Hoegaarden Verboden Vrucht

Brewed by Brouwerij Hoegaarden (InBev)
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Hoegaarden, Belgium

BEST BEFORE: 19/09/09 Nice, dark-ish copper color with a ruby tint. One-finger head of creamy white foam that leaves a nice layer of cream floating atop the liquid. Lacing is okay. Smells like booze infused dark fruits. Cherries, mostly, with some plums and peaches thrown in. Some nice caramel malt notes. Butterey brown sugar. Hints of light spiciness. Dark fruits that have been lightly dipped in a butterey-sugar glaze. Plums are the dominant ones, here. Nice hints of toasted malts, way in the background. This is actually a very well-balanced beer. I expected it to be more fruity, honestly. I am pleasantly surprised. Medium body. Nice and creamy, which benefits the style. Smooth. Very drinkable. Give me a six-pack of these and I’ll show you. It’s just tasty.

Nice winous aroma with yeast, pine, hay and hops. Sweet, alcoholic flavor with notes of hops and yeast.

Bottle, 33cl. Pours an unclear dark amber beer with an offwhite head. The aroma is sweet with esters. The flavor is sweet. The palate is sparkling from a high carbonationlevel. Overall a really good belgian beer.

300 ml bottle. Appers dark brownish body with tanned head. Lots of yeast floaters. Aroma has spices and some fruity banana flavours. Flavour has some sweetness, fruits and malts. Alcohol is present.

Bottle. Pours a dark mahogany with a fizzy off-white head. Aroma was malty with caramel, fruit and spices. Flavor was slightly sweet with caramel, ripe dark fruit, yeast and some belgian spices.

330ml bottle, trappist glass, at de Bier Haus Tauranga. Dark pink/red brown hue lots of sediment. Creamy, beige coloured head with a pink tinge, rapidly diminishing, good lacing. Strong dark fruit and spice aromas and flavours especially plum and cherry, raisin, rhubarb, aniseed, and cough mixture! The plum/cherry aroma is borderline artificial to me. Mostly sweet with lingering tart bitterness in the after-taste. I thought this was amazing the first time I had it. Second time round its just quite good.

Bottle. Medium to dark brown with orange tint. Tall head, foamy, gusher. Aroma of caramel malt, cereal grains, spices, citrus fruit. Somewhat earthy, with dark fruit as well, cherries, and a bit of raisin. Strong caramel malt, slightly sour fruits, a slight citrus tang, spice, and a reasonably hoppy and bitter finish. Not much hop flavor, though. This was one of the first Belgian beers I got hooked on. Now it is simply all right. A bit bland, a bit too sweet and spicy, but not ruined.

Drank under the name Le Fruit Défendu, bottle of 330 ml at Pub St. Alexander in Quebec City September 24, 2009. Muddy brown caramel, good head. Aroma of berries and spicy malt. Taste of spicy dry malt, notes of ripe fruit, finish slightly tart and dry, slightly bitter. Nothing exeptional simply pleasant!