Verboden Vrucht / Fruit Defendu (Forbidden Fruit) - Brouwerij van Hoegaarden

imrichbeeeatch

Oregon

4.38/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Brought to the states by a friend of mine. 33cl bottle poured into Belgian style chalis. Huge malty Belgian aroma wafting from glass. Beautiful dark amber color, slight haze. Poured nice head, big bubbles, like egg whites when you whip them to stiff peaks. Wonderful flavor, malt, dark fruit, sweet caramel, no hops (as expected). Very nice beer. What a treat! Wish I could get it here.

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2006 01:18:40 | More by imrichbeeeatch

moderndrunkard

S. Georgia & S. Sandwich Isls.

3.05/5  rDev -21.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours a big, airy, tan-colored head. Hangs out for a while. Foggy, opaque body with a light brown color. Looks very dense.

Yeasty, slightly alcoholic smell. Nothing I can point out very specifically, just sweet with a hint of malts.

Opens with a creamy head taste and a nice, high carbonation level. Sweet body with a bitter aftertaste. It seems to me to be lacking the spiciness of the regular hoegaarden. But, on the other hand, it lacks the heaviness of the Grand Cru. Which is a plus in my book. I think I notice a slight phenolic taste, but I'm still not quite sure what exactly that is yet. It's not as fruity as I expected, so it loses some points there.

Overall, too plasticy and bitter for this style.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2006 18:15:08 | More by moderndrunkard

DV8HARD

Florida

3.85/5  rDev -1%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I served it into a Pilsener glass from the bottle. I actually wasn't going try this beer, I asked a friend who was going to the liquor store to get me another beer but, she mistakenly brought this one. Nevertheless, I'm glad she did.

Again, like other high content Belgian beers this one started bursting in bubbles after I opened it. The head has a very nice light brown color. The beer it self is also brown but, dark and hazy. It didn't stick as much as I thought it would.

Taste wise, it is very fruity and complex. I got a hint of prune which seemed unusual. I don't like how the alcohol masks the taste of the beer in these strong Ales.

I would recommend this beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-04-2009 01:19:47 | More by DV8HARD

akenethon

Germany

3.53/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: looks like dunkelweizen, but not so much foam
S: smell of hops and a little bit alcohol, hint of milk chocholate
T: somewhat nutty and aromatic taste, slightly sweet. light bitter aftertaste
M: light mouthfeel, not so full and creamy.
D: drinkable, but not exceptional

In general, this is a good beer but the taste is somewhat deviod of character. Similar to leffe blonde in that it reminds me of that "beer for masses" taste belgian style. For this style and at this price level and availability I would rather go for leffe brown, but this is not an average beer either.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2010 19:33:33 | More by akenethon

trappist

Texas

3.95/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I gave this beer those numbers in consideration of the vast array of beers out there, which wouldn't be as good as this. If it were a rating against other beers in this style, it would be a little lower. i should also mention that this is one of my favorite styles.

appearance: not quite brown. brown with a little copper. the last drops poured dark brown/black and stayed visible in the head.

smell: just what you would expect from a belgian strong dark. i haven't had many in the last few weeks, so the smell was quite nice.

taste: it started off somewhat spicy, and to be honest, somewhat disappointing when considering this style. i don't want to slam this beer (which was in fact from a bottle) but the first 1/3 was almost even glassy/metalic tasting. the beer was purchased about a week and a half ago in the netherlands and traveled with me on a flight back to texas, so it's not too old, but is well traveled. about half way through the flavor came around. the array of flavors that i've comed to love from the dark belgians really showed up, and durring the the last 1/3 it tasted great.

this is a quality beer. i've been drinking alot of really good trapists and belgians over the last 4 months, so my palate is somewhat spoiled in this style. still a good beer and one worth trying.

Serving type: bottle

12-09-2003 06:31:53 | More by trappist