Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel

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

Bottled. Hazy golden color, thick white head. Aroma has typical triple identities like fruity and spicyness, but it’s combined with distinct hoppy aromas, quite nice. Quite bitter taste, ofcourse, nicely balanced, though complex. Dry and hoppy palate. Perfect balance, and it combines an almost perfect triple with the hoppy features of an IPA. Good job!

Hazy yellow/slightly golden, huge whipped topping head, steady carbonation. Gorgeous, almost subtle aroma of light bready malts, some tropical fruitiness from the fantastic yeast, herbal, grassy hops and more. Medium bodied, almost creamy, substantial malt backbone, bready/doughy. Flavors of some pineapple fruitiness, other esters, dry yeast character, herbal hops, white pepper, corriander and excellent hop bitterness at the end that is not overdone. Alcohol pokes through a bit helping make this puppy noticeably dry. Flavors meld nicely and it is quite balanced. Triple element seem to shine more as beer warms. Damn good beer.

Yellow gold. Head settles into a voluminous mountain of creamy meringue. Aroma is remarkably clean and deeply herbaceous, laced with black pepper and lemon zest. Very spicy and airy with esters. Fruity yeast undertones. Soft, loose-bubbled carbonation. Opens with a profusion of soft and delicate hop flavors intertwined with a sharp grassy bitterness. Super fluffy Pilsner malt gently cushions the tongue-tugging lemon zest, but its appetizing bitterness still remains. The bitterness flares up at times, but the fluffiness fuses with the glazed malt sweetness to slowly lift and distribute the array of remaining flavors across the palate. Yeast contributes creaminess to the body as well as a palpable sweetness to the flavor. The body is impeccably attenuated, both fluffy and dry, yet the overall depth is endless, as it wants to become chewy with a dainty honey sweetness and resin. The softer hops sporadically flash luscious notes of passion fruit which deepen and enhance the sharper hop elements. The balance here is absolutely exemplary. Finishes deceptively dry due to how peppery it is, yet fluffy as a pillow with teasing whispers of crackery malt and a whole host of entrancing hop flavors. Once again, the Chouffe yeast works its magic. This is such an elegant creation.

Clear yellow then very hazy after the yeast is poured out, with a huge rocky head. Aroma of citrus, caramel and some yeast. Flavor of fruit, some caramel malts, alcohol, and hops. Finish is dry, hoppy and bitter. Pretty good and unusual.

Bottle. 50% clear, golden body, 50% thick, densely-packed white head that slowly dissipates into huge, rocky mounds. Awesome aroma of sweet honey, light spice, oranges and lemon zest, light pine, yeasty bread dough, some light sugar and very light tropical fruit esters. The body is creamy and smooth with immense drinkability despite the high ABV and rather strong hop bitterness. The bitterness is strong in the mouth, as expected, but in a surprisingly synergistic way. The hop bitterness is complimented by robust, pale malt, some honey and sugary sweetness and the flavorful yeast. The bitterness is strong but not harsh. Piney, full of grapefruit, lemon and orange and with definite earthy, Noble hops strains. Really this is one hell of a treat. It’s something that an American brewer might try to make, but it’s done superbly by an outstanding Belgian artisan.

Batch #2 bottle shared by Jason. Hazy yellow pour under a thick foamy head. Tangy apricot and peppermint aroma - very pleasant. Great marriage of flavor and mouthfeel. The gently sweet cornbread, bubblegum and sugar malt base is buoyed by the soft-yet-viscous mouthfeel. On top of that there’s a nice spicy, floral hopping reminiscent of grapefruit rind and petals. Dry-hopped finish with some grassy notes. A kickass beer! The hops are overbalanced just enough to get them precedence but the great malt backing is still enjoyable.

750. Bright orange with a huge 4 fingered head that would just not quit for about 30 min. once the beer warmed, it looked very nice-whispy white head with a bright orange hue. nose has huge dose of grassy hops, light tripel yeast, estery grains, and distinct sourness. smells like the best of both worlds. Pretty much what i was expecting out of this beer. The hops in the flavor are grassy and somewhat piney with lots of tripel sweetness. the malt is fruity but not to overly sweet. This beer has almost perfect balance. I got so wapped up in the experience of this beer that i forgot to write down anything during the rating. I will finish this one later!

Finally a beer that can compete with Duvel as far as head and head retention is concerned. Pours a Beautiful hazy straw gold with high carbonation, tiny bubbles, and a huge fluffy pure white head with extremely tight small bubbles. Head lasts forever and creates a crazy white fluffy tower of a cloud in the center of the beer. Lacing is rediculous as well- as it creates the thickest curtain of cobweb-like bubbles completely encircliing the cloudy tower of head in the center. Aroma is very intense- hoppy, herbal and spicy, almost creates a CO2 burn in the nostrils from the high carbonation! If you inhale through your nose on the first sip in a snifter you will see what I mean. Phenolic aromas accompany citrus, herbal, and more spicy hops. Flavor is lightly sweet upfront then the hops take over to be spicy herbal, earthy and light citrus and grapefruit. Lots of lemon character in the middle, then finishes with a dry very sticky bitterness in the back of the throat. So smooth and easy to drink despite the 9% abv. Very similar in style interpretation to Urthel’s Hop-It, but this one seems like it is a notch better. Amarillo and Tomahawk hops are not as pronounced as you might expect due to the ardennes yeast strain covering them up.