by Andrew H Brown

Created on: November 08, 2009

Summer's the best time to drink witbier. It's perfect as a thirst-quenching brew that's absolutely refreshing when the sun's beating down. Not a lot of call for it here in Scotland then. No, we leave that sort of thing up to the people of the semi-arid plains of sun-drenched Belgium.

Belgian wheat beers (more often called white, or witbier, due to their cloudy, milky colouring) usually have a refreshing, tangy flavour with hints of orange, honey, and spices. They're brewed with unmalted wheat, malted barley, and occasionally, oats. The proportions used are typically around 55% malted barley, 40% unmalted wheat, and 5% unmalted oats.

Belgian wheat beers are different from German, or indeed British and American wheat beers, in that they're fruitier, with more of a lemon touch. This is because of their use of coriander, orange peels and other spices to flavour the beer.
Belgian Whites are sparkling and refreshing. They are among the best thirst quenchers of all beers.

This one is the unfiltered and bottle-conditioned Brugs Witbier which I drank at a pavement cafe in the South of France whilst having nothing better to do.


Jan Hugheins founded his brewery in Bruges way back in 1455 and being the sticklers for tradition that the Bruggers are, it's still making beer more than 500 years later. Although these days it's done in De Gouden Boom brewery under the umbrella of Alken-Maes.
On the continent, or in Belgium at least, Alken-Maes are responsible for such beers as: Mort Subite, Judas, Maes Pils, Fosters, Kronenburg 1664 and this one.

THEY SAY:
"A light yellow beer, finely balanced between sour and sweet, fresh and fruity.The specific flavour of wheat, joined with the powerful aromas of hops, orange rind and coriander give this white beer a rich and refreshing character."


BRUGS WITBIER pours a beautiful, golden yellow colour - like a tropical sunrise. It's fairly cloudy and has quite a vigorous carbonation which leads to a billowing, puffy white head that shrinks a little, but never disappears and leaves a good amount of lacing on the glass.

The aroma is slightly dusty, yet sweet with some faint grainy tones. Not surprisingly, there's plenty of citrusy, fruity nuances, and a hefty spice kick. There are some apple notes and a hint of pear drops.

It has quite a soft and flat mouth feel, considering the carbonation, and the taste of the spices is noticeable straight away.It's quite crisp and dry, gently bitter, with cartloads of orange flavour bursting in your mouth. Needless to say, it had a dominant citrus tone.There's not a lot of malt sweetness, nor much hop bitterness, but it does turn a little sweeter towards the end. It finihes clean and quite dry, with a faint nutty flavour.


At 4.8% ABV, this is quite a nice witbier. I don't think it's as good as Hoegaarden, but still very refreshing and easy-drinking. I'm not sure I'd want to drink more than an occasional glass of this though, it's just a little too harsh, I thought.it definitely could be smoother. Still, if its whole purpose is to quench your thirst, I have to say it certainly gets the job done.
It's not really a beer that lends itself well to accompanying a meal although the little dish of salted peanuts I was served with it went down a treat.
All-in-all, it's definitely a well-crafted beer that has withstood the test of time and we can only hope that it remains that way now that a larger brewing concern controls it.

Would I drink it again? - I'll be bruggered if I know.

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