Belgian Wheat Beer

A beer style went extinct. One man brought it back. That is the story of Belgian wheat beer, or witbier, which means white beer. It is what Matthew and I talk about in this short video. I open the video by showing off a book about Pierre Celis, the godfather of white beer, that I found on eBay. It is from around 2005 and I have not read it yet, but I am looking forward to it.

What witbier is

It is an easy-drinking, not very bitter beer made with orange peel and coriander. The wheat gives it a slight white haze, hence the name. Matthew describes it as very pale, a little milky, with lots of coriander and lots of citrus. It runs about 4.5 to 5% alcohol, so you can drink quite a few. It is great on a summer day.

The style traces back to the Middle Ages, when farmers made beer with the wheat and spices they had on hand. Just use what you have.

How witbier almost disappeared

Crystal clear golden lager pushed a lot of classic styles into unpopular territory. Once people had seen clear beer in glassware, their minds were blown, because all they had known were dark or very hazy beers. If you are drinking from a stone mug or a horn, you do not care about clarity, but with glassware you do.

Witbier was brewed mostly in one area, around Hoegaarden in Belgium. In 1957 the last brewery making it closed. The elders who had grown up drinking it were pretty upset.

Pierre Celis was a milkman who, when he was younger, apprenticed at that brewery. On his delivery rounds he kept hearing the grumbling from townsfolk who missed witbier. He missed it too. As far as we understand it, he did not have a recipe book, so he had to figure it out. He started brewing on his farm, sometimes selling beer out of milk jugs. Eventually he opened his own brewery in his hometown, Hoegaarden. As a side note, that dairy equipment translated well to brewing, which is why plenty of American breweries have bought old milk centrifuges instead of filtering systems.

It worked because everyone wants what they cannot get anymore and because people were getting tired of boring lagers and looking for something different. The natural foods movement helped too. This beer is naturally hazy and has live yeast in the bottle.

The legacy and who it is for

Celis inspired a lot of other breweries. Matthew points to Blue Moon, Allagash White and Shock Top. He notes that tons of craft breweries make a witbier. Blue Moon is probably the biggest selling one in the world and consistently ranks in the top 10 to 15 beers sold globally, on a list otherwise made up of golden lagers. One person who missed a beer brought it back and it became a global phenomenon.

I call people like Celis the old gods of the beer scene. They are a small group who held the torch for flavorful styles when a tsunami of boring lagers had mostly wiped them out.

It is also a great beer to hand someone who is not into beer. It is flavorful but not bitter, affordable and approachable. The person who normally wants a Bud might be satisfied. So might someone who finds craft IPAs too intense. Watch the video above for the full story. Grab yourself a bottle of Hoegaarden or another witbier and hit the porch.

If you are studying for the Certified Cicerone exam, the history behind a style helps it stick. The Certified Cicerone course and the Beer Scholar Study Lab cover the vital stats.

Matthew also runs virtual beer tastings for date nights and corporate events. If that sounds like your kind of evening, email him at [email protected].

Cheers! –Chris