Eddie

My current favourite artist, Derbyshire's own Steve Bonham and the Long Road
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc_vtbIh-h8

Not sure why mine didn't embed. I guess that my computer literacy is soluble in alcohol.
That song is one of those in the running for country music radio's 'song of the year', and (I think) it's their second No 1 (the other was "The Girl With The Rattlesnake Heart") in that genre. The bassist is none other than Kev Moore, a huge Derby fan who released the "Commons People" CD a few years ago and sang in the centre circle at Pride Park - he's also the front man in Witch Cross, an awesome Danish heavy metal band. OK, Steve and Kev are both mates, but they are proper musicians (as is the keyboard player Chris 'The Bishop' Lydon), and have been under the radar for far too long, so I will plug their music whenever I can.

My pleasure
 

If it's strength you want, then Samichlaus is worth looking at. Very expensive, but exquisite. I have a couple on order which I have never had before, one of which is Schwarzes, a black lager tipping the scales at 14%. Austrian, of course.
My favourite English beer is, without a doubt, Tynt Meadow, brewed at Mount St Bernard monastery, near Coalville, so it's our only Trappist beer. Not strong (7.5%), but a huge flavour bomb. It's an English-style dark/brown ale (think Robinsons Old Tom), but I think they use a Belgian yeast which gives it a wonderfully complex aroma and flavour.
Tynt Meadow first saw the light of day about 2 years ago, and really it wasn't that great. I think they had yeast problems, and the beer just didn't really cut it. Six months later, I tried another one, and the difference was substantial. I put that down to bottle-aging and the beer maturing over time, so I started buying the odd box from the monastery. It just seemed to get better and better, and now I think it's world class. Even the young bottles are delicious.

If it's strength you want, then Samichlaus is worth looking at. Very expensive, but exquisite. I have a couple on order which I have never had before, one of which is Schwarzes, a black lager tipping the scales at 14%. Austrian, of course.
My favourite English beer is, without a doubt, Tynt Meadow, brewed at Mount St Bernard monastery, near Coalville, so it's our only Trappist beer. Not strong (7.5%), but a huge flavour bomb. It's an English-style dark/brown ale (think Robinsons Old Tom), but I think they use a Belgian yeast which gives it a wonderfully complex aroma and flavour.
Tynt Meadow first saw the light of day about 2 years ago, and really it wasn't that great. I think they had yeast problems, and the beer just didn't really cut it. Six months later, I tried another one, and the difference was substantial. I put that down to bottle-aging and the beer maturing over time, so I started buying the odd box from the monastery. It just seemed to get better and better, and now I think it's world class. Even the young bottles are delicious.

Amazing, thanks Eddie.  I’ll get a selection and report back.  I like the sound of Trappist beers so will get a few of those, plus some of the others you’ve recommended.  Much appreciated thanks.  ? 

OK, try Tesco first. They have the following:
Leffe blond and Leffe brune, both what I consider to be 'entry-level' Belgian beers. InBev own the company, so they are somewhat mass-produced, but don't let anyone tell you that they are rubbish - they're not, and I always have a bottle of Leffe brune in the house (for cooking). The cost is usually around a fiver for 4 bottles (33 cl) or £3 for a 75 cl bottle. It's strange, but Belgian beers always seem to taste better in larger bottles (possibly because you relish a glass while looking forward to another). Both beers are around 6.5% ABV.
St Feuillien Saison is a light, dry-hopped summer-style beer, which is currently on offer at 4 bottles for £6. I like it, and drink it regularly. I think the offer runs for a few months. It's 6.5% ABV.
Westmalle Dubbel is a dark beer (all Dubbels are dark, most Tripels are light) which I think would be right up your street. It's a genuine Trappist beer, brewed within the Westmalle monastery, and it is truly world-class. It's around 7.5% and is a personal favourite.
Duvel (meaning 'Devil') is quite readily available now. A very blond beer which generates a huge head - it's 8% and costs £2 a bottle.
Then there is Duvel Tripel Hop. They use 2 of the same hops they use in the normal Duvel, but each year they change the third hop. You will probably find this has 'Citra' on the label - I think the other one doing the rounds at the moment is Cashmere. Again 8% - this one is £2-50 a bottle.
Another blond they do is Delirium Tremens (look for a grey bottle with pink elephants on it) - I like it more than Duvel, but it is a little sweet for some. Again, around 8% and £2-50 a bottle.
St Louis Gueuze is £3-50 a bottle, and it is a Lambic beer. Very much an acquired taste because it is quite sour according to my missus, but I love it. Lambic beers don't have yeasts added - they spontaneously ferment using the natural atmospheric yeasts (a bit like cider uses the yeast in apple skins). I love the style, but it is an acquired taste. Some think it's a bit 'funky'.
Bacchus Kriek is an excellent fruit beer. Not strong - around 5%, but it's delicious. Again, £2-50 a bottle, this doesn't have a label on it. The bottle is wrapped in paper. It starts life as a Lambic gueuze, and then a huge amount of cherries are added to the fermentation vessel during the secondary fermentation.
Where to buy other than Tesco?
For a swift turnaround, Beers Of Europe is a good place to start. They have a reasonable range (3 or 4 hundred Belgians, or they did in the 'beforetimes', and they turn orders around pretty quickly (usually within a week). Free delivery on orders over £60. The best place, but at the moment they are quite slow because of the huge demand, is Belgiuminabox, based in Antwerp. The postal charge is around 10 Euros, and for that you can get something like 30 kilos. That works out to over 40 bottles, but spare a thought for the poor old DPD driver who has to carry that. My typical order will set me back around £100 for around 40 bottles, but the quality of the beers is a cut above what you would get in Tesco.
Prost.

