Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel

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

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.

[Odense-tasting at Scheffel. Bottle bought in La Roche.] Well, indeed a very nice beer, which is a mix of many traditions. Hazy golden look with a big head. Notes of flowerhops (almost like a triple), spices, citrus, yeast, complexity, ingrediently and a bit warming. Fantastic!

Tried this in the bottle at the Heorot in Muncie, Indiana. Beautiful hazy yellow with a fantastic head--great retention, slowly dissipating into big rocky chunks. Aroma is beautiful too, grassy and spicy with strong yeast, this just begs you to drink it. Nice full-bodied bitter hop taste with orange peel and pepper.

Rating #700. Poured into a La Chouffe glass from a 750. A hazy golden, yellow, orange with a large bubbly/foamy slight off white head that left tons of lacing down the glass. Aroma of various Belgian spices, banana, citrus, floral, orange, grass, pine just a lot going on and my first impression is that I really liked how the aroma on this one turned out. Basically a hoppy LaChouffe. With the flavor the first thing I pick up in the yeast, then into the belgian spices, peppery, some banana, some pilsner qualities and then some hop bitterness in the tail. Pretty much a bitter tripel. As I drank more of this and as it warmed up more I started to get a slight roasty malt in addition to a little bit of the alcohol coming through, although not to the 9% level.

Amazing meringue-like head. Hazy golden-yellow color. Mysterious Tripel-like aromas (floral, yeasty) but with a distinct hoppiness. Initially yeasty and (predominantly sweet) malty flavors balanced by a serious hoppiness. A good amount of carbonation makes for a somewhat prickly feeling on the tongue... but extremely crisp and dry on the finish. Definitely one of the most interesting brews I’ve had... amazingly well-balanced, complex, rich... awesome.

Bottle at derilium cafe, brussels. They had run out of bottles in the cool room, so they had to run across the road and get me a bottle from the other cellar. Which in turn ment it wasnt cold when i first drank it, so after sitting with it in an ice bucket it was game. Really hoppy beast, i can smell it without going near th glass. spicey yeasty character, such a different style of beer that could be a love or hate thing, alll the different types of hops are evedent, amarillo for fruity citrus, sazz for grassy citrus bitterness and the other type iv forgotten was bitter and spicey, perppery. Really good beer to try at last.