Hoegaarden unfiltered. Belgian beer "Hoogarden": description, reviews

Hoegaarden is famous all over the world for its pale color, original taste unlike anything else and a special octagonal glass.

The history of the unique foamy drink Hoogarden is closely connected with the name of Pierre Selys. This is a real beer artist, a man who created a legend, and did not agree to exchange it for the huge profits of the world's alcohol corporations.

Main characteristics

Country of origin - Belgium.

The manufacturer is Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Existing container:

• glass bottle 0.33, 0.5 and 0.75 liters;
• tin can 0.5 liters.

Existing varieties

Interbrew currently produces three varieties of Hoegaarden:

• Wit-Blanche;
• Grand Cru;
• fruit.

Interestingly, from the point of view of modern Russian food legislation, they are all beer drinks. It would be interesting to look at Pierre Selys when he was told that, according to officials from Russia, he did not brew beer at all. I think that surprise was the softest feeling from the emotional palette that he would have experienced at that moment.

In general, this is a topic for a separate serious conversation. Now I would like to tell you in more detail about each of the Hougaarden beer brands.

Hoegaarden Blanche

This spirit is also known as Hoegaarden Original White. It is an unfiltered wheat white ale with an ABV of 4.9 degrees. It is this "beer drink" Hoogarden is widely known in Russia.

The composition of wheat ale includes the following components: mineral drinking water, barley malt, wheat, hops, hop products, orange peel, coriander and apple pectin.

Hoegaarden Wit-Blanche has a smoky pale gold color. The drink has a memorable aroma, which is made up of notes of orange peel, spices, ripe wheat and coriander. The taste is incredibly soft, fresh and light. Once you've tasted Hoogarden's white ale, you'll never forget this sweet and sour miracle. On the palate, citrus, spicy and hop nuances stand out noticeably.

After pouring into a glass or mug, a rich, dense, persistent and white foam is formed.

Hoegaarden Grand Cru

Hoogarden Grand Cru is a full-bodied top-fermented beer with an ABV of 8.5 degrees. Despite the rather high content of ethyl alcohol, it is not felt at all during tasting. However, not all foam lovers attribute this fact to the unambiguous advantages of alcohol. I have also heard the opposite point of view. It boiled down to the fact that beer should still have a real beer taste.

The composition of Grand Cru in terms of its components is largely identical to the Wit-Blanche brand. However, the tasting experience is completely different.

The color of the foamy drink is much brighter. It is best to classify it as amber. At the same time, the characteristic cloudy yeast sediment is present in Grand Cru. The aroma is more intense and persistent. The main roles in it are played by wheat, malt fruit, spicy and citrus undertones.

The taste is incredibly soft and dense. It captivates the taster from the first sip. In it, notes of various spices intertwined in the most incredible way.

Hoegaarden Fruit

Hoogarden Fruit is an authentic dessert alcohol with a strength of 8.5 degrees. He is completely self-sufficient and freely dispenses with food and any snacks. This brand is also not filtered, so it can be classified as live beer.

The composition of the foamy drink, in addition to the ingredients listed above, includes orange zest.

The Fruit brand has a stunningly beautiful red color. Its aroma is dominated by fruits, which are perfectly set off by wheat and hop notes.

The taste has a characteristic beer bitterness. In addition, you can easily feel the citrus, spicy and fruity nuances. But the main flavor is wheat.

Many tasters and ordinary beer fans say that despite its composition, Hoegaarden Fruit is closer to wine than to beer in the usual sense for us.

History reference

The creator of the Hoegaarden brand, Pierre Celis, was born in Belgium in March 1925. From childhood, he worked part-time at a brewery, which was famous throughout the district for its original approach to beer recipes.

Pierre started with home artisanal brewing. He brewed alcohol for himself and his friends. Everyone was delighted with the results of his alcoholic creativity, so in 1966 he bought a small home brewery.

Unbelievable but true. Celis pale ale was so successful that it quickly replaced the famous Stella Artois lager from the Antwerp area. Then he came up with a special octagonal glass, in which intoxicating alcohol was served.

By 1985, his factory was brewing 25 hectoliters of froth. No one knows how history developed in the future, if the fire had not intervened in the matter. To cope with its consequences, Pierre had to turn to his main competitor, Stella Artois, for help.

By 1988, Mr. Celis had lost his autonomy in decision making. Wealthy companions forced him to brew cheaper beer. He refused, sold the remaining share of the enterprise and left for the USA.

