title_body: Why does Belgium have such a rich and profound brewing culture?
upvoted_answer: When one speaks of "Belgian brewing", one must distinguish between two major styles of beer: the famous abbey ales produced by Trappist orders in Belgium (and now one in America), and the the saisons and bières de garde produced as inexpensive nutritional supplements and dietary staples for farm life. An interest in the history and production of these beers is best served by Phil Markowski's Farmhouse Ales and Stan Hieronymus' Brew Like a Monk.
  
  To touch on a few of your questions:
  
  
  As previously alluded, beer served a utilitarian purpose as a dietary staple and nutritional supplement for an agrarian society. Beer was frequently brewed in large batches at regular intervals in support of farm life, and the result were table beers and saisons for work during the harvest and bières de garde (loosely translated: "beers for keeping") to survive the winters. 
  Abbey ales are not as varied as they initially appear. Much of the variation in beers brewed in Trappist style come from fermenting different "runnings" of the same batches of wort (unfermented beer); to summarize very briefly, the strength is dependent upon the sugar content which is dependent on how many times the mashed malt has been "rinsed". See Wikipedia's page on lautering for more details.
  Belgian and English brewing are actually not very dissimilar from a historical perspective, and there was quite a bit of overlap in technique between English, Belgian, and Flandrian brewers. The differences in style we perceive now (e.g. IPAs vs Flemish sours) evolved by regional taste preferences from common roots: malt-forward beers (which were originally quite sour) using the low alpha acid noble hops which thrived on the continent. Consider the similarities in taste and composition between an ESB and a dubbel.
  
  
  In addition to the above referenced works, a quick read through the history section of Jeff Sparrow's Wild Brews should answer any remaining questions you might have about the history of Franco-Belgian beer.