Hoegaarden is probably the most familiar beer of its style (wheat beer with botanicals) available to UK drinkers and one I remember drinking at least 20 years ago. It’s the kind of beer that really divides opinions, it has its fans from long ago but there are plenty of drinkers who detest it. Indeed, my cousin Paul worked many years in the Netherlands, and brought many interesting beers home with him for us to sample, likened it to drinking Fairy Liquid. I’m partial to an occasional bottle, but it’s the sort of beer I need to be in the mood for and favour in the summer.
On the lookout for 0%-low beers for the start of the year this looked interesting and warranted further investigation. From the label it appears that it is produced similarly to the alcoholic version, with orange peel and coriander seeds added to the brewing process, but where it differs is the addition of citric acid and apple extract too.
The other difference is it’s in a can not a bottle, so doesn’t have the (slightly pretentious) instruction to poor two-thirds, swirl the bottle and add the remainder.
So potentially a very interesting 0% beer, but how would it compare to the original version?
- Name : Hoegaarden
- Brewery: AB InBev, Hoegaarden, Belgium
- Hops : Not specified
- Grain : Malted barley and wheat
- Aroma : Delicate and herby (the original is more citrusy)
- Appearance : Golden, cloudy and a short lived white head (the original had a brighter colour and was more cloudy, probably due to the ‘swirl’)
- Body : Medium body, medium carbonation but with poor head retention (the biggest surprise was the body on the original version was a little thinner)
- Taste : Quite fruity and sweet, some maltiness but not as herby as expected and overall quite robust (the original is more delicate with the bitter/sweet balance different and produces a dryish finish)
- Dietary restrictions : None recorded
This was a pleasant surprise, an interesting well flavoured beer which is fair approximation of the original. Low alcohol beers can be a little thin and sour but not this one, if anything it is superior to the original, but it does lose some of the delicacy of the botanicals and bitterness in the process. The zero version has a nice mouthfeel and more of a wheat creaminess comes through.
So, which is the better beer? Well, I’m going to sit on the fence and score them the same even though they are a little different. The original is still a good beer that is readily available in supermarkets but there are better examples of the style around now from smaller craft brewers. The zero version is impressive, and I would be quite happy to drink even if I wasn’t driving. Whilst not likely to get me to completely switch over it would be an ideal alternative to switch to after sampling 2 or 3 regular wheat beers.
*not more than 0.05%; original Hoegaarden 4.9%
Peter’s overall rating: 3.6/ 5.0
The|Eternal|Hoptimitsts 