Catalogue no. BBG220
Glasses
Exhibit information
Glass style Ale Glass A versatile, usually straight-sided glass with a wide opening, designed for easy drinking while leaving room for a good head and the beer's aroma.
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Explainers Curator’s Notes A stemmed Hoegaarden glass carrying the historic De Kluis identity associated with Pierre Celis’s revival of Hoegaarden witbier.
Celis began brewing witbier again in Hoegaarden in the mid-1960s, several years after the town’s last traditional producer had closed. His brewery later took the name De Kluis — “The Cloister” — linking the modern revival to Hoegaarden’s older religious and brewing heritage. The beer grew rapidly in popularity before a major brewery fire in 1985 led to outside investment and, eventually, incorporation into the group that became Interbrew.
The glass reflects that older De Kluis identity rather than later, more streamlined Hoegaarden branding. Its colourful crest is repeated in miniature on the distinctive faceted stem, where the paired symbols evoke both religious and brewing traditions. The tall rounded bowl sits somewhere between ale glass, goblet and tulip, another example of Belgian beer glassware resisting neat classification.
Dedicated glassware was an important part of Hoegaarden’s presentation under Celis, helping distinguish the revived witbier at a time when lager dominated the market. This variant forms part of that broader tradition of giving Hoegaarden a recognisable vessel as well as a recognisable beer.
