Hoegaarden Witbier

Most of us in the states are familiar with Celis White, Peter Celis’ witbier from his brewery in Austin, Texas. Inbev bought the Hoegaarden brewery from Celis, which resulted in the move to Texas. You may recall that InBev now owns Annheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser. And Celis is now owned by Miller (which is in turn owned by a South African company). So much for small breweries staying small. Wikipedia has the whole story, of course.

At any rate, it’s not that often that I see Hoegaarden’s witbier on a beer menu. Usually, it’s Celis White or a local hefeweizen. Not at the Press Club where I ended up for lunch today. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever had the Hoegaarden version.

It’s a very pale – think ginger ale – slightly cloudy beer as you’d expect from a wit. After pouring, it retains a nice thin foam on top, with champagne-like bubbles. Good champagne, not cheap brut. The aroma is of yeast, coriander, and spice with a little citrus tartness thrown in. The flavor is much like the aroma, crisp and pretty refreshing, though the yeastiness keeps the beer from being too light. It’s a great lunch time beer – not heavy, not too alcoholic, better than a sweet soda or some plain old water.

To be honest, I’m not sure I could tell this from Celis White, though I think it’s maybe a little lighter and more refined in the end. In the grand scheme of choosing beer based on speciality or location, both are owned by megacorporations, so it’s a no-win proposition. I’d just pick whichever is least expensive and available.