N’Ice Chouffe

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

750ml bottle: I had this one on Xmas Eve. It pours a dark brown, ruby tinged color. There was a decent sized beige head on it. A fairly decent amount of lacing. A fair amount of malts to the nose, with some roastiness and spiciness. The taste is quite good. Fairly full bodied with a hint of roastiness to the strong malts. Not real sweet, but nicely balanced. Some fruits coming through also. An excellent holiday beer.

Draught at Kulminator, Antwerpen. Dark brown with a creamy beige head. Roasted malt, chocolate, dark fruit and metallic nose. The flavour is roasted malt, fruit, chocolate and once again that strange metal taste. Slightly oxidised. I wasn’t too impressed with the tap version.

Bottle. Moderate aromas all around, with dark bread and chocolate for the malt, orange for the hops, dough for the yeast and background notes of herbs, raisin and brown sugar. Head is average size, frothy, off-white with some slippery lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is murky mahogany with lots of tiny particles. Flavor starts moderately sweet and acidic, then finishes lightly bittersweet and acidic. Palate is on the fuller side of medium, oily with a fizzy carbonation and a finish that’s moderately alcoholic and lightly dry. A perfect balance between malt, hop, yeast and spices. This Belgian Strong Ale just feels Christmas-y.

UPDATED: SEP 16, 2007 Bottled 0,75L at Oberon (Ospitaletto).
Creamy and adherent head, good persistence. Dark reddish color tending to the brown; Enough dark and with a good fizz. Alcoholic and complex aroma; enough winy with overbearing alcoholic notes. Medium pungent taste, dense and liquory. Nicely flowery and spiced but is too much top heavy.

UPDATED: JAN 11, 2007 On tap at Max’s. Poured a deep ruby with a tan head. Aroma had plenty of malt, and frutis. Sugar and hops were also evident. Flavor was a little muted, but good. Fruit, yeast, caramel malts and some hops. It was good but not what I had hoped for, Ill have to try it again though.

It is absolutely freezing here in west Oz so what better beer for choice upon the season than a winter warmer. From the bottle into a La Chouffe tulip. Chestnut tinged, ruby red body, bright, sparkling and very well conditioned in a showing from its minute, wispy, streaming carbonation. Head rose up the flue in typically good Chouffe fashion to set an inch and a half thick and drabbed its way down the glass well as I drank. Big, deep, dark malts lurk in the aroma under some strong, sweet toffee and candi-apple notes. Nice trickle of Merlot in there gives it a vinous quality and it has a little volatile alcohol shining through that gives it a pleasant warming, wintry depth. Heavily woody and spicy in the mouth, nicely herbal with a good balance of sweetness to not leave it too dry. There is cloves, cinnamon quills, turmeric and a hairs breadth of lighter drier spices like warming nutmeg. It is vinous as well; nice strong showing of fermented plums, bitter black currents and dry red wine. It’s body is not overly big, but it has a haunting presence in the mouth, only prickly in carbonation. Finish shows a lot of alcohol and phenolic spice, as it should with the qualities of the palate. It is warming, mellowing and dry, leaving a feint film on the palate (?). Plums begin to dominate as it warms but it doesn’t lose its bite. It’s nice, but not extraordinary. Heavily alcoholic, herbal and warming, it suits its style!. Not too bad at all. (75cL, 2009, Int’l Beer Shop, W. Leederville)

Deep brown (black) body. Brownish frothy head, non-homogeneous. Good lacing. Spicy and lightly malty aroma. Lightly alcoholic, malty flavour: bitter sweet.

Poured a murky brown. Nose is of booze and drk fruits. Taste i same as nose, boozy, raisins, plums, dates, too carbonated, flavors are a little flat.