N’Ice Chouffe

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

This is great, great stuff. Easily the smoothest beer I’ve ever had above 7% (it’s 10%) and one of the smoothest ever. Plums, raisins, and a very enchanting honey quality make this like a thick mead. Very rich and extremely subtle, the opening, mid-palatte and finish are very synonymous.

Bottle, 75 cl. (ytasted with Marc en Leen) Dark brown (reddisch shine) with good lasting off-white head. Aroma malt and carmel. Medium body. Taste = fruits, yeast, sweet malts, warm finish. Good.

Dark brown with medium short lasting head. Sweet malty aroma with overripe fruits, yeast and toffee. Flavor is sweet with notes of toffee, yeast and spices.

Dark brown colour, tan head. Aroma is sweet, of caramel and dry fruits. Flavour has fruits and caramel. Alcohol present. Dry ending.

75 cl bottle. Appearance: dark brown with light brown head. Aroma: malty and sweet with slight fruit. Flavor and Palate: malty and alcoholic, but not that heavy. Seems to be a "copy" of Chimay Grand Reserve and not a bad one. Some traces of orange peel. Overall a nice trappist-like beer.

2004 Bottle, pours a clear dark brown but looks to be a medium ruby when held up to a light, off-white head, nice lacing that shimers on the glass as it moves with each drink, aroma of chocolate dipped berries, dark candy, caramel and malt aromas, dark bread and faint funk fragrance in the background, dark tree bark, faint mint fragrance, faint alcohol in the background, flavors of blond brownies, some chocolate, I felt some alcohol warmth on the palate, dark malt, caramel, has the pepper on the finish, dark candy flavor, faint herb and spices (from the Thyme?), plum, blue berries, sort of a faint taste of berries dipped in nectar and dripped onto my tongue flavor, the alcohol does not not grow as this ale warms which is a good thing, there is a tingle of bitterness on the tongue to balance the sweet, this was lively on the tongue, light on the palate, has good carbonation, a thin to medium mouth feel, a nice drink to stay warm during the Winter nights.

Bottiglia da 75cl al Cantinone di Sampierdarena, versa colore ambrato scuro con non molta schiuma beige abbastanza evanescente. Aroma caldo e fruttato, al sapore dolce con forti sentori di uva e qualche accenno di frutti di bosco e un accentuato piccante d’alcool. corpo piuttosto robusto. Ottima.

750ml, 2006 bottle. Syrup colored pour with a loose beige head. Slightly tart smelling with a little sweetness in the back that doesn’t really balance it. A tiny bit of alcohol comes through, but it’s really well hidden. The flavor is really interesting - tart but slightly fruity, with some bread and nut notes. Really actually very nice. Slight pithy bitter finish. Well done.