I greatly prefer the Belgian beers in general. In my view they are brewed for a market where sipping an excellent product is the norm, whereas in the UK most drinkers look for something that they can down several pints of at a sitting.
My former employer has an education centre near Brussels and I've spent many (wonderful) weeks there.
Once, before an England World Cup game, a few of us went shopping for a trolley full of beers, to watch in the education centre's TV lounge.
The only criteria was that no two bottles were the same (not an issue in a Belgian supermarket).
We sat down an hour or so before kick-off, to get the best seats, and began "warming up" with some of what Trappist Monks seem to do best.
I have no recollection of the kick-off or any of the subsequent evening. Sipping is clearly sage advice.
My observation is that many Belgian beers taste lovely and complex, some not dissimilar to some British Ales. They rarely taste like they are 10% alcohol (which strong UK "Wife beater" lagers do) so invariably it is all to easy to sit down and start glugging pints of wine-strength beers, with the obvious consequences.
I've spent time in the US Mid-West also. They do some seriously terrible things in the name of Beer (Miller Light Ice-White Clear Beer and other similar sounding watery fizz) BUT they also do very nice "Boston Ales".
I ordered Sam Adams whenever I saw it (it was a safe bet) but eventually became a regular of the local "Brew-Pub" where we'd wait anxiously for the next brew to complete, be it a Wheat Beer, a "Boston" Beer or a Porter. It was all very lovely I have to say and the micro-brewers there take it every bit as seriously as your typical CAMRA person over here.