Chouffe Bok 6666

Brewed by Brasserie d’Achouffe (Moortgat)
Style: Dunkler Bock
Achouffe, Belgium

This one is back in bussiness from tap at the Bonte Koe, Leiden: Amber looking Bock from the Ardennes a roasty raste with some caramel hints. Mine first Bock for the season.

[Bottled, thanks BierKönig!. Rating #6666] Muddy reddish brown. Lightly lactic with dusty cherries and coffee up front. Medium sweet with medium body and rounded mouthfeel. There’s toffee and red berries, but the dustiness is so severe it feels like licking the inside of a vacuum cleaner. A beer with many positive features and some obvious drawbacks.

This beer was so damned carbonated that I could barely taste it. It might be a little old but it was more like a tasteless Brown Ale. No roasty toasty malts or caramel or much of anything.

(Bottled, BBE 2005, sampled 04/2006) Very murky coffee-brown color with a large, tanned and lacy head. Very caramely, sourish-fruity aroma with lots of toffee and herbs. Very original licorice-salmiac flavor with tar, herbs (eucalyptus, mint) and yeast. Some dry, chalky ashiness in the finish. Medium-bodied, soft, but a bit foamy-carbonated, slightly slicky palate. A very interesting, enjoyable and very easily drinkable brew. Nothing to do with typical bocks, which is not a bad thing, IMO. A great Belgian session beer (although not dull by any means) with reasonable ABV! Very Fantome-like, too.

This is a bock? Don’t get me wrong, I like this beer... but it’s the weirdest freakin’ bock that I’ve had yet. It poured a hazy, light, date-colored brown body with frothy tan head... er, halo. Initially, I got a big whiff of yeast when I snorted the brew. After the head died, the first scent to appear was black licorice... then sweet malt, a little alcohol, some apple and nutmeg, and a sprinkling of vanilla. It’s quite light in the mouth and the carbonation seems to kick it up before you can swallow. The flavor is more straightforward - brown sugar, toffee, licorice, apple, allspice, alcohol, cherries, pepper, vanilla, and the proverbial kitchen sink. Yup, the weirdest freakin’ bock that I’ve had to date.

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"Best before end 2002" So that means....it might be a tad old. Well, at least I found it out atop a shelf infront of a neon sign, where it was physically warm from the heat. I’m sure that means its just got more character. So, it this rating is more negative than usual, the blame the conditions it was in and the age. If the rating leans more towards the good, then it must be a hearty beer. So, here goes: Decent pour, light on the head and a brown/red boy. Aroma is light grassy malt smell, light spice, and a bit of brwon sugar and caramel. The taste has diminished some I suspect, but is still quality. It is far from bold, but remains balanced and enjoyable. THe bottle says on the back to enjoy it as a "refreshing springtime ale." Which makes it clear that this is a winter bock beer.

(Bottle 75 cl) Dark reddish with a lovely, rich head. Spiced sweetness with a discreet, hoppy finish. Malty and full-bodied, some overripe fruit in there too. Interesting and quite unusual as Bocks are terribly rare in Belgium. The back label contains a weird story about flying goats over The Niagara Falls - don’t ask me any further... According to the label this is 6,666% ABV 181297

(draft 2002 vintage) A nice reddish-brown. Had a fruit component that wasn’t the apples I’m used to from Belgians. I’m going to call the flavor a mix of cherries and beets. Not too bad, but not worth a second glass.