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The clone wars

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Is it just me or are the Aldi knock-off beers getting more and more on-the-nose with their branding. I literally spent a few seconds boggling at Hofflegen when I first saw it on a shelf, so blantant the purloining of Hoegaarden's image.

I still bought a bottle of course. The label helpfully tells us this is brewed for Aldi by trustworthy Belgian giant Palm, although a brewery that doesn't have a headline witbier of its own in Belgium's bestsellers. It matches Hoegaarden's strength at 5% ABV, but not its colour, being quite a brackish-looking muddy ochre.

The aroma is much brighter, brimming with citrus sunshine and a fresh spice from crushed coriander seeds. The texture is smoother than these usually are, with less interrupting fizz: unorthodox, but I like it. It's very sweet on the palate to begin with, almost like a non-malt ginger beer, but a certain breadcrust crispness in the middle leaves no doubt that it's a wheat beer. Beyond that there's just the faint bathroom-cabinet scent of the herbs before a rapid fade-out leaving minimal aftertaste.

I know how badly-made witbier tastes, and this isn't one of them. Yes it avoids the harsh dry grain effect by overcompensating a little the other way, but as a cheap and unfussy refreshment beer, this is well worth keeping in stock.


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