Tangerine wheat beer
The sweet orange peel is supplemented by orange juice. The coriander gets a little added spice from a hint of nutmeg. They won't be able to knock down the price - which could result in sticker shock for those unfamiliar with Belgian imports that aren't Stella Artois - but they might let you just buy a sample bottle and recommend something similar if it proves cost-prohibitive. Don't fret, the shops' staff typically have far less bite than the clientele and are there to help out. It's going to require a trip to a beer-specific vendor or bottle shop and a bit of bravery on the part of the drinker. The stumbling point of this beer is that, unlike Blue Moon or some of the other brews listed here, it's likely not going to be available in the beer aisle or at the average packaged-goods store. The folks at BeerAdvocate liken it to lemon meringue, but key lime pie or the lemon custard filling from a doughnut would fit as well. The flavor, meanwhile, is incredibly tart but smooth. The mix of coriander and anise hits right away with a flavor like clove and a scent almost like citrusy pine - no, oranges and lemons don't grow on pine trees, but trust us, it makes sense. Of the 20 beer brands that make up 72% of all beer sold in the U.S., Blue Moon is the only one that's not a light lager.
Amid a recession that sent light lager sales plummeting, Blue Moon sales rose 26% in 2010 and anther 19% a year later, according to Beer Marketer's Insights. Not only was it well-received during the initial craft beer boom in the early '90s, but it's still growing in popularity today. Three years after Celis debuted his white, however, Coors ( TAP) brewer Keith Villa formulated Blue Moon while working at the company's on-site brewery at the Denver home of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies in Coors Field. His Celis White was good enough to get Celis a buyout from Miller and introduce witbier to a generation of craft brewers.
Undaunted, Celis moved to Texas and opened his own craft brewery just outside Austin in 1992. That company is now known as Anheuser-Busch InBev and is the reason jelly-glass tumblers of Hoegaarden can be found in outdoor restaurant spaces and beer gardens across America.
Celis' recipe turned into Hoegaarden White Ale and sold more than 300,000 barrels at its peak in 1985, when a fire engulfed its brewery and forced a cash-strapped Celis to sell to giant Belgian company Interbrew.