Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel

Brewed by Brasserie d’Achouffe (Moortgat)
Style: Abbey Tripel
Achouffe, Belgium

Well-presented in a tulip with creamy golden-yellow, hazy body and billowing, dense crown. Aroma is sweet citrus (lemon, pineapple, orange) and banana, straw, light cardamom and toffee. Flavor is citrus and banana bread, with a spicy, floral finish. Palate has a dry astringency harmonized with a softness which balances the bitter and sweet characters. This ale is an excellent admixture of what I thought were contrasting styles. Thanks Moortgat.

Very pale golden yellow color. Nice big head with good retention and excellent lacing. Hops, hops and more hops. Bright hoppy nose. Nice spicy and floral notes. Sweet sugars and malts are buried down in there somewhere. Only mildly detectable. Sweet candy sugar and maltiness are overpowered (slightly) by dominant hops. There is a nice level of balance here. Light spiciness and some minimal floral notes. Nice creamy mouthfeel of a tripel with a little spicy hop bite. Interesting. Very good, very drinkable beer. Well balanced. A very interesting new beer experiment. Well done.

Bottle at home. Pours a clear golden with a white and lacings. Smells of Belgian yeasts, alcohol and some hops. Sweet with malty aromas. Some hay. Also strong hoppy aromas of some lemons. Quite dry finish. Residual sugars. Tipycal Belgian (banana) yeast characters. Medium to full bodied. Medium carbonation. Hoppy finish with some pilsnerish notes.

11.2 ounce bottle from Whole Foods in Hillcrest ($4.99). What the...?!?! Absolutely came gushing out of the little bottle and I lost about a third of it. Anyway, pours a murky apricot color with (of course) big white head. Aroma is bready malts, yeast, spice, some fruit (banana, citrus). Flavor has a noticeable hop "bite" (lemon, other citrus) but with very balanced rich malt flavors. Also some spice and yeast. Finish is dry with a nice mixture of sweetness and bitterness. The aroma is more consistent with the tripel while the flavor is a nice combination of the two. Probably the best marriage of the two styles that I’ve had. Very good.

Golden in color, big foamy white head. The smell is spices, hops, fruits, caramel, and sweet. The taste is hops, some bitterness, fruits, nice feel, yeast, and caramel. Nice balance.

Pours a deep cloudy yellow with a fizzy body and foamy/thick white head. Aroma of spices, orange, slight citrus hops, little skunk(should switch to dark brown bottles), banana, and a tad bit of caramel. Flavor is rich in estery fruit, some caramel, little toffee, and has a hop backbone of citrus. Rich, little dry, sweet, and bitter. A nice combination and a very tasty desert beer. A pricey choice but just about worth it. I was a tad disappointed with the slight skunk aroma. Wouldn’t happen in a dark brown bottle.

Bottle. Gold pour. Nice hops and malt on the nose with some citrus and spice. Flavor is hoppy, malty and fruity. damn nice beer.

Doesn’t look like much in the glass, but had a nice aroma. It is trying for an IPA triple and it kinda succeeds but fails at both. Taste is if buttered grains with a bit of metal. The palate was perfect, but overall it came up short. The hops were there but no way close to an IPA (59 ibus? well hidden).