Hoegaarden Brewery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hoegaarden Brewery | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Hoegaarden, Belgium |
| Owner | InBev |
| Year opened | 1966 |
| Active Beers | |
| Witbier (Blanche) | witbier |
| Das | |
| Speciale | witbier |
| Grand Cru | |
| Verboden Vrucht (Fruit Défendu) | dark ale |
Hoegaarden Brewery (pronounced /huːɡaː(ɹ).dən/) was founded by Pierre Celis in Hoegaarden in Flanders. Celis revived the witbier (white beer, see wheat beer) tradition in 1966 when he created a beer with the traditional ingredients of water, yeast, wheat, hops, coriander and dried Curaçao orange peel.
After a fire in 1988, the brewery was purchased by Interbrew. Pierre Celis moved to the United States where he set up the Celis Brewery in Austin, Texas to continue making witbier.
The brewery is now owned by InBev. As of 2005, they brew the following beers:
- Witbier, a 4.9% ABV witbier, the brewery's flagship beer.
- Das, a 5% ABV light-amber barley beer.
- Speciale, a 5.2% ABV seasonal witbier.
- Grand Cru, an 8.7% ABV strong ale (In Britain it is 8.5% ABV)
- Verboden Vrucht (forbidden fruit), a 9% ABV strong dark ale
[edit] History
According to the bottle, the recipe dates back to 1445 and developed by Monks in the small Belgian town of Hoegaarden near Brussels. More likely, the history of brewing in the town of Hoegaarden was traced back to 1445; production methods and recipes follow modern brewing practices.
The Belgian brewing industry was nearly destroyed with a culmination of serious competition from the lager industry and rampant looting during both World Wars. The last post-war brewery in the town of Hoegaarden (Tomsin) closed in 1957. Nine years later, a milkman named Pierre Celis, who had previously lived next to the old brewery, discussed with friends how he missed the traditional white beer. Celis decided to revive the Belgian white beer with financial help from his father and brewing assistance from a veteran brewer. He began a small farmhouse brewery called The Cloister (or more commonly known as "De Kluis", in Dutch).
Celis' move to re-establish white beer in Belgium is often cited as an inspiration for the resurgence and renewed interest in Belgium's declining beer culture, much in the same way that Fritz Maytag's San Francisco Anchor Brewing has been an inspiration to the legions of microbreweries that have been established in the USA.
In 1985, with much of the brewery destroyed by a disastrous fire, Pierre enlisted financial assistance from the Artois company (brewer of Stella Artois; part of Interbrew as of 1987). In 1989, Celis retired from the company, sold his remaining stake to Interbrew.
Some beer writers had for years felt that the Hoegaarden beers had lost character since Celis departed (Steve Beaumont, for example), but commercial growth had continued in Belgium and internationally. In 2004, Interbrew merged with (some say acquired) the Brazilian brewery Ambev, forming a new global company called "Inbev" - still including the Hoegaarden brewery.
On November 30, 2005, InBev announced that the forthcoming 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' is said to have been an immediate casualty, and worries were that all beer that were "refermented" (bottle-conditioned) would be changed.
The closure sparked protests from Hoegaarden locals, upset at the loss of the town's most famous symbol (and largest employer).
(After selling out to Artois, Celis could not keep away from his desire for white beer and founded Celis Brewing Company in Austin, Texas, which was later acquired by Miller Brewing. Celis never full 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 Co.)
[edit] Tradition
Hoegaarden tradition states that the first Hoegaarden of the day must be finished in three gulps. The amount taken-in during the first and second gulp is of no concern as long as the third gulp completes the pint. (Source: The Thirsty Traveler)
Note: this assumes a glass size of 25 cl - not the oversized 50 cl glass InBev often pushes in export markets.
