Hoegaarden Grand Cru

Well this came out of nowhere. See I have this beer bible, it's an amazing reference point and I base a lot of the beers I try on it. The guy that wrote it is actually dead now, and I'm sure alcohol had nothing to do with it.

Anyway, it lists two different Hoegaarden's - the Witbier (Belgium) (original) and the special. So when I spotted the Grand Cru (not the special) I was very curious. The only time I've had Hoegaarden was after smashing a massive pasta meal many years ago and then trying to drink a whole carton by myself. Got to 8 then I don't know. Clearly back then I wasn't drinking to enjoy the taste.

But wow, the Hoegaarden Grand Cru (Belgium). 8.5% alcohol content, fantastic cloudy golden colouring, a lot of sediment. In terms of smell/taste, it's like the opposite of Duvel. It pours with very little aroma (despite what you may read elsewhere, it's all lies I'm telling you) but then hits you with a three stage flavour process. First the smooth richness rolling over your tongue, second the honey characteristic coming through as it heads towards the back of your throat, before leaving a lingering bitterness that offsets the sweetness of the honey, thus allowing for that next sip to be as interesting as the last without the sweetness ever becoming overpowering, and for the consumption of multiple glasses to occur (though bare in mind the high alcohol content, this could knock you about quite badly).

I have to say, if we forget about the aromatic aspect, this is one of the most perfectly balanced beers I've had to date. I know, I know - you can't just leave aroma at the door. But Hoegaarden is damn well doing something right with the arrogance they're displaying in basically neglecting a major element required for good taste but still producing a top-quality brew. Shooting to top 5 easily - maybe top 3 when I enjoy it at some occasion that has some sentimentality.

It's the bottle that's fourth from the left in the image above, I'll get to the others later.

Grand Cru - my god.