Your Comments, Criticisms and Contributions - May 2005
Here in Sydney we have two "Belgian Beer Cafes" that specialise in Belgian beers/food. I suspect that they might be franchises of Interbrew. I had not been to my local BBC in quite some time, so I was interested to see if the Hoegaarden had in fact changed.. A couple of weeks back, a mate and I met up, had a pot or two of mussels and a couple of Hoegaardens. Changed it had, but was still much better than some of our local commercial brews.
My mate's wife joined us later in the afternoon. She is not a keen beer drinker and in fact Hoegaarden is (was) one of the very few drops she liked. Her verdict, "soapy." One lost customer! Yesterday my wife and I had lunch at the BBC and she too was a great Hoegaarden fan. Same story, one was enough.
Now I know that Australia is a ling way from the brewery and occasionally a keg might not travel well but I don't suspect that this was the problem. The Hoegaarden we had was "toned down." I won't use the term watered down because that implies something else. Sure, there were elements of the old Hoegaarden, but that's about it. A shadow of its former self. When I was in Belgium in February 2004, I don't recall any diminution in taste. As I said, maybe it doesn't travel well and in any case the local product should be fresher. From your local knowledge, has there in fact been a change in the way Interbrew, or whatever they now call themselves, produce their Belgian beers?
- Tom
Just yesterday, in fact, I was speaking with a Belgian about the toning down of Hoegaarden, which he admitted he had noticed even though he continues to favour the brand. Personally, since I included it in my Premium Beer Drinker's Guide some years ago, I have definitely noticed a decline in flavour. In fact, I rarely order it today, and when I do I find myself inevitably disappointed.
I have an older 'Gold Brau poster' and would like to know more about it and a possible value. Any ideas on where to look?
- Sally
Try breweriana.com, and good luck!
I was writing to inquire about submitting articles for your magazine. I am sure you receive many "great ideas" from your readers concerning what would make a good article, etc. But I was wondering if you have an official policy regarding freelance submissions?
I would gladly submit a writing sample, but will not send an unsolicited one. If there are any topics you would be interested in reading, please let me know. I am a home brewer in NYC, and hold a degree in communication.
Thanks for your time and attention. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely, Buddy Mungo
Thanks for the offer, Buddy. It's my hope that World of Beer will one day be able to hire freelancers, but at present I'm afraid we cannot. I appreciate your interest, though.
An informed consumer is an empowered consumer. Keep it up!
- Gary
We're very interested in your news, notes, comments and questions, so please feel free to contact SBWoB by clicking on the link below. Or you can add your comments when you sign up for the World of Beer Update, a mid-month e-mail newsletter that brings even more of the world of beer to your computer.
