Hoegaarden Brewery
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Hoegaarden Brewery ( , ) is a
brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...
in
Hoegaarden Hoegaarden () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Hoegaar ...
, Belgium, and the producer of a 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 witbieren (white beers) since the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. In the nineteenth century, the village had thirteen breweries and nine distilleries; however, in 1957, the last local wheat beer brewery, Tomsin, closed its doors. Pierre Celis, a milkman who had grown up next to the brewery and sometimes helped with brewing, decided ten years later to try to revive the style. He started a new brewery, called de Kluis, in his hay loft. Celis used the traditional ingredients of water,
yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...
,
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
,
hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...
,
coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...
, 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. After a fire in 1985, several brewers offered their help. One of these was the largest brewer in the country,
Interbrew Interbrew is subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is based in Breda, Netherlands. It has one subsidiary, Ambev S.A. of São Paulo, Brazil. Brands Interbrew brands have historically included Budweiser, Stella Artois, Boddingtons Brewery, Boddi ...
. 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. 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 Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, 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 AmBev in 2004 to form a new company,
InBev InBev () was a brewing company that resulted from the merger between Belgium-based company Interbrew and Brazilian brewer AmBev which took place in 2004. It existed independently until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which formed Anheu ...
. In November 2005, InBev announced the closure of the brewery in Hoegaarden, among other changes in Belgium. The brewery was to close in late 2006 with production moving to InBev's larger brewery in Jupille. The beer Julius was said to have been an immediate casualty, and sparked worries that all beers that were
bottle conditioned Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...
would be changed. The closure sparked protests from Hoegaarden locals, upset at the loss of the town's largest employer. 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.


Types of Hoegaarden beer

;Wheat beer: First brewed in 1445, Hoegaarden is a wheat beer spiced with
coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...
and orange peel. It is unfiltered and therefore has a foggy appearance. In many bars, it is customarily consumed with a slice of orange or lemon. It has an alcoholic content of 4.9%. ;Rosée: Launched in 2007, 3% ABV. Available in the
Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...
. ;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: (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


External links


t'Witgebrouw visitor's centre
{{Anheuser–Busch InBev AB InBev brands Breweries of Belgium Breweries of Flanders Belgian beer brands Companies based in Flemish Brabant Hoegaarden