HOEGAARDEN
InBev
Belgium, 4.9% ABV
Although well known for its white beers since the Middle Ages, the Flemish town of Hoegaarden’s last witbier brewery bit the dust in 1955. It wasn’t until 1966 that the style was revived by, inevitably, a local milkman in, also inevitably, his hay loft. Nowadays, the idea of the stereotypical wacky Belgian brewing up a few barrels of intoxicating gloop for his mates has given way to mass production under the InBev umbrella. However, to this day Hoegaarden uses only the traditional ingredients of water, yeast, wheat, hops, coriander and dried Curaçao orange peel, which combine to give a taste a little like liquid Weetabix; and thanks to the heavily fibrous properties of the wheat, the beer resembles something along those lines when it comes out the other end the next morning. Commonly served with a slice of lemon or orange, for optimum enjoyment the manufacturers recommend drinking from a special Hoegaarden thick-sided, half-pint, hexagonal tumbler; the ton-weight Hoegaarden pint glass being a) far less common and b) a right bugger to steal without a sturdy wheelbarrow and a willing accomplice. And as well as causing heated discussions about its drinkability and take-that-back-ness over the years, Hoegaarden’s pale, cloudy appearance and natural sediment has provided a perfect disguise for crumbs, floaters and caked-on fag ash for many an unscrupulous landlord. This cloudiness, to settle it once and for all, is thanks to an additional second fermentation in the bottle. So now you know. MJ
