Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel

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

750 ML bottle: This is the weirdest damn head on a beer I’ve ever, ever, ever seen on a beer! If I had a digital camera, I’d take a picture and share it with the world, but you’ll have to suffer through my description of it. The head is very soft, white, and pillowy. It first looked like an ordinary white, fluffy head, but as it shrank into my sample glass (5 oz coca cola shaped glass), it started to look like it had a large, campfire marshmallow in the center of it. Then as is shrank some more, it started to take the shape and size of the crown cap that adorned the bottle while still keeping with the campfire marshmallow size in the middle of the glass, with the indentations and everything. Now that it shrinks farther, it still has the indentations, but it now looks like a shiitake mushroom head with a large cap and a smaller ribbed, fat stem like protrusion up from the still lasting thinner head. Belgian lace is fantastic! Now onto the rest of the beer! The color is a very light amber with minimal haze! The aroma starts a bit grassy, but there is also grapefruit citrusy hop, BTW, the cap on the mushroom is still about the size of an American nickelafter about 10 minutes! Spicy yeast, sort of saison like in spiciness, earthy hops and a doughy yeast. Pils malt aroma with some white pepper thrown in for good measure. Flavor is well balanced, but has some resiny hop flavor to back up the soft malt presence. BTW, the little cap of the mushroom is still there! Lightly sweet up front, but a definitely dry, herbal hop finish. Spicy, peppery, and lightly citrusy hop flavor mid palate into the aftertaste. Yeast presence throughout. Fuller medium body, higher carbonation, and very well hidden alcohol round out my favorite interperetation of a triple IPA, as well as a silky smooth body with minimal dryness. If I have to drink an IPA, this is my IPA of choice. I love the spicy yeast with the combination of the American hops, and the well hidden alcohol gives the impression of a session beer, but beware, thus it is not!

Tap at the Map Room in Chicago. Definitely an interesting beer; it really does blend the defining characteristics of strong IPAs and tripels in a way that is enjoyable and not gimmicky. There’s loads of hoppy bitterness as well as the spice/clove/banana sweetness reminiscent of tripels. Cool beer.

Bottle, chris_o shindig. Hazy bright yellow, thin white head. Nose is yeasty and slightly sour tripel sherberty. Mouth is slightly sour, very well and heavily hopped. Smoothness of a tripel carries at the end.

Bomber. Pours golden with floating yeast and an exceedingly large fluffy head. Aroma features light flowery hops, yeast, spice, and butterscotch. Palate is smooth, with lighter carbonation than expected given the size of the head. Flavor has complex sweetness on the front palate, with a blend of flower, butter, light orange peel, lemon and a little malt. Finishes with some astringency, tanginess, and alcohol. Finish lingers with a pronounced bitter alcohol flavor far longer than I would have liked, however. It clung to my tongue with a tenacity that I found unsettling. Overall, I must say I expected better from Chouffe after I had searched long and hard for this bottle. In Dobbelen’s defense, my bottle may have been a bit past its prime, so I will consider re-rating if given the chance.

A Belgian IIPA. Who’d have thought it? 750 ml champagne bottle, corked & caged. Loud pop releases cork. Pours out a hazy straw yellow color, with a huge white head. Leaves a decent lacing in the chalice. Islands of yeasty goodness float in the center of the glass. Aromas are of piney hops, some citrus, Belgian funk, and sweet malts. Medium mouthfeel, decent body. Flavors are of hops at first, followed by warming alcohol, and malty goodness. Sneaks up on you. Warming alcohol finishes out well, but not overpoweringly so. Decent effort, but not something I’d try to brew myself.

Tasted at YeHA! 2006 in Montreal. App.: cloudy golden straw. Aroma: sweet n’ spicey, honey and yeast. Palate: fairly aggressive carbonation, astringent and thin of body. Flav.: sweet n’ spicey, honey, yeast, a little bitter. Not a style I like. 7-2-6-2-12: 2.9.

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Re-rated at Flour City Brewers’ Fest, Rochester NY. At the Ommegang tent. AU15/08.

App.: Cloudy orange golden with white chunks of yeast, nice white froth. Aroma: Floral honey and coriander, caramel and malt, a touch of yeast and bread dough, light lemony citrus. Palate: Medium+ body, fairly soft effervescence. Flav.: Very sweet, mandarin oranges, lighter coriander, some resinous hops, honey, caramel, quite sweet with some bitterness (especially for a Belgian).

Didn’t quite meet expectations (forgot about the first taste!), but lovely nonetheless.

Sampled out of the bottle with Dallas and Andrew. Pours a light body with nice white head. The aroma is light, some sharp malt. The taste is pine hops, spice, and malt. Solid Trip.

On tap@O’Brien’s: Hazy pale golden color with a generous eggshell white head. Aroma is fruity and floral. Flavor has citrus, spice and yeast. The finish is peppery with a long, dry grapefruit rind bitterness. Hints of bubble gum surface in the aroma and flavor as it warms. Light bodied and creamy with lively carbonation. Strange, but interesting brew.