La Chouffe

Brewed by Brasserie d’Achouffe (Moortgat)
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Achouffe, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottle at wine frig temperature. Spicey aroma of light stone fruits, yeast and cardamom. Orange tinged golden color, tiny bubbles, and a white head that quickly flattened. Medium bodied with spritely carbonation. The flavor is pale malt accompanied by citrus notes and something slightly woody. The finish is dry, and something herby, wood, or phenolic tends to build with time (could be that menthol or resin others refer to, but not at all strongly aromatic). The flavor seems to go a little earthy after awhile, with hints of anise coming out.

UPDATED: MAY 23, 2004 Tap: A little orange in the colour. Somewhat hazy with a white medium lasting head on top. Aroma and taste is spicy and the taste has some pleasant fruitaccents. Dosn't live long on the palate, but there is some pleasant bitterness. Alcahol well hidden.

This beer rocks. The aroma is lightly malty and highly yeasty(almost soapy). Coriander and other spices... cinnomon, nutmeg. Dried fuzzy fruits and dark fruits in the nose as well. This sparkling clear golden ale has large yeast particles thinly distributed. Large, frothy, rocky white head with excellent lacing. Mostly but not entiredly diminishing. The flavor is heavily malty. Warm, clean alcohol up front. Well-balanced. Lightly bitter on the backside. The high ABV is well hidden, but so is any real flavor... fairly bland. I did’t pick up any sweetness or candylike flavors in my bottle. Lively carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel. Short dry, crisp finish. Good beer overall, but fairly weak for an imported Belgian ale. Of course, this was the last beer I tasted on an evening that included Westy 8 and Westy 12, so maybe I was a bit spoiled by the time I got to this one. I may rate this one again in the future.

Keg at De Kroeg Cafe, Leiden. Clouded orange with white head. Light and slightly spiced beer with a definite hoppy note, almost American hop in style. Slightly sweet, then a little tangy note. Enjoyable, surprised I hadn’t rated this before.

blond colour, few head, honey and spices aroma, perfumy, sweet, alcohol and bitter finish

Bottle. Poured hazy orange color with a large off-white head that diminished very slowly with good lacing. Moderate complex citrus and spice aroma. Medium body. Medium spicy citrus sweet flavor with a bitter sweet finish of long duration. Standout beer.

a sim rate: La chouffe is bright peachy in colour, which extends into the flavour and aroma. It’s full in the mouth and very smooth-drinking. It’s one of my favourite blonde beers because of its unique flavour, but beware of the overly-alcoholic aftertaste.

Bottle at Cafe Ondinike Aalst. Red deep golden colour with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet, citrus, spices, alcohol. Flavour is sweet, citrus, malt, hop, belgian yeast. Easy drinkable beer.

Leicht würziger Geruch, säuerlich und kräuterartig, zudem leicht nach Banane. Frischer Antrunk nach Kräutern, deutlich hopfig-würzig. Im Mittelteil überzeugt die Würze, scheint sich aber noch etwas zurückzuhalten. Im Vordergrund ist das Bier so verhältnismäßig mild.Etwas süß werdend, im Abgang kommt das Malz stark zum Einsatz und verdoppelt die Würzigkeit auf einen Schlag. Hier ist das Bier besonders vollmundig, auch die im Vergleich eher milden Noten aus dem Antrunk sind hier weiter präsent, auf der selben milden Stufe eine leichte Nelkennote. Komplexes Bier bei dem es eine Fülle von Aromen zu entdecken gibt! Test vom 19.10.2008, Gebinde: Glasflasche Noten: 11,12,10,12,9,12 - 11,45

UPDATED: MAY 19, 2004 750ml bottle (bottle conditioned). To say this was lively would be an understatement. The cap did not come off cleanly and I was sprayed with beer, despite the bottle having been standing in cool conditions for several weeks. Another Chouffe beer that I bought at the same time was not nearly so ill behaved. After that, the beer was well and truly agitated so took on a murky mustard colour. It was impossible to pour without a head at least as large as the liquid element. Once that had settled down, the beer had been robbed of much of its aroma. Hints of apples, oranges and violets could be detected, but the alcohol content dominated. The coriander came through a little on the palate, which was distinctly spicy but also had sweet bready yeast and malt. The finish was bittersweet, slightly cloying, but tending towards sharp acidity in the aftertaste, which was quite short. I found the body a tad thin. Overall, this beer was all over the place, in more ways than one. Still, once I had recovered from the soaking, I found this quite intriguing, but over-hyped in my view.