N’Ice Chouffe

Heavy hoppy aroma. Huge frothy light brown head. Excellent lacing. Fully lasting longevity. Cloudy brown body. Heavy sweet flavor. Full palate.

Lovely smell of brown sugar and dried fruit. Sweet and sour, well balanced, warming. Very Belgian in the best sense of the word.

Sample @ Norøl juleølfestival’07. A cloudy brown beer with a dense, lasting yellowish head. Initial aroma of malt-sweetness and yeast, followed by some pleasant whiffs of wood, mouldy cellar, fruiity acidity and spices. Taste is refined suger-sweeetness and malt-sweetness with notes of berries, yeast, farmyard and wood. Medium to full body. Lingering bitter-sweet finish. A very nice, tasty and challenging Belgian.

2003 Bottle, lovely cellared. Dark brown with a big not that lasting creamy coffee head. It starts quite slow, from obviously cocoa, coffee, and dried fruits, through banana and vanilla, to a sensual warming spicy vinous and a luxury cherry in alcohol. Full silky bodied, just a bit too alcohol for me. No trace of hoppiness but well balanced. Nice indeed.

Bottle #454 -2003 vintage. Poured a dark brown in color with tiny particles of yeast. Fluffy, off white head fading into good lacing. This beer has mellowed and sweetened as it aged. The mouthfeel is very full and rich. Flavors are very malty/sugary. There are hints of spice that I hypothesize were a bit stronger when the beer was younger. Very good. I must find more.

8/11/05. 750ml. Bottled 2003. Hazy mahogany with tan head. Candi sugar with sharp yeast aroma. Sharp thick malty with unfermented sugars.

750 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. ABV is 10%. 19 degrees Plato. Refermented in the bottle, unfiltered and unpasteurised. Ingredients include sugars, thyme and curacao. Hazy reddish dark brown colour, huge tan head. Pleasant but fairly moderate aroma with vinous notes, notes of oak and spices, hints of farmhouse. The flavour is distinctly spicy and oaky, with a substantial but not overwhelming sweetness from the malts and sugars. Some yeasty notes. Distinct hoppy bitterness in the aftertaste. Warming mouthfeel, but the 10% ABV does not dominate. As a Christmas beer, this one is better suited to accompany an English Christmas pudding than a main course of meats or fish - but is also nice to drink on its own.

I have cellared 3 of these trying the first tonight. Pour is dark brownish red with small white head. Nose is that of yeast, coriander and other holiday spices. The taste is sweet, yet not unpleasantly so, with touches of dark fruit, caramel, holiday spices, and a nice warming alcohol finish. This is a great beer, get it while you can.