Belgian Beer: La Chouffe

The Brasserie d'Achouffe, founded in 1982, is a Belgian Brewery based in Achouffe. In September 2006 the producers of Duvel (which we will be reviewing soon), Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat purchased the Brasserie d'Achouffe.

Brasserie d'Achouffe produces a number of different styles of beers, amongst them are:

• Belgian Dark Ale, 6.5% ABV: Chouffe-Bok
• Belgian Strong Dark Ale, ranging from 8%-10% ABV: McChouffe, N'Ice Chouffe
• Belgian Strong Pale Ale, 8%-8.5% ABV: La Chouffe, Kwelchouffe

This time we tried La Chouffe, Bière blonde D'Ardenne, 8% ABV. This beer is unfiltered, it is re-fermented in the Bottle or Keg.

Presentation: La Chouffe comes in a 750 ml green glass Champagne like bottle with freshness date on back label.

According to wikipedia:

"The beers have gnomes on their label, a play on the town name Achouffe, since Chouffe means gnome or dwarf in a Walloon dialect."

The company website explains why such a large bottle, as La Chouffe only comes in 750 ml and up:

"The size of the bottles encourages people to share the beer with friends and families, which is very sociable!"

and share we did.

Appearance: Cloudy gold with streams of small champagne-like bubbles. A Nice thick, coarse, bubbly white head which leaves a good amount of lacing on the glass.

Smell: Grain, fruity, spice/herbal, yeast, citrus.

Taste: Fruity sweetness which is balanced with the slightly bitter finish, honey, cloves, spicy, citrusy.

Mouth: Bubbly, live carbonation and light bodied, kind of like champagne.

The bottom line: An excellent beer, sweet but not overly-sweet, fruity yet balenced with hints of spice, very enjoyable. Although you may want it all for yourself, you will soon feel the effects of the 8% ABV considering how easilly La Chouffe goes down, so like they said, this one is nice to enjoy with friends and family.

**** 1/4 (out of 5 *)