Hoegaarden Grand Cru
330ml bottle served in own tulip glass Xmas with friends in Belgium and the opportunity to enjoy some beers that "I've left behind" back to the years when I use to live in the beautiful and pleasant country ;) A: Pours a totally hazy yellow to white color with a nice medium white creamy aired head. Medium to low retention but, it never disappears totally. Leaves some few lacings around S: Smell is a delicious bouquet! Quite strong on herbs and spices (coriander and cinnamon, mainly), orange zest, vanilla. The Belgium yeasts are damn good on the nose! Also the sweet grains and the flowery hops in the end T: Complex as the smell. Again very spicy, with the strong notes of coriander and orange zest. Also vanilla, yeasts, sweet grains and flowery hops. A bit sweet and some notes of alcohol can be felt in the end M: Heavy creamy body with medium carbonation. Perfect and balanced. Dangerously drinkable considering its 8.7% ABV O: Reality is that, this is a stronger (or "improved") version of the classic Hoegaarden. In USA, we would call it a "Imperial Witbier", or perhaps a "Double Witbier" ;). In any case, a brilliant result...