N’Ice Chouffe

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Thanks to qmiester for sharing. Pours a cola brown color with some reddish hues. Largely dark fruit for an aroma though some hops and roasted malts are present as well. Complex flavor of dark fruit, roasted malts, and some hops. Light and lively. Overall, very enjoyable.

Bottle, anno 2008. Fluid was dark brown and clear. The foam was not large, collapsed quickly. A lot of particles in the glass. The aroma contained yeast, fruit and some acidity and "earth." The taste contained orange, and cherries. The beer was pretty sweet, especially the refreshing aftertaste. The beer also contained spices that were difficult to define. Not bad.

2007 Edition. 11/17/2008. A big, interesting Belgian Strong Dark Ale that has been flavored with Thyme and Curacao peel. The flavoring is a blessing and a curse. It does add interesting notes to the beer but also obscures some of the classic Belgian flavor. It’s a good seasonal Belgian but it’s compared against all BSD’s, so that’s a bit rough. The beer pours a lovely dark brown with a puffy head. The head dissipates a bit too quickly for a higher score. The nose is malty and earthy. It’s an excellent strong Belgian flavor. There’s plenty of spice and funky earthiness in the flavor. There’s some interesting bitterness, which may be a product of the curacao, and is welcome. 2008 Edition. 12/24/2009. Very good again. Goes well with soft cheese.

Pours a dark brown red color with a nice tan head. Aroma is strong and wonderfull, roasted malts and lots of fruits, bananas, some nuts and caramels. Flavors of roasted malts, ripe fruits, apples and bananas, spices. Good carbonation, a good sweet and bitter dry finish. Great ballance of lots of flavors, very enjoyable, great winter beer.

This was a 2008 bottle. Nice earthy aroma with some bread and dark fruits. Murky brown pour with a tan head. Lots of particles floating around. Taste is very mellow and well balanced. Fruit comes through with the earthy malts. No hint of alcohol until you feel a burn on the throat. Dry and refreshing finish. My top Christmas/winter brew to date. And holy shit, be careful with this one. It sneaks up on you.

On tap. Brown, small head. Aroma is malty. Also tastes malty, full bodied, slightly bitter, caramel, Long finish. NIce.

Bottle shared by a generous friend. Very hazy brown or dark color with a white head that fades pretty quickly but leaves some nice lace. Sweet fruity candi sugar aroma. Very sweet candi sugar flavor (a bit too sweet) with some alcohol burn behind it. Medium body with lively carbonation. Overall: a good belgian strong ale, just not my particular style.

UPDATED: NOV 8, 2011 It poured a ahazy very dark amber liquid with a small white foam. Sweet smell and taste of red wine, spices, yeast and grapes.