A Study in Belgian White Beers

Think I've had enough beer for one summer? Maybe I have. But what the hell. I mean beside German wheat beers, Belgian whites (or abbey beers) have to be one of the best types of beer in the world. Here then is my impression of 4 beers of this style which I tried and compared. The results attest to the fact that maybe I have been drinking too much beer. Such a thing happens when you start leaning towards the drinkability focused beers...but anyways...

Hoegarden

This beer wears its name properly. It's white compared to the lager-ish yellow of the other three beers. If you've never had Hoegarden before I highly recommend it. It tastes like a crisp wheat beer and when nice and cold, it's better than anything Labatt or Molson carry any day.

Leffe

The first thing I thought of when I took a sip of the Leffe was wheat beer. It certainly resembles the style but still has the lighter notes of a white. Of the four beers on selection today, this was was the heaviest. But still very good.

Stella Artois

Easily the most known and main stream of our little beer buffet, Stella is a beer I've been enjoying for a while. Though there are little to no wheat notes to this beer - thus divorcing it from other Belgian white beers in my opinion - Stella has a very crisp taste with a slight herbal and nutty finish. This is easily the more "drinkable" beer (drinkable defined as a beer to get plastered on) but it really is a great beer. Not incredibly original, but still very good when compared to any light beer. (Though they have released a light Stella recently....shame on them...succumbing to the masses).

Affligem

Last but not least, Affligem claims to be more of a blond than a white. Though blonds do tend to be sexier than snow heads, when it comes to beer I consider this one to be something in between the Leffe and the Stella. That is, it's light and crisp but still has the rich wheat flavours. The thing that distinguished the Affligem for me was a slight bitter finish which the other beers did not seem to have. All in all, a very respectable beer.