Mc Chouffe

Brewed by Brasserie d’Achouffe (Moortgat)
Style: Scotch Ale
Achouffe, Belgium

The beer after disassociating itself from the 750ml dark green bottle sets in the glass a brilliantly clear brown color with a semi-creamy tan head piled high on the body, lace a thick and sticky sheet to obscure the glass. The aroma of yeast, hops, sweet malt, a bit of peat smokiness, all rolled up into one, crisp and fresh, the start is inconspicuous in its sweetness, the malts plentiful and the top fair to middling in its feel to the palate. The finish is unrelenting in its acidity, the hops pleasing it their spicy presence, quite dry aftertaste and a fine drinking beer.

(Draught at Akkurat, Stockholm) Dark brown colour, rather cloudy, with firm beige head, Malty, fruity, slightly yeasty, nose with dried fruit (prunes, figs) and dark bread. Malty, fruity and spicy taste with dried fruit, liquorice and chocolate. Rather firm body. Nice beer with the traditional tasty, spicy Achouffe character giving it an extra push in the right direction.

Nice brune color, lousy green wine bottle. Lacking hops, sugary sweet, cocoa, packs a wallop. Underhopped, under bittered, more a desert beer than a hairy-chested Scotch ale.

Sampled from draught at Danish Beer Festival 2004 (#59).
Hazy amber beer with no head. Aroma is sharp spicy and malty, tones of pepper and alcohol. Flavor is also malty and spicy with pepper and coriander notes. Too sharp and not very complex.

Dark amber color with a light brown head. Sweet caramel and molassas aroma. Flavor of sweet fruit, some molassas notes, and mild spices.

From a 750, of which I only managed to drink around 12oz. This beer was a bit of a disappointment, especially coming form Chouffe. Very chalky and dry, only a touch plumminess or complex malts. It seems the belgian yeast wreaked havoc on this one. Rather hard to drink.

Bottle: Pours a nice rusty maroon color with a dense, creamy tan head. The aroma has great malt character with notes of toffee, fig, lots of plummy character and just the slightest earthy touch. Great creamy body. The flavor has some toasted toffee, cocoa, plummy notes, some grape like fruitiness, some warming/pleasant booze like qualities, yet it remains balanced with a toasted residual Belgian malt note into the finish. Nice stuff, and a nice Belgian-style interpretation of a Scotch Ale.

Split a big bottle this with my wife at Volo. Dark brown, big beige head - looks nice in appropriate glassware. Aroma of spicy malt, but it is subtle. Mouthfeel is medium but well carbonated. Taste featured more spicy malt, but with more a dark fruit and floral characteristic than what I was expecting. Alcohol is there. A really wonderful beer.