Okay Mats mate, enough discussion. Don’t you think we should do some practical testing and comparison of the local varieties?
Kayeby, where are ya? feel like a beer?
Some weekend soon maybe? Sunday afternoon?
My money’s on Coopers to win - by a head! (hehehe)
I’ll email youse all, to set up a date before the end of June, okay? Any other melbourne posters or lurkers might like to give me a buzz too.
Redboss
hello wooly, don’t ask, and welcome!
Aack! Maybe Pierre Celis would like to take on a young energetic protege who’ll carry on the Celis tradition (ahem).
Let’s see here … Coldfire can be head of European distribution and … er … quality control. Loaded Dog can hold the same position in Australia.
(C’mon, guys <snap, snap!>. Can’t spend all day doing “quality control” – gotta do SOME distribution sometimes!)
Coldfire, thanks for the reminder about “weizens”. My pore ole brane forgot about the fact that Hoegaarden-type brews are, in fact, fundamentally weizens, despite some differences from their German cousins.
What are the notable differences, then?
Granted, they all vary in taste and recipe, no doubt. But they’re all Weizen, wheat beers. What sets the Germans apart from the Belgians?
Apart from a lack of humour, of course. 
[Edited by Coldfire on 06-13-2001 at 09:27 AM]
Coldfire, I find that Belgian-style “whites” kick up the citrus & coriander overtones when compared to German weizens. Blindfold me and have me taste-test Franziskaner, Celis Grand Cru (RIP 
) and Hoegaarden. I’d be able to tell the three apart based on the strength of the coriander flavor. IMHO, there seems to be only a hint of coriander present in Franziskaner, plenty more in Hoegaarden, and far more still in Celis Grand Cru (among Grand Cru’s other add-ins, like orange zest & vanilla).
Something was making me think that Belgian “whites” had something else going on above & beyond the traditional German weizen recipe, but I was wrong. The only differences seem to be in the proportion of secondary flavorings, and how those proportions influence the final taste of the beer.
I fully agree with you. But indeed, it’s all in the ingredients.
Another little factoid: the Hoegaarden brewery (these days part of the Interbrew Group) produces the Grand Cru, but it also gives us Le Fruit Défendu (“The Forbidden Fruit”). The two are very similar, almost identical even. There is, however, one ingredient added to the latter. Can you tell me, without using search engines or any other of that sissy stuff, what that ingredient is?
If you can, the first three rounds are on me. 
Le Fruit Défendu, huh? Having never sampled that brew, I’ll have to throw a wild guess out.
Citrus overtones in weizens aren’t particularly unusual. However, Le Fruit Défendu must have something different, else you wouldn’t have brought up your question.
Taking a cue from fellow Belgian lambic brewers, I’ll guess that Hoegaarden throws some peach into Le Fruit Défendu.
Right or wrong, I’ll be better educated about beer today!
Close, but no cigar!
It’s passion fruit. Don’t worry, it doesn’t improve the Grand Cru at all. And heck, I’ll still buy the first round. Gotta give you credit for trying!
You’re trusting me to… er… ahem I mean, yes sure, I’d LOVE to do the distrubition here.
MWWWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA hic
I don’t think anybody’s mentioned the beerhunter site yet. Hours of fun.
The likes of Bordelond and Coldfire may like to go straight to the styles page, though I’m starting to suspect they know at least as much as the site’s author. Sure signs of a mis-spent youth emerging here.
Ha ha! I wish! No way, Loaded Dog! Michael Jackson is the undisputed world-cham-PEEN shiznat of brew. He’s forgotten more about beer than I could ever hope to learn in a thousand lifetimes.
Not uncoincidentally, Jackson happens to have the world’s greatest job, bar none. <groan from the gallery>
Seriously, in beerdom, Jackson is well-known as THE top-most source of beer info & review. I have one of his Beer Guide books and his CD-ROM, and consult them often.
Wanna hear some funny shit? This guy I met in bar tried to tell me there was also a dude named Michael Jackson that -get this- sings. I laughed at him, and then broke my beer mug on his forehead. What an idiot.
TheLoadedDog: misspent youth? What higher goal does a man between 15 and 24 have, other than to drink as many different beers as possible? Provided he also has occasional sex, of course.