After settling in Texas, he develops the production of a new beer, Celis White. Again, his creations were popular. But here, too, he failed to stay away from the representatives of the world of capital. As a result, he again had to sell his brewery. This time the buyer was Miller.

Produced in compliance with age-old traditions. It is recognizable all over the world, because. has a memorable citrus taste.

Characteristics of Hurgaden

The most common variety of Hoogarden is white beer, which is prepared according to an old recipe, its composition is natural. This Belgian ale is often referred to as white rather than pale because it has a milky undertone and is different from any other unfiltered beer.

If you look at the drink in a glass, then it looks like it has a slight haze. Its color combines bright and golden hues.

In its aroma, Hoegaarden combines notes of orange peel, oriental spices and selected wheat.

The taste of the drink is slightly sour. It invigorates and at the same time refreshes, has a soft, pleasant bitterness.

The composition of Hoogarden has no analogues. It combines mineral water, grains of young wheat, malt from selected barley, dry peel of fresh oranges, unmalted oats and coriander.

Where, by whom and how beer is brewed

The history of Hoegaarden originated in the last century in Flanders. Initially, the drink was brewed by local monks. Over time, beer began to be in great demand among the local population and brewers began to prepare it. This continued until World War II broke out.

This is where the story of the iconic drink could have ended, but this did not happen thanks to the enterprising brewer Pierre Celis, who was hard pressed by the destruction of the brewing business in the Belgian village of Hoogarden.

Pierre managed to revive the local traditions of making beer. With the help of his family and locals, he established a small Belgian ale business. The demand for his drink was growing rapidly, and there was a need to increase production capacity. In 1980, Pierre decided to buy the Hougardia plant.

Due to its unique taste, the drink has become popular with foreigners. The Hoogarden plant began to attract the attention of international brewing companies. Pierre decided to sell the plant to Interbrew. So beer Hougaarden, whose manufacturer has changed, has become recognizable all over the world.

The place of production of the drink has been preserved in its historical homeland, in Belgium.

Hoegarden is an unfiltered beer brewed according to an old recipe. The composition of the beer is not hidden, but the production technology is kept secret. However, we managed to find out that the method of top fermentation and double fermentation is used in the manufacture of the drink.

Types of Hoegaarden

Hoegarden is divided into several types according to composition and capacity for bottling.

Most often you can find a drink in an aluminum can or in a glass bottle. The taste of beer is preserved regardless of the container in which the drink is poured.

Hoegaarden is divided into several main types:

How to drink Hurgaden

The drink has a branded six-sided glass, in which it is customary to serve beer. Interestingly, this idea was implemented by Pierre Celis. Belgians believe that such a glass preserves the true taste of Belgian ale.

In Belgium, it is customary to place a wedge of lemon in the bottom of the glass to give the ale a special flavor. This taste becomes intense if the lemon is slightly crushed.

homemade beer recipe

To make Hoegaarden at home, you need beer wort concentrate and yeast. The concentrate already contains hops and malt.

The must is diluted with mineral water and mixed with sugar syrup or honey. Diluted yeast is added to the resulting mixture. To make the drink get a citrus taste, grated coriander with ground orange peel peels is added to it. In the next week, the fermentation process will take place.

To make the drink carbonated, you need to separately boil the sugar syrup and bottle it to a height of 2-3 cm from the bottom. Then, after a week of fermentation, the beer is poured into prepared bottles and corked. The containers are left closed for a week for secondary fermentation. It is better to leave the drink to brew for a month to get a rich taste.

When preparing beer, it is important to disinfect all appliances and containers.

March 21, 1925 in the city of Hoogarden was born Pierre Celis, the man who created Hoegarden beer. From an early age, he helped in the brewery, where various spices and fruits were widely used as additions to beer. But in the 50s, other, large brewing companies, in particular, moved to the place where he lived. And the Tomsin brewery, where Pierre Celis worked, was closed. Then he started working on his father's dairy farm.

One day, friends offered him, as if in jest, to brew some beer, because what was then was no good. And Pierre tried. He brewed the first batch of beer in a milk boiler. He remembered how beer was brewed at the Tomsin brewery, because he had no recipes. That first recipe included malt, hops, ground coriander seeds, and orange peel. The recipe that Pierre took as a basis has been used, as they say, since 1445 in local monasteries. It was one of the popular recipes used everywhere both in breweries and for home use. It is still unknown whether the modern Hoegarden beer recipe was taken from the monasteries, or whether Pierre Celis came up with his own recipe, but the official history of Hoegarden beer began in 1966.

