A HEAVENLY BIT OF HISTORY.

Perhaps they had too much time on their hands. Or they were sick of the sacramental wine. Maybe it was divine inspiration? We’ll never know for sure. What we do know is that the Hoegaarden monks were the first to discover the unique recipe for wheat beer around 1445.

TYPICAL TOURISTS
1445. That’s a long time ago. Belgium was still part of the Netherlands and the Netherlands still had plenty of colonies. And as true tourists the Dutch often brought wonderful and odd things over from their excursions abroad. So it came to pass that exotic spices became readily available in our parts. All to the benefit of our beloved monks.

MASTERCHEFS
Historical sources tell us that the first wheat beer was incredibly sour. That is until the Hoegaarden monks started experimenting with orange peel and coriander from the colony Curaçao: a divine discovery that led to the world famous Hoegaarden recipe. Had Masterchef been around back then, the judges would surely have called it a masterpiece.

ONE BIG BREWERY
Wheat beer caused a bit of a stir in Hoegaarden. In all honesty, Hoegaarden became one big brewery in the 18^th century. In 1709, the village had no less than 12 breweries. In 1726, that number had increased to 36. Oh and let’s not forget the 110 malt houses.

A TALL GLASS OF WHEAT BEER
The last brewery in Hoegaarden, Tomsin, closed shop in 1957. Soon after, in 1965, the villagers decided to take action to preserve the original recipe. Milkman Pierre Celis took the bull by the horns and started brewing up a batch in his milk shed, using only a copper boiler.
He quickly expanded his operation and moved into a bigger building – ‘De Kluis’ (The Vault) – a subtle nod to the monks. By 1985 the nod was no longer subtle as he was making more than 75.000 hectolitres per year. Just as he was about to start exporting to the United States, a rather large fire flattened his dreams (and the beer). The brewery was destroyed.

ONE HELL OF A HERITAGE
The original Belgian wheat beer could and would not be lost. Today, 9 out of 10 wheat beers sold in Belgium are from Hoegaarden. Meanwhile, the unique flavour is being appreciated and awarded throughout Europe, North America, Australia, Singapore and China. How they pronounce the name in other parts of the world is another story. One we won’t tell.

Our beers

HOEGAARDEN WHITE
500 years of hard work went into making this beer that features the aroma of orange peel, coriander and herbs that the merry monks imported from sunny Curacao. Speaking of which: pouring Hoegaarden is just like letting the sun fall into your glass: light yellow and naturally murky. And the soft foam adds a cloudy finish. And then there’s the soft taste, light and slightly sweet and sour and with subtle citrus notes… ah, just go ahead and taste it instead of reading about it!
In fact, the jury of the European Beer Star Awards 2014 did just that. Our white won bronze in the category Belgian-style White Beer… delicious!

HOEGAARDEN ROSÉE
The story of the jam jars (Legend has it that the shape of the glass is derived from jam jars. Because what do you do when there are no clean glasses left in the village? That’s right, you drink from jam jars.) gave us an idea. Hoegaarden Rosée. It might be pink but it is very much a wheat beer. It also features the soft taste and subtle colour of raspberries. And while it doesn’t feature a higher alcohol percentage, it does mean you can enjoy it even more in the sun.

HOEGAARDEN 0,0
All we can say about Hoegaarden 0,0 is that it has the same full and refreshing taste as a regular Hoegaarden, without the alcohol. Which gives us a moment to write a brief essay about the fascinating qualities of the Rubus Idaeus… Ah, maybe some other time.

HOEGAARDEN 0,0 ROSÉE
What can we say about Hoegaarden Rosée besides the fact that it resembles the regular Hoegaarden Rosée but without the alcohol?

HOEGAARDEN SPÉCIALE
Hoegaarden Spéciale is, well, special. If it were normal we probably wouldn’t have called it Spéciale. Just for kicks we had an amateur wine tasting club have a crack at describing it. They said it was playfully sour, with a sophisticated pallet and a prolonged aftertaste. We prefer calling it a bit bitter, with a ripe taste and served in a cool glass. They were right about the aftertaste, though. 
Seasonal beer, only available from October to the end of January. Available exclusively in Belgium.

HOEGAARDEN GRAND CRU
Grand Cru is Hoegaarden’s masterpiece. But let’s try to keep things modest. It has a fantastic cloudy orange colour, an amazing fruity aroma and an unsurpassed complex sweet and bitter taste. The subtle spices and citrus notes are the cherry on top. There, that was subtle. Available exclusively in Belgium.

HOEGAARDEN FORBIDDEN FRUIT
Apparently, Adam was pretty disappointed when the serpent offered him an apple. And we don’t blame him. This Forbidden Fruit is dark red, softly sweet, caressing and full in the mouth. It is brewed with roasted malt and hops, giving it a typical herbal plant aroma. By the way, it’s not forbidden to have a taste.