Belgian beers: Hoegaarden

Hoegaarden isn't a very old brand. Around 1966 Pierre Celis started the Hoegaarden brewery to revive the tradition of brewing white beers. This tradition stopped in 1955 when the last local brewery closed its doors.

After a big fire in 1985, Celis' brewery got help from other brewers to get back on its feet. One of those, Interbrew (now InBev), eventually bought the brewery and the Hoegaarden brand.

The brand is now well known worldwide.

Hoegaarden
The main beer is white beer with 4.9% alcohol.
The standard ingredients are used like water, yeast, wheat, hops and special ingredients typical for the entire Hoegaarden family like coriander and dried Curaçao orange peel.
The cloudy appearance originates from the second fermentation in the bottle.
Hoegaarden has a refreshing taste and a hint of citrus. It's great as a thirst quencher.

Hoegaarden Speciale
The Speciale is a seasonal beer (October -> January) with a higher alcohol contents of 5.7%. The color is golden blond.
The flavour is more spicy than the original Hoegaarden, the citrus flavour is more pronounced too.

Hoegaarden Grand Cru
The Grand Cru is a delight when drinking. It's a heavy beer with 8.5% alcohol contents, but unlike many others, the taste of alcohol is well hidden.
A cloudy pale gold color and a flavour of citrus and other spices. Many flavours are hidden in the taste and aftertaste.

Hoegaarden Rosée
Hoegaarden Rosée is the Hoegaarden beer with a raspberry flavour and colour. It's just as refreshing as the original, but obviously with a fruity taste.
It has an alcohol contents of about 4.5% and drinks like lemonade.