La Chouffe, a small time brewery done good.

La Chouffe

http://www.achouffe.be/en

Brewed by Brasserie d’Achouffe/Duvel Moortgat Brewery
Style: Belgian Blond Ale
Achouffe, Wibrin-Houffalize, Belgium

La Chouffe is a Belgian strong golden ale, produced by the Brasserie d’Achouffe located in Achouffe, a small village in the municipality of Houffalize, in Wallonia, Belgium.

The brewery was founded in 1982 by Pierre Gobron and Christian Bauweraerts, two brothers-in-law, as a hobby. In September 2006, the brewery was bought by the brewery group Duvel Moortgat, this move helping the small brewery to enlarge and also to export to new destinations.

Brasserie d’Achouffe now produces several different beers, and exports far beyond its borders, 72 countries and counting, but it is its Blonde that is the star attraction, accounting for over 80% of its output.

The brand is famous for its gnome that adore its bottles, a little gnome with his little red hat, looking all cute and sprity. Legend has it that it was a gnome just like this that passed on the special recipe to the brothers in law inspiring them to get started!

Review: 330 ml Bottle of La Chouffe: ABV: 8%

La Chouffe is an unfiltered blond beer that re-ferments both in the barrel and from the bottle.

On pour got a big frothy white head that retained, with a golden appearance that later settled down to an orange hazy cloudy hue. Some small carbonation and some thin lacing. Not bad looking.

Very fruity aroma which I found very nice, lemon, orange, banana, a variety of fruits on the nose.

Also found the fresh coriander on the nose.

Smells good, sweet malts on nose too.

Smelled quite strong, with the Belgian yeast also apparent, but overall it was a nice, pleasant smell and well balanced.

Ok, it is another one of these strong tasting Belgian Ales that I find difficult to appreciate. Strong. Has a lot of fruit flavours in it, lime, bananas, peaches, apples……and the coriander that seems to be prominent throughout.

Found it quite similar to the Delirium Tremens which I reviewed not too long ago. Not quite the same style of beer I know, but, unlike that beer, I found this one much more palatable on the stomach and taste buds.

Bitter aftertaste, very bitter. Not bad though, grows on you with the gentle floral hops.

A bit of a slow burner, and quite tasty, albeit strong in the alcohol. I definitely do feel the alcohol kicking away. Yeasty! But having said that it is not too overbearing with the alcohol, manageable.

After the second bottle, I think it isn’t too bad, not great, but ok, a nice crisp taste, but would like to try a few more to give a more definite review.