Hoegaarden Brewery

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Hoegaarden Brewery
Websitehoegaarden.com

Hoegaarden Brewery (

witbier
, which is different from a wheat beer. Hoegaarden de-emphasizes hops, and is unfiltered, giving it the hazy, or milky, appearance--which makes it a wit (white) beer.

History

The village of Hoegaarden had been known for its

coriander, and dried Curaçao orange peel known as Laraha. In the 1980s, with demand for the product continuing to grow, Celis bought Hougardia, a former lemonade factory, to expand his brewing operations.[1]

After a fire in 1985, several brewers offered their help. One of these was the largest brewer in the country, Interbrew. Interbrew lent money for the purchase of other buildings to rebuild the brewery. Over time, Celis felt that the company used the loan to pressure him to change the recipe to give the beer broader appeal.[citation needed]

Celis decided instead to sell them the brewery, and with the proceeds, he moved to the United States, where he set up the

Celis Brewery in Austin, Texas, to continue making wheat beer to what he described as the original Hoegaarden recipe. It was later acquired by Miller Brewing. Celis never fully relocated to Texas, but his daughter and son-in-law, who operated the brewery, did. Miller ultimately closed the brewery and sold the equipment and brand names to Michigan Brewing Company
.

The wheat beer Celis brewed in Texas, which he described as the original Hoegaarden recipe, was at the same time brewed in Belgium, first by Brouwerij De Smedt and then later by Brouwerij van Steenberge. This beer, Celis White, is still being brewed in Belgium by Brouwerij van Steenberge, and was brewed in the U.S. by Michigan Brewing Company, which went bankrupt and sold the name.

Interbrew merged with

bottle conditioned would be changed. The closure sparked protests from Hoegaarden locals, upset at the loss of the town's largest employer.[citation needed
]

The move was never completed. The brewers in Jupille remained unsatisfied with local production of the beer, so on September 10, 2007, Inbev decided to keep the production in Hoegaarden. Inbev also decided to invest part of a 60 million Euro budget in the Hoegaarden site to upgrade the facilities.[citation needed]

Types of Hoegaarden beer

Hoegaarden wheat beer in its characteristic hexagonal glass
Wheat beer
First brewed in 1445, Hoegaarden is a wheat beer spiced with
coriander and orange peel. It is unfiltered and therefore has a cloudy appearance. In many bars, it is customarily consumed with a slice of orange[5] or lemon. It has an alcoholic content of 4.9%.[6]
Rosée
Launched in 2007, 3% ABV. Available in the Benelux.[7]
Citron
Launched in 2008, 3% ABV.
Grand Cru
Launched in 1985, 8.5% ABV.
Julius
An 8.8% blonde ale, with a dry taste formed through triple-hopping.
Forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit
(French: Fruit Defendu. Flemish: Verboden Vrucht) An 8.5% dark ale, with complex spicing.
Spéciale
Launched in 1995, 5.7% ABV. Hoegaarden Spéciale is a full-bodied, rich Belgian-style wheat beer, available from October to January.

References

  1. ^ a b "Likeurtjes proeven naast de brouwerij". Het Nieuwsblad. 3 January 2005. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  2. ISBN 9780756639822. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  3. ISBN 1-85249-174-4
    , page 143
  4. ISBN 9780762404032
    .
  5. ISBN 9781452132815
    .
  6. ^ "Hoegaarden at RateBeer". Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  7. ^ "Hoegaarden". hoegaarden.com.[permanent dead link]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hoegaarden brewery.
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