Belgian Strong Pale Ale

La Chouffe

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When I was 12, I played D&D as a Gnome Illusionist named Ralph. I’m glad I got that off my chest.

Speaking of Gnomes, I drank some La Chouffe recently. You may recognize the bottles as the ones with the Gnomes on them. If they really are Gnomes. They are variously referred to as Gnomes, Dwarves, Goblins and/or Elves. That last one seems the most unusual to me, but the La Chouffe homepage even calls them elves, so I don’t really know what’s going on there. Apparently the term “Chouffe” is Walloon for “gnome”, though according to Wikipedia, only 600k people actually speak the language, so who knows how it actually translates.

There’s apparently quite a backstory to La Chouffe, which is interesting since the Belgian brewery (actually called Achouffe) was founded way back in… 1982? I’m so used to longstanding (by which, I mean, like hundreds or thousands of years) Belgian breweries that something that new seems odd.

La Chouffe

Pours a cloudy light brown/gold color with a couple fingers of head and some lacing as I drink. The smell is very spicy (can’t quite place the exact aroma here, but it’s distinct, perhaps coriander) and features lots of the usual Belgian yeast aromas. Taste is sweet and spicy (again, can’t place the exact spices here and they seem more subtle in the taste than in the nose), with maybe a hint of citrus. Some people mention a hoppy character in their reviews, but it’s not something I found very prominent. There may be a little in the way of a dry bitterness in the finish, but nothing out of the ordinary. Lots of carbonation, but despite the spiciness and decent alcohol, it goes down pretty easy. Overall, a very good beer, something I could drink a lot more of (and probably will!) A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (750 ml, capped). Drank from a tulip glass on 4/17/11.

Interestingly, Achouffe and Ommegang recently announced a collaboration. Not super surprising, since they’re both owned by Duvel, but still, I’m looking forward to the awesomely named Gnomegang. Stay tuned for that one, as I recently procured a bottle.

Vegas Beer Update

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I’m in Las Vegas this week for a work conference and so far I haven’t really run into an awesome beer selection, though Bouchon in the Venetian has a pretty decent selection of beer for a fancy restaurant. There may be some other opportunities for great beer later in the week, but for now, this is what I’m making do with:

  • New Belgium Fat Tire – A pretty straightforward amber ale, this reminds me of a sorta west-coast Yuengling lager. It seems to be ubiquitous around here and while it won’t blow you away, it makes a good session beer. It might be a little better than the Lager, but that also may be the novelty of it speaking, as New Belgium does not distribute anything near me… Hopefully I’ll be able to find some of New Belgium’s more adventurous beers at some point.
  • Chimay Cinq Cents (aka White) – Chimay’s version of a tripel is fantastic, as always. I’ve had these many times before and may even have a half finished blog entry about it somewhere. I still wouldn’t call it my favorite tripel or anything, but it’s very good and retains a certain distinct Chimay character. I had it on tap at Bouchon, and it went well with my meal.
  • Delirium Tremens – Another beer I’ve had several times before, but which is, as always fantastic. In fact, I enjoyed it much better while having it during a meal. It’s a very sweet beer, so having it all by itself can get a bit cloying after a while. Mixing it with rich, meaty flavors of my dinner worked really well. Also on tap at Bouchon.
  • Shiner Bock – There’s a bar attached to Treasure Island called Gilles. It’s a Country/Western bar (strike 1) and their beer selection featured mostly macros (strike 2), but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the Shiner Bock and was glad to have a few of these. The bar is pretty funny though. It’s got a mechanical bull, and the waitress’ uniform was… interesting (I suppose these two features mitigate the two aforementioned strikes). Oh yeah, the beer. It’s good. As Bock’s go, I have to say it’s easily better than the recently reviewed Yuengling Bock, and made for a nice session beer last night