Everyone who tried it liked his beer, and Pierre decided to produce beer in commercial batches. In 1966, he bought a small brewery, which he installed in a stable next to his house. Then the production had to be expanded - to move to the building of an old, abandoned lemonade factory.

The white beer of Pierre Selys quickly supplanted the Stella Artois lager, first from Leuven, then from Antwerp, and then spread to the Netherlands and France. Everyone liked that special taste, so unlike the taste of lager. And an unusual heavy octagonal glass, into which this beer was poured, added a zest.

And if the production of Hoegarden beer began with 25 hectoliters, then by 1985 it had expanded to three hundred thousand hectoliters. At the same time, Pierre began to supply his beer to the United States. But the fire ruined his plans. The brewery was burned to the ground and the insurance could not cover the cost of restoring it. Pierre had 40 million Belgian francs, but he needed 280. Then Pierre gave 45 percent of the shares of his company Stella Artois, which agreed to provide the missing funds.

All went well until 1988 when Stella Artois merged with Piedboeuf. Their holding was named Interbrew. Soon, people from the new holding came to the brewery to Pierre and insistently “offered” to brew one wort and then dilute it with water. But such methods did not appeal to him and he was forced to retire, having sold his share to the Belgian giant.

But Pierre did not calm down on this, he was not given his interest in brewing. And he opened a new brewery in Austin, Texas. He started to release a new beer - Celis White, just as tasty as the previous one. This time he again fell on the same rake. Pierre's partners wanted big turnovers and quick earnings and he had to sign an agreement with the company. The administration kept reducing the cost of production in order to make a profit and was losing quality, which meant losing a buyer. Pierre again sold his share and returned home to Hoegarden. And the factory in Austin was soon closed.

Meanwhile, the holding Stella Artois and Piedboeuf were renamed InBev. And this holding decided to close the plant in Hoegaarden, the first plant of Pierre. Sales and production were great, but InBev decided to move the factory to a big city.

Hougaarden beer is now brewed in Leuven and all rights to it are owned by the InBev holding.

Hoegarden beers

There are three types of Hoegarden beer. And here we will consider each of them separately.

Hoegarden white

Energy value - 44kcal / 100g;

Hoegarden white is a classic Hoegarden beer. A light, unfiltered beer with a smoky color and real taste. The composition also includes orange peel, coriander and many other spices. It is clear that the recipe is not disclosed to the general public.

After the beer is poured into a glass, a white cap of dense foam is immediately visible, which can be eaten with a spoon. The aroma of citruses and a little ripe wheat is felt very well, the smells are very characteristic of white beer.

The taste of beer is very soft, without bitterness, hops are not felt, but a slight sourness and a slight aftertaste of fruit are felt.

Hoogarden Grand Cru

Energy value - 69 kcal / 100g;

Ingredients: mineral water, light barley malt, brewer's wheat malt, hops, wheat, ascorbic acid.

This beer is many times richer than the classic Hoegarden. The color is also much richer and brighter. Fruit, wheat, malt, spices, citruses and even hay are mixed in the smell of Hoogarden Grand Cru beer - this aroma is truly enchanting. The color of the beer is golden, cloudy, yeast sediment is visible.

The beer tastes like mulled wine. Very gentle and sweaty, with a touch of spices and without the bitterness inherent in beer, it is truly mesmerizing. Beer, as if alive, fascinates both in appearance and taste. According to eyewitness comparisons, Hoogarden Grand Cru is about 4 times richer and tastier than classic Hoogarden.

Hoogarden Forbidden Fruit

Energy value - 70 kcal / 100g;

Ingredients: mineral water, light barley malt, brewer's wheat malt, hops, wheat, ascorbic acid, orange peel.

Wheat beer unfiltered, with special spices and pronounced fruit additives.

The beer has a muted red color and a pronounced fruity aroma with hints of wheat and hops. This beer is very unpopular with us, obviously reminiscent of wine, but for true connoisseurs it will be the most delicious.

The taste of this beer, of course, is somewhat reminiscent of classic beer, but, unlike the first two varieties, it has a pronounced bitter aftertaste characteristic of beer. There is also a hint of citrus, spices and a few other fruits. But, nevertheless, the taste of beer, light wheat, dominates.

Special glass for Hoegarden

This glass was designed and created by Hougaarden beer creator Pierre Celis. He saw the prototype in a local shop in Hoegarden. They were Italian glasses. Many people throughout the history of Hoogarden beer have agreed to drink it only from these glasses, created especially for him.

