Mc Chouffe

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

Serve in Thistle

UPDATED: JUL 18, 2004 dunno why i once thought this was so great, i must've been easily impressed at the time. this is better than what mcdonald's would do to a belgian ale, but not that much better. it's mahogany, same colour as my piano, but a bit redder (i haven't flashlight tested my piano). big flavours of gingerbread, dry chocolate cake, roasted nuts, along with some rounded mellow malt (but not much), finishing with slight phenol, cooked apple, salt and pepper. quite sharp and tingly flavours - not fat and malty like scotch silly (but on the plus side, not too sweet). aroma is brandy, allspice, coriander, and fruity yeast. there are good elements in there, just maybe not enough guts to carry it all - mouthfeel in short is the main problem, it;s just a bit thin and fizzy. have put one away till 2006, hope it gets better.rer8: another bottle was much more caramelly and sweet, although still strangely lightbodied. not a very complex or staggering creation really.

750ml bottle. ruby brown pour with little floaties visible at the bottom of the glass where the light comes through. huge off white head with spotty soapy lacing. aroma was muted musty smells of raisins, caramel and cocoa. biscuit malts, dark fruits and light spices in the taste. texture was thinner than I expected for some reason. just wanted it to be a little more chewy. noticed butterscotch and nuts in the taste as well. definitely lots of subtle stuff going on here.

12 ounce stubby bottle poured into a Rochefort goblet. Deep russet brown with an ecru head. Poor retention, unbecoming of a Belgian beer, and little lacing. Aroma is primarily bready, dark fresh-baked bread to be exact, with some dusty raisins and vague red fruits. A little booze as well. Flavor is mild for the alcohol level; there’s a pleasant bready grainy malt profile with an unsweet chocolate undercurrent but not much in the way of fruity esters. Sweet caramel malt finish, dry with a soft alcohol presence. Palate is overrun by carbonation. This needs some swirling and time to settle down. I was expecting a dubbel flavor profile out of this dark 8% beer but that’s just not what it is. Rather pedestrian but not bad. Edit: Turns out this is a scotch ale. Weird, wasn’t expecting that. Explains the lack of yeasty/fruity notes, obviously, but it still doesn’t cut it overall.

Tap, Falling Rock Tap House, Denver. Light sweet liquorice aroma. Dark sweet malt flavor. Strong liquorice flavor. Off dry, slightly astringent finish. Straightforward.

On tap at Lunar brewing Co. and dispensed to a snifter with a dark brown hue, modest but creamy, off white/light tan head foam, and curtainy cling to the lacing. The aroma was pixy stix candy sweetness, light malt, dark fruit as prune and raisin, light caramel, and a hint of vanilla. Ditto on the flavor, with low hop bitterness, and only medium to light body. Flavorful, but would have liked more texture.

Clear cola amber with a medium sized shortish lasting tan head. Grainy malt caramel hoppy aroma and flavours. Alcohol shows through when warmed. Medium to light body with well balanced bitter sweet palate with alcohol showing through relatively early. Finish is soft alcohol and caramel. Not as smooth or perhaps as well balanced as the Bok or La Chouffe but still highly drinkable.

Dark caramel brown with a small white head. Aroma is mild sweet caramel, brown suger and laight yeast. Flavor is a bitter ripe fruit, spice and yeast with a tangy finish.

my style of beer, though not the best of its kind. amber w/ a huge head. fruity, caramelly aroma. rather sweet, though there is enough complexity to justify it. malty and decent, but missing something.