Mc Chouffe

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

Serve in Thistle

750mL bottle. Best before end of 2006. Pours a dull, light brown, some red hints and a lighter yellow hue. Bottle conditioned, but still mostly clear. Aroma of dry toffee, barley grain, dry musty blankets, and some cinnamon-like spice. Flavor starts out dull and dry, with a classic caramel malt, some lightly peppery spice. As it warms, it picks up some lightly sweet fruit flavors (cherries, dates, prunes), though it is still quite dry, and very subtle. Dosent seem to really get terribly interesting. Just a straight up well brewed scotch ale.

8/28/10. 750mL bottle. Cloudy brown with reds, like a mud brick, with TONS of sediment, it’s even on its billowing khaki head. Somewhat plain fruity aroma... a bit odd. The flavor is very sweet and almost cola-like in flavor... not digging it. Very high carbonation.

From the bottle at De Kelk in Brugge during last week’s trip to Belgium. Reviewed from notes. Serve in a McChouffe chalice. Pours dark brown with a nice, foamy light tan head. Good retention and plenty of lacing. Nose brings loads of dark fruits and a bit of sweetness. Flavor falls along the same lines, though the two don’t mix quite as well as in the nose. Medium body and good carbonation. Semi-dry finish. Well made and quite tasty.

11.2 oz bottle purchased at John’s Grocery in Iowa City. No date. Poured a clear chestnut orange color. Head was rocky, off white-yellow, and reduced to one finger in height after a minute or two. A bit of lace was left on the glass at the end. Aroma was predominantly of brown sugar and light alcohol, but there was also a whiff of dried fruits such as cherry and raisin. Unexpectedly, the carbonation was on the low end of the spectrum. Delicately sweet and medium bodied. Velvety mouth feel, especially at the end. Plum juice, smooth malty caramel and toffee flavors dominated, but the driedfruits in the nose also emerged in the flavor. A nutty note and a bit of alcohol came out at the end. Disappointingly, I didn’t get any smoke in the nose or flavor. Decent beer, but a hint of campfire might give it some extra oomph.

75 cl bottle. Dusty, moldy, vegetal aroma with some caramel. Medium to dark brown color. Flavor of caramel and vegetables. The Scotch ale aspect is rather subdued under a farmhouse flavor, and the two don’t really blend together well.

Dark amber color with a light brown head. Sweet caramel and molassas aroma. Flavor of sweet fruit, some molassas notes, and mild spices.

This is one great beer. A wonderful flavor, not sweet. Creamy for sure. A bit of spice but some good balance between light and heavy. Truly excellent.

The aroma has floral hops, caramel malt, yeast, and fruit. The appearance is mahogany with a persistent head. The flavor is malty with toffee and fruit. The palate is OK. The aftertaste has a little chocolate. While this is good I was expecting more.