Brooklyn Cuvee dAchouffe

Formerly brewed at Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Belgian Ale
Brooklyn, New York USA

(draft) Clear amber body atop off-white head. Aroma is moderately sweet, candi sugar, light cinnamon. Taste is moderately sweet, candi sugar, caramel, light cinnamon. Light-medium body, alcohol well hidden.

Fast disappearing head, whitish; orange-amber beer. Sweet-orange, sucade or sugar-preserved oranges in the nose. In the taste, the thyme is there! Betraying itself by a menthol-sparadrap flavour, imposed on a malty underground, way less sweet than the nose. Even when warming up, gives more, fruity sweetness. Rather sparkling-spritzy beer; light to medium bodied. Surprising, elegant beer. Very little USA about it, but is isn’t the usual Chouffe style neither.

The aroma was lightly spicy with a notable caramel aspect and an earthy hop presence.The aroma also contained some estery fruits. The amber beer was lightly hazy with a well lasting white head which laced the glass. The flavor was caramel coupled with pepper spice most prevalent. The flavor was nice and earthy but not that impressive. Simply a blend of earthy, estery, and peppery with caramel. The body was medium with a good level of carbonation and a creamy mouthfeel. A nice beer, but not especially interesting. Easy to consume with the light pepper and cinnamon spice. As it finally warmed to room temp a menthol flavor formed. Sniffer at Tyler’s.

On Tap at Mugs Ale House Brooklyn, NY. Pours a nice deep gold opaque color with a ligering lacing on top. This was really bold with the Belgian Chouffe yeast to me with nice notes of spices, slight citrus and the sweetness of fruits with the candied sugar. The discription mentions Spanish Thyme but I’m not sure if I taste that distinctly here. Tasted better with each sip as it starts to get less cold. Finishes dry and very nice slight hoppy bitterness at the end.

Poured a dark golden color with a medium sized, eggshell colored head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of lavender, was herbal, soapy, with citrus, orange peel, and the Chouffe yeast strain. Taste was earthy, spicy, vanilla, more orange peel, cherries, and light alcohol in the finish.

Tap @ Hop Devil Grill: Poured a lightly hazed orange-amber color wit a small white head. Sweet and yeasty. Caramel, sugar and a light spice. Fruity semi-sweet flavor with some spice and light fruit.

On tap at Tyler’s, Durham, NC. I’m a big fan of Chouffe products with their tasty, tangy yeast, and Brooklyn can do some damn fine stuff. But this was a tad anonymous to me. A combination of sweet fruitiness with dry, peppery hints of saison. Gorgeous ruby body too. But somehow it lacked personality to me. I hope to try again though.

Draft at Dilly Deli in Mariemont - Cincinnati. Very pleasant, drinkable brew with a full body. Sweet fruit flavor and a warming effect. A great brew for the weather we are currently experiencing.