The original octagonal shape and a thick layer of glass allow the beer inside the glass to always remain cold. Due to the thick walls, contact with warm hands is much less and the glass absorbs heat into itself without giving it away to the beer. Thus, the beer stays cold longer.

Already when Pierre Celis completely sold his first business, InBev Corporation changed the shape of the glass to a hexagonal one for more convenient and economical production. This is how it exists now.

Although various legends were circulating in Hoogarden, some of which are frankly absurd. But, since Pierre Solis was still alive until recently, he discovered the secret of the origin of glasses.

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Hougaarden is a drink that can be safely called not just beer, but an old refined alcohol created by the Belgians exclusively for connoisseurs of beauty.

He, in addition to his classic, has many more common names, such as:

• glass of sun
• Belgian wheat;
• white beer;
• cold sun.

The beer has a peculiar, unlike anything soft rich taste and light, unusual color for a drink of this category. The aroma is simply incredible - orange notes wrapped in the smell of ripe wheat. That is why Hoegaarden constantly arouses the desire to try and learn as much as possible about it.

Each of the varieties of "glass of the sun" is unique in the content of ingredients. They perfectly combine wheat with oats, malt, spicy coriander, orange peel and mineral water.

The production recipe is very ancient and distribution is discouraged. Therefore, they try to hide the process from prying eyes and keep it secret. All that is known to ordinary buyers is the use of the principle of top fermentation and double fermentation technology (adding yeast cultures to finished beer poured into a container for sale).

It is very difficult to get an analogue at home. The main rule, of course, will be the orientation on the composition of the manufacturer: half of the wort should consist of germinated wheat grains, and the second should contain equal proportions of malt (barley) and oats (unmalted). The boiling process takes place on the basis of mineral water and 5 minutes before its completion, zest with coriander is added to the liquid.

The history of the birth of the beer brand

- the name that gave the world a wonderful foamy drink. A man with a capital letter, who for a long time opposed corrupt officials who were chasing wealth. A native of Belgium who was able to create a legend in the world of beer.

He began his career as a simple worker in a small Tomsin brewery, which used fruit additives and spices in its recipes. Here the young man learned a lot, gained experience, thanks to which in the future he decided to try to make beer on his own.

In the 50s. XX century the large company Stella Artois that appeared on the market replaced the smaller brewery and Pierre was left without a job, but with a huge store of knowledge. He worked as an assistant on his father's dairy farm, and in between times he treated his friends to beer. He cooked his first batch directly in a milk boiler, adding coriander and orange zest to the main recipe. Everyone who tried the creation of Selys was delighted and begged him to repeat.

Then the young experimenter decided to seriously engage in production and in 1966 he bought a small brewery. Hoegaarden began to be in demand and gained such popularity that in a few years it was able to compete with Stella Artois itself. Gradually, Pierre's beer becomes famous not only in his native small town of Hoegarden, but also far beyond the borders of the country. It is in demand in France, Holland and gradually penetrates the US markets.

About 20 years Celis was engaged in the production of white unfiltered, perhaps he would have continued the same amount, but a misfortune happened. The fire burned to the ground the brewery, all the equipment and destroyed the building. It took a lot of money to restore, which Pierre did not have, and the banks refused to lend such an amount. He had to give away part of the Stella Artois company, which later turned into a huge Inbev holding after several mergers. Nowadays, it is a major producer of beer of the most famous brands (Stella, Hoegaarden, Staropramen, Brahma, etc.). Today, Hoegaarden brand beer is produced not in the town of the same name, but in Leuven.

Variety of beer

The modern brand Hoegarden has three types of beer.

Traditions and culture of consumption

It would be surprising if a beer like Hoegaarden didn't have its own distinctive way of drinking. Its feature- a glass, a thick octagonal glass, invented by Pierre Celis himself.

Since Hougaarden is a beer whose taste is revealed when cold, dishes were needed that kept its temperature for a long time. Pierre once saw Italian glasses for sale in a shop and realized that this was exactly the form for his foamy drink.

Pre-beer glasses hougaarden specially cooled to 2 degrees. Thanks to the thick glass, when in contact with the hands of the drinker, the heat does not penetrate into the interior so quickly, thereby keeping the cool temperature of the drink much longer.

Later, when the brand was taken over by InBev, they decided to replace the octagonal glasses with six-sided glassware, as they were more convenient and more economical.

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