Hoegaarden Verboden Vrucht

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

Bottled. An amber brown coloured beer with plenty of sediment and no head. The aroma is sweet and alcoholic with brandy notes. The taste is sweet and fruity. Again the alcohol comes through. A nice beer but I felt it might have been a little old (Didn’t see the bottle so don’t know the BBE)Score 3.4
Subsequent rating scored 3.6. Average becomes 3.5

j’ai goute´cette biere douce dans un tout petit village provencal, il ya quelques semaines-- en fin d’hiver. dans un endroit joli et calme, entoure´de vieux batiments du moyen age, les fontaines qui respirent avec la chanson delicate d’eau, la ciel bleu et brillant, j’ai bu avec plaisir ce fruit defendu. that doesn’t say anything about the beer-- but it speaks volumns about how poorly i speak french. finding myself in france, i was able to muster the linguistic elements necessary to get this beer into my hands. thankfully, the beer spoke MY language perfectly: it described it’s own amber, toasted almond color and it’s abundance of yeast colored foam. like a playboy bubble bath photo shoot, the foamy extravagance of suds would have covered even anna nicoles knockers for a good two minutes plus. although served a bit too cold (in the charming ’bar de sporting’ in fabulous barjols, france), the beer warmed in the blanketing warmth of my enthusiasm. woody aroma mingled with dried apricots, tobacco, and waffles with confiture framboises. full bodied and smooth, passionately sweet, there was a great deal of information there about apples, peaches and even the more metallic tones of raspberry. flavor continued without a pause to encompass petit pain de raisin, and it’s carmelly toasted sugar-- and then ruby grapefruit in a balancing measure. jazzy carbonation was as up-beat as dixieland, alcohol melded beautifully with the dulling yeast component. ah, oui, que j’en ai bu, mes amis, et les ennuis s’etais enleve´.

I can semll a hint of coriander, but little else in this oddly scentless beer. There’s and acidic fruityness to the flavour that makes for a lovely drink.

(Bottle 33 cl) Reddish brown beer with a huge and long lasting head. Very full-bodied with a lot of sweetness - a bit much perhaps. Great malty flavours of dried fruits and perhaps a bit vinous in the finish. My version was 9% ABV. 190993

Woo, very suprising here. Was expecting a leffe taste, but found a very nice and intresting beer insted. When opened was to cold, so after leaving to warm a little the aroma goes through from apple/cinnamon to apricots, grapes, plums, rasins maybe bananas aswell. Excellent start anyway. Flavour, although a little thin and lighter bodied than i would have liked, very very nice. Refreshing and unexpected this. kept its head the full beer, which i salways nice, and maybe a little too carbonated. I left this on my shelf for 3 weeks before i drank it, and i think this helped, as iv had it before and it wasnt as good. Defo one to try if u see it.

Bottle. Sweet grape aroma. Brownish tan cloudy color with ample head. Sweet malt and fructose flavor. Lighter body - hard to believe it’s 8.5% alcohol. A lighter tasting Belgian strong ale.

Bottle, and I really gotta thank Fly here - he had given me a Shiner bottle opener as a gift at my sayonara party, and it’s the only one I have while I’m waiting for my home shipment to --- WOAH, I just heard this beeping in my apartment, apparently my refrigerator beeps at you if you accidentally leave the door open. Incredible! Dark, muddy red-brown w/large off-white head. Hmm, I was expecting more fruit here. Smells most strongly of white bread, followed by oranges and faintly cherries. Not really as aromatic as I was expecting from the ABV or the commercial description. I let it warm up some and it got slightly stronger but still left me a bit disappointed; I’ve come to expect more from Belgian Strongs. The orange peel comes out more in the flavor along with some peach, but its acidity is tempered by malts and so it doesn’t have as much as a citric quality as one might find elsewhere. A little bit of acidity does come out in the finish, interestingly enough.

Tasted 30/03/2005. 330ml bottle at the Cellar Vate March tasting. Pours a reddish hued brown with a creamed coffee coloured head. The nose is like biscuit dough, sweet and tempting, a little malty sugar and butteriness. Some toastiness too. Flavour doesn’t suprise and continues on the bicuit theme, there is a strong spicey biscuit flavour with only the slightest bitterness that seems more malt induced than hop. As it warms some alcohol shows through on the nose and in the warming mouthfeel. Sweetish lasting palate. A nice after dinner beer beer that would help warm conversation. More interesting a label than almost anything else I’ve come across bar the Cantillon range.