Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel

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

Bottle. Nose-banana, cloves. Body-straw with the most massive billowy head I have ever seen. Taste-mild triple notes, very subdued clove and banana, slightly medicinal lingering aftertaste. Very spice mouthfeel.

Apologies to all who enjoyed this but I didn’t. Cloudy amber with a frothy white head. Hops, malts, spice, tart/sour fruit in the nose. Medium body with slightly fizzy feel. Very sour taste with hints of spice. When I saw IPA I thought hops but that wasn’t the case.

Bottle from my good friend in Texas. Pours a hazy golden orange with very lively effervescent carbonation. Now the white head on this thing is fricking crazy! A huge thick pillowy white head that slowly collapses on side. I watched this thing disapate for 5 minutes. Then the diminished head coats all the way down the glass. Sweet lemony and grapefruit ester aroma. Typical fruity and spicy characteristic of a tripel, but with an extra kick of spicy hops. Interesting. Bitter, yeasty finish with some alcohol present. I pick up some finger nail polish remover type flavor, not much, but its there. Still a fun beer to drink...and watch!

Best before end 2009. Big gusher, pale golden hue with two fingers of frothy white head. Lots of cracked glass lacing, yeasty spiciness in the aroma. Grassy and herbal hops. Good body, tripel like tastes, spicy cloves, peppery. Then a finish of strong wet, herbal American hops. Grassiness and hay mustiness and a slight alcohol heat in the finish.

I was afraid I’d sat on this one for too long, and was worried that the hops would have dulled out and ruined the experiment. Not so! After about a year, this baby is as piquant and quirky as I remember. At the base is a very fine and bitter Belgian brew, an improbable combination of the richness and buttery flavors of certain tripels with the grassy finish of a saison, crossed with the hop punch of a DIPA. It’s like one of those menu items you read at a super fancy restaurant, thinking there’s no way all those ingredients can work together. But they do, and this does too. Rock the fuck out.

Bottled:
Pours hazy golden with green-ish highlights. Head is big and fluffy. It looks like Duvel. Aroma is yeast, fruits and hops. Flavour can best be described as yeasty, fruity Belgian ale meets intense grapefruity American hops. Interesting but not quite balanced.

My 300th beer!! An IPA attempt for a beligum is quite remarkable. Although its designated as an IPA, its doesnt have quite the punch of a English IPA. It takes the beligum style of flavor and arom and adds a bit of hops flavor. Fruity and citrus flavors is quite special. The head pours and stays. its quite a remarkable attempt.

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.