a guy’s night out at a pub morphs to a debate about the best athletes of all time. That is how I felt about making this list. Whatever I would put next is bound to stir controversy and debate.

Making this ranking, I wanted to emphasize tradition, roots, and culture. But the main reason for having a great glass of beer remains – the product. Without top-tier brews, none of the breweries would ever be on this list. Additionally, objectively comparing breweries by style was impossible. How could I ever compare Lionel Messi to Paolo Maldini?

This is not a data-driven “fake objective crowdsourced” ranking. This is about feelings and emotions. How would each of these breweries make me feel while sipping their top-tier beers? For me, these are the top 10 Belgian Breweries every beer lover needs to experience at least once.

10. De Halve Maan

Located in Brugge, one of the beer capitals of the world, I chose De Halve Maan, or Brouwerij De Halve Maan to be precise, to kickstart this list. Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel, their flagship beer, is known to be one of the best quadrupels in the world. Additionally, they produce Brugse Zot, beers known for their joker-like character in the bottles. The reason why De Halve Maan is not higher in the list is mainly that the brewery is heavily defined by its flagship Straffe Hendrik brand. Most of the breweries higher up in the ranking have multiple flagship beers that are equally stunning.

When it comes to heritage and culture, De Halve Maan has tons. De Halve Maan was founded in 1856 by Leon “Henri” Maes, the first Henri of the Maes family, later giving the Straffe Hendrik beers their name. Today, the Maes lineage is in its fifth generation, embracing the tradition and history of Belgian beer.

I adore their quadrupel, and it stands as one of the premier quads on the planet, even among its competition. As mentioned above, I struggle to find another good brews outside of the Straffe Hendrik lineup to justify moving it higher up in the list, as outstanding as the beers are.

One Beer To Try: Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel

9. Chimay

One of the few Trappist breweries in the world, Chimay brews its beer in the town of Chimay near the French border. The brewery, founded in 1862, has been brewing its Chimay beers for the last 160+ years. They have the traditional Belgian style of selection, from their dark ale to their tripel and dubbel. One beer to mention is the Dorée for the people who love the Patersbier style. All the profit from the sales is going directly to maintain the monastery, adding a touch of history and authenticity that modern commercial beers often lack, in true Trappist fashion. For someone like me who likes feelings and roots of the breweries I sample from, this is a huge plus.

Additionally, Chimay brews a perhaps slightly more unconventional beer under the name Grande Réserve. These beers are barrel-aged in different kinds of rum, calvados, brandy, or so on, giving each beer a distinct flavor. Chimay is also widely available, making it one of the most accessible entry points into Trappist beer, an accessible label for the general public.

The monastery also makes cheese, but these I have not been able to try, so I won’t comment on any of that. Some people would probably rate Chimay even higher on the list, but in my opinion, while their selection is solid without weak entries, they perhaps lack the one outstanding 5/5 rated beer that would put them higher up in the list. All in all, it is an incredible brewery that deserves to be mentioned on the list.

One Beer To Try: Chimay Blue

8. De Dolle Brouwers

I had multiple possible breweries for the 8th spot, as the 8th place could easily be De Halve Maan or Chimay; we are talking tiny differences here, as all of the listed breweries are amazing. However, for this list, I chose De Dolle. The brewery is located in the small village of Esen and was founded in 1980, when they acquired a building that had already been used for brewing for at least 100 previous years. De Dolle started by brewing its most well-known beer, Oerbier, which is a dark ale somewhat reminiscent of Chimay Blue that I mentioned previously. I’ve only had Oerbier fresh, but people who have aged Oerbier in the past mention the beer developing a tart-like character over time, which is typical for darker (Belgian) beers.

The key point in including them here is their incredibly versatile offering, ranging from Dulle Teve, which is a traditional Belgian tripel, to Stille Nacht, which is a golden ale with 12% alcohol in it. I am currently aging multiple bottles of Stille Nacht, and I cannot wait to try them in a few years after they have developed in flavor. De Dolle Brouwers, or “Mad Brewers,” translated, describes them perfectly. While they may not quite have the 200 years of history, as a few breweries on this list have, it has an incredible character both in their beers and their design. While many Belgian beers have fairly traditional label designs, De Dolle is anything but. Each bottle has its own quirks and designs, adding a lot of personality to your drinking experience.

De Dolle specializes in barrel-aging, and the beers are designed to age well. This is another reason they deserve a place on this list, as the beers have tremendous upside to get better over time.

One Beer To Try: De Dolle Oerbier

7. De Meester

Now, for a brewery, that is probably a surprise for many who are really into Belgian beers. De Meester is probably the closest to modern craft beer in this list. They have an outstanding selection, specializing in experimental dark beers, often barrel-aged. While a few experimental batches didn’t hit the mark for me, the hits are outright excellent. The youngest brewery in this list was founded in 2016 in the small town of Lendelede.

My personal favorite is the Douze Quadrupel, which is a traditional Belgian quadrupel with strong licorice root notes coming through both on the taste and smell. As a Finn, it is obviously something I adore. I recently acquired their Mok Master, which I can’t wait to sample. When I look at their offerings, typical of a modern craft brewery, there are tons. As one of the best new names of Belgian brewing does obviously not have the longevity of the old school Belgian breweries, their sheer eagerness to try new flavor and ingredient combinations has to be respected even amongst the behemoths of brewing.

Even though De Meester is experimental by Belgian standards, they remain true to traditional Belgian brewing. You will not see smoothie sours or triple Hazy IPAs from them, as they are not something of a Belgian tradition. I think over the years to come, they have a lot of upside to grow as an establishment and rise even higher in the list. In the world of brewing, De Meester represents the new era, like Lamine Yamal forcing his way to the Barcelona starting XI a few years back.

One Beer To Try: Douze Quadrupel

6. Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy

A brewery that has to be on this list is the Abbot of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy. Hailing from the French side of Belgium, it is the home of the world-renowned beer of Rochefort. Similar to Chimay, it is a traditional Belgian Trappist establishment. The monks have been brewing the beers in the monastery since the late 1500s, and the monastery itself was founded in the 1200s. This fact alone adds a lot of history. Typical of Trappist monasteries, the list is not a long one.

The brewery itself is hard to place on this list, as they have long roots and history in Belgian culture, but can not directly be compared to lambic breweries or labels with a more modern touch to their operation. Admittedly, it is increasingly tough to compare the whole Rochefort brand to the modern breweries, but it is probably the easiest to compare to other similar monasteries and breweries, namely Westmalle or St. Bernardus. The monks in the monastery lived according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, “Ora and Labora”, essentially meaning that their daily lives consisted of prayer and work.

An obvious standout is their quadrupel, Rochefort 10. It is an absolutely amazing quad and in my opinion, one of the best beers in the world. Recently, they have launched Triple Extra, a new beer in the Rochefort range. I have never had a bad Rochefort beer, and they are a no-brainer to include in this list.

One Beer To Try: Rochefort 10

5. 3 Fonteinen

I feel like the list of the best Belgian beers is not complete without listing a Lambic icon. Lambic is a style of beer that is only brewed in the Senne valley and Pajottenland, southwest of the capital of Belgium, Brussels. What makes lambic special is that it is fermented through exposure to wild yeast native to the previously mentioned area. In other words, the brewers do not add “commercial” yeast to the product, unlike most of the other beer styles. To me, lambics have always felt like a hybrid of beer and wine, often having less alcohol than many other Belgian styles. As a cultivating part of the beer world, lambic could easily have its own top 10 list.

For me, the strongest yet not often mentioned feature is the brand. It just oozes modernity and class. Clearly pricing itself in the “luxury lambic” category, its black bottles with the giant 3 logo on the bottles are distinctive. The first impression is that this is a premium beer that deserves to be respected in its own right. However, they have been brewing beer in their hometown of Beersel for over 140 years, and the 3 Fonteinen is something that should be mixed with the modern art of craft beer. You are not going to see Triple IPAs suddenly flooding their shelves.

3 Fonteinen has a wide variety of different beers; The Oude Geuze serves as their definitive flagship. Geuze, a sub-style of lambic, is made by blending young and older aged lambic and fermented again. Nowadays, some breweries have tried to make lambics more accessible to the general public by adding sweeteners to the product. For me, this cheapens the product. One should simply not mess with the traditions, and 3 Fonteinen does not.

One Beer To Try: Too difficult to say, perhaps their Oude Geuze

4. De Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren

At number 4, I have De Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren, shortened to Westvleteren. You are simply not supposed to create a top 10 Belgian beers or breweries list without mentioning the mythical Westvleteren. Why is it not higher then? I tend to prefer breweries with larger catalogues when comparing beers of similar quality. I do not think a brewery can be called the best Belgian one with only a few beers available, as sublime and renowned as Westvleteren is.

Westvleteren, like aforementioned Chimay and Rochefort, is a genuine Trappist brewery. They brewed their first official beers in 1839, after receiving a brewing license from King Leopold I. Since then, the brewery has stayed true to its roots, producing only three beers: the blond, Westvleteren 8, which is a dubbel, and Westvleteren 12, which is a quadrupel and often called the best beer in the world.

Their obvious beer to try is their Westvleteren 12. It used to be inaccessible in a way that you needed to drive all the way to the monastery to physically get the beers, but nowadays the beer has gotten more mainstream in a way that you can get it (sort of illegally from private stores) online. The 12 is simply an unrivaled experience. From the first try, I found it a bit boozy and was even slightly disappointed by the aroma. Then I had an opportunity to try an older version of Westvleteren that had been aged for a while, and it was a completely different experience. Most of the booziness had been gone, and the end product had this creamy, malty, dry-fruity goodness.

One Beer To Try: Westvleteren 12

3. Brouwerij St. Bernardus

Brouwerij St. Bernardus, located in Poperinge near the French border, has been brewing beer since the 1900s. Even though it is not an official Trappist brewery, unlike many of the aforementioned ones, in many aspects, St. Bernardus is like one. It is a substantially more commercial establishment than many other establishments on this list, but its beers are true to the Belgian art of brewing and have remarkable qualities similar to the Trappist breweries.

Until 1992, St. Bernardus brewed its beers using the recipes and yeast from the already mentioned Westvleteren brewery. This may be the reason why their quadrupels are so similar in aromas, hauling a strong showing of different beers, Abt 12, which is their quadrupel, and Tripel, a tripel, as the name suggests. Recently, St. Bernardus has begun to collaborate with other breweries. In 2025, they made a beer called “Kombine”, a helles collaboration with the renowned German brewing giant of Weihenstephaner. Moreover, the wide offering of St. Bernardus includes wheat beer, dubbel, and non-alcoholic beer, to name a few styles the brewery makes.

The Abt 12, their quadrupel, is my favorite beer of all time and simply a sublime and increasingly nuanced brew. For someone who is just getting into Belgian beers, Abt 12 would be my first recommendation to try. It is more widely accessible than Rochefort 10 or Westvleteren 12 and strikingly similar in flavor profile. In the end, comparing Rochefort 10, Westvleteren 12, and Abt 12 is like comparing Ali, Tyson, and Foreman. There seems to be a consensus about the best beer among them, yet each of the three have their own loyal fans, and you can easily make a case for each of the “big 3” to be the best among their category.

One Beer To Try: St. Bernardus Abt 12

2. Brasserie Cantillon

For me, the list is not complete without mentioning Cantillon.

They started in 1900, when their founder, Paul Cantillon, started mixing lambics. In 1937, the brewery started making its own lambics, giving the beers their signature taste. The question here remains: Comparing Westvleteren 12 to a Cantillon Lambic is that Messi vs. Maldini analogue all over again, one is a master of offensive, malty power, while the other is a genius of defensive, acidic structure. You can’t rank one over the other; you just have to appreciate the different positions they play. I do not think it is completely fair for either brewery, as all beer styles should be respected and cherished.

For me, they have the best branding in the beer world, period. The labels are absolutely stunning and ooze this sort of old-school romantic painting vibe. In a world of colorful craft beer, this creates such a stark contrast that it just has to be respected. The contrast to a more modern approach of 3 Fonteinen is clear, while 3 Fonteinen’s brand is more “luxury” and “modern”, they manage to capture the sort of countryside old-school aesthetic perfectly in their bottles.

Just look how gorgeous that bottle of Iris is. In the future, there are plenty of Cantillon lambics that I would love to try, like Saint Lamvinus and Signorina, to name just a few. Again, the brewery is difficult to rate in comparison to breweries that are known for quadrupels, tripels, and blonde beers. I think that 2nd place is more than deserved for the best lambic producer in the world.

One Beer To Try: There are too many great options, maybe their Kriek

1. De Struise Brouwers

For me, the best Belgian brewery is De Struise. The brewery was founded in the town of Lo-Reninge in 2001, close to the Westvleteren monastery mentioned before. The word “Struise” means ostrich in the Flemish dialect, according to their website.

The catalogue is way too strong not to be placed really at the top list. It’s placing as the number one is as debatable as possible, and the top breweries are virtually interchangeable; I wanted to put De Struise on top. Black Albert, the many runs of Pannepot, the Black Damnation series, St Amatus. The list goes on. You can easily make a case that this is the best stout brewery in the world, but there are too many, especially in the US, that I have not tried yet. De Struise excels in barrel-aging; the Black Damnation is a series that has virtually all the different alcohols barrel-aged. Unlike many of the Trappist breweries listed above, De Struise’s catalogue is wide.

The first De Struise I truly fell in love with was Black Albert. As far as I know, the beer was originally planned to be an export stout to the US, and it shows; it has an American feel to it. Dry, malty, and without any adjuncts.

One Beer To Try: Black Albert

Honorable mentions

While there are a vast number of breweries in Belgium, I felt that at least these four deserved an honorable mention for their craftsmanship. Orval is not my personal favorite, and I find it slightly overrated in a way; its history and place in Belgian beer history have to be respected. For Westmalle, Westmalle Tripel was one of my favorite beers for a long time, as I love its banana esters and spiciness. It was also my introduction to Trappist beers. For the 3rd honorable mention, I chose Wilderen. Their Cuvee Clarisse barrel-aged beers are interesting, and I find them better than many other barrel-aged ones in the same category. If they improve their selection slightly, they could easily be in the top 10 in a few years. Het Anker is the home for the Gouden Carolus series, which I also like a lot, catching the final 4th honorable mention spot in the list.

Brasserie d’Orval

Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle

Brouwerij Wilderen

Brouwerij Het Anker

I could have easily listed at least 10-15 more breweries, as Belgium is a stellar beer country, but these 10 + the honorable mentions are the ones I ultimately chose.