Mc Chouffe

bottle. redish brown with off white head. Aomnas of flowers, clover. Tastes emerge as it warms up, molasses, smoke, malt, toffee. Enjoyable, but leaves me wanting a more intense experience.

Bouteille. Couleur brune -rougâtre, mousse abondante et persistente, traces beaucoup le verre. Arôme malté, caramel et torréfié légèrement, esters, levure. Goût bien sucré et malté, pain, levure épicée, réglisse, finale légère d’alcool. Corps moyen, effervescence moyenne (mais forte pour une scotch selon moi), mais d’une douceur captivante. J’étais surpris de voir style scotch ale sur ratebeer à prime abord, mais après y avoir goûté, c’est tout à fait ça.

750ml Binnys Orland Best before 2009 McChouffe pours a crimson red with glowing ruby highlights when held to the light. This beer is surprisingly clear but it has been sitting in the fridge for awhile now so I’m sure the yeast has dropped. A one finger ecru head formed on a rather aggressive pour and faded to a skimming pretty quickly. Interesting aromas come from this beer. Reminiscent of a scotch ale, of course I guess that’s where the name came from. Big dark bread doughy malts along the lines of pumpernickle with that nice spiciness. It’s hard to pull things out because the aroma isn’t all that pronounced. After a quick swirl I do pick up a lactic quality of cream and a touch of peat. A little spicy yeastiness fades in and out in the background. The flavor is more along the lines of a Belgian than the nose would suggest. Doughy malts are the base for this brew. On top of this dominant base I get hints of powdery and spicy yeast. Spicy warm alcohol and a hint of copper on the finish. The flavors just don’t seem to be enough. Medium bodied with an incredibly airy smooth feel on as it hits the tongue. Goes down smooth. Good flavor although a little weak helps this one go down pretty easy. This would be an excellent brew if the flavors were a little more bold. Mcchouffe is a hybrid Scotch/Abbey ale but the flavors are much weaker than what I’d expect from either of those styles. 9/23/07

0.75L Bottle. Earthy hops strike the nose initially, dusty malts and wood follow. Cloudy red, huge rocky tan head, leaving plenty of lace. Medium body, berries, cork (not from the bottle though - only had a cap). Relatively light body, sparkly mouthfeel. Honey and oak retronasal.

Chef Paul’s. 11.2 oz bottle. Muddy brown pour and a good creamy head that lasted the entire bottle. Very smooth- reminded me of a Maredsous 8 but with so much more charachter and flavor. Slight touch of peat / smoke with the scotch malts. Enjoyable.

On tap @ Gollem, Amsterdam. Reddish brown color. Roasted malts with that Scotch ale sweetness. Flavor didnt match up with the expectaions made by aroma but still very drinkable.

Bottle 750? ml
Appearance : Dark ruby brown with respectable tanned creamy head.
Nose : Good pair of brown malt with clean alcohol. Well composed set: malt/alcohol/sour wheat.7+
Flavour/Palate :Flavour was a bit more flat than aroma. Sweet toffee-caramel malt dominant. Alcohol placed as secondary. Creamy finish with hint of brown chocolate.

Sparkling brown look with a small tan head. Earthy aroma of nuts and dust, along with some dried fruits mixed with rum. Sweet sirup flavor, with notes of nuts toasted bread and something sleightly smoked. Its wellmade, just not my favorit style.