N’Ice Chouffe

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

10/01 0.75 l bottle courtesy of ogivlado, thanks a lot for sharing! It poured nice murky reddish brown body with medium sized compact head that, as such, lived quite long. Strong, pleasant and complex aroma - malty, yeasty and slightly alcoholic. Caramel, coffee and banana are obvious, its fruitiness shows cherry, plums, dark berries, notes of orange hops and some herbal spices. Flavor was also good and not less complicated, (sweet) fruity malts mixed with (bitter to sour) herbal hops and spices offers a heavenly palette for the palate. Despite all of that alcohol is quite felt, specially near the finish. Finish itself was long, pretty much reflecting the flavor in a sweeter way. Damn complex and really good, I’m looking forward to try the other gems of this brewery!

I don’t know why it is, but I just don’t see the big whoop regarding the Chouffe beers. This one was better than most. I’m rating one I had a couple years back and have one on hand here, a ’97. But, I don’t know why I’m keeping it. Maybe hoping that age will turn silver into gold. Doubt it tho. Now you take the Chouffe Coffee Liquer and mmmmm, mmm!

[Bottle, thanks AndyMagnum] Pours red with a small head. Aroma is malty, fruity (banana and apple), a little yeast. Taste is sweet, malty, some alcohol. Long, somewhat dry finish. A little thin. Pretty good.

Bottle (about one year old). Beautiful reddish colour with an off white head. Aroma: sweet malt, caramel, big fruitiness, berries, pears. Flavor: sweet, malty & estery, fruit, berries, caramel, yeast, lightly fenolic, light alcohol. Nice!

Just before cracking this gem I shared a bottle of Orval with my girlfriend - I thought that was a musky Belgian ale...but man, this sets the bar. Stored since ’03, this beer has reached a supremely round mellowness that really brings out the big earthiness in the yeast and curbs the edgy alchohol. There is a wonderful breadiness here - something fermented like French - mixed with an extremely smooth buttery hazelnut character. The yeast really comes through a touch sweet - apples or currant. A sprinkling of hops give the fruit a fresh quality - very contrary to the musky yeast and malt. The mouthfeel here is unbeatable, just gooey and sweet with that hoppy freshness. An excellent winter ale, but hell...I loved this and it’s spring.

Pours a beautiful opaque chocolaty brown with a fine-bubbled head. The malty and strongly spicy aroma has a firm hint of chocolate. Flavor is rich with a nice balance of hops and malt, as well as an overtone of cloves and a hint of sweetness. Finish is lively and tingly.

Hazy brown colour with a off-white head. Pepry nose and a winous aroma. The flavor i also winous and sweet. Nice!

2007 bottle from Greens Liquor stoe off Ponce De Leon. Nice dark brown body with a nice fluffy head. Looks like a great Belgian Ale. Dark fruit aroma...big time. Fairly aromatic. Nice fruit malty aroma. Nice dark fruit aroma. Very much in your face with the dark fruit aroma. Nice crisp grap dark fruit aroma. Nice fresh dark fruit taste. Not extremely creamy. Nice overly creamy, but the "spices" aren’t very apparent. Nice dark fruit beer, with some great qualities, but not the most amazing Belgian Strong.