After reading you guys (mostly Eddie!) waxing lyrical over Belgian beers, I want to dip my toe in and see if they’re for me. Could anyone recommend me a few to get started and where’s best to order from?  I’m normally into darker beers / stout but I’ll try anything. Cheers in advance.

It's 4 bottles for £6 at Tesco at the moment. I think I'll get a few next week, plus their 'Blood Red Sky' which is also delicious.

Sat in the back garden this afternoon, and the Memsahib and I sucked down a 75 cl bottle of Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel. I then followed it with an exquisite glass of Innis & Gunn Original.
Both utterly delicious.

BBQ pork shoulder, cooked low and slow for 5 hours and 1 hour resting. Gravy from the drippings, cider and apple juice.. Tender as and the gravy was excellent.. 

All right, you can have one. You've got to give him credit for copying and pasting every ingredient - that took a lot of patience and served two purposes...
It got his post count up by several hundred It gave us a laugh when he misspelled 'Pak Choi'.

All right, you can have one. You've got to give him credit for copying and pasting every ingredient - that took a lot of patience and served two purposes...
It got his post count up by several hundred It gave us a laugh when he misspelled 'Pak Choi'.

Not planning on making a pizza for a few days. Saying that, the Memsahib did precisely that on a bottle of Kloster Andechs Bergbock Hell which arrived in the order from Beers of Europe just at the precise time she got thirsty.

Woo hoo. The pizza disc arrived. It's in quarantine until Tuesday.

Seem to recall watching someone crimp a pasty with his false teeth, Albert Steptoe, i think it was..

500 g Chicken  2 onions, chopped 1 green pepper, seeded and sliced (ok, I used a yellow one)  Mangetout  Green beans  Pak Choi  Mushrooms  Celery  Bamboo shoots  Water chestnuts  A few prawns Cauliflower  1 teaspoon fish sauce  1 can (400 ml) coconut milk  250 ml chicken stock  Dark soy sauce  1 dessert spoon brown sugar  2 dessert spoon ginger and garlic paste (or fresh ginger and half a dozen cloves of garlic, chopped)  1 dessert spoon lemongrass paste  Half a jar Thai green curry paste  Green chillies sliced  Kaffir lime leaves  Coconut oil for frying  Salt and pepper Thumb-size piece of ginger, peeled, washed and cut into matchsticks (add late) The rice was cooked with Star Anise, cloves and saffron, then served with lime zest mixed in.
It was stunningly good.

Chicken?

Water chestnuts?

Four pints of Final Furlong bitter 4.5% with a caramel finish (apparently). Brewed 10 minutes walk from my house at the Uttoxeter Brewing Company.
You have to take your own receptacle and they'll fill it straight from the cask for £2.50 a pint, all done with social distancing arrangements and card payment or pay on line and collect.

First 'flavoured' beer I ever had was Wells Banana Bread Beer, first time I knew that there were delicious, interesting or barrel aged beers, and other good ones above 7%,, was Innis & Gunn original, although back then I think it might actually have been properly barrell aged and not just aged on top of fake, flavoured 'barrel chips'
Anyway, I don't care that much about its authenticity, I just know that it is responsible for my going down the glorious beery path I've been on for the past 8-10 years.

Sat in the back garden this afternoon, and the Memsahib and I sucked down a 75 cl bottle of Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel. I then followed it with an exquisite glass of Innis & Gunn Original.
Both utterly delicious.

Shame one of Dorset’s best restaurants had to go tits up for me to get hold of this nectar.

Turkey croquettes, stuffed with chilli, camembert, cranberry and port.
I spent two hours putting these babies together - I hope the Memsahib approves.
 

Wienerschnitzel tonight.
I am not the master of breadcrumbing -- but not too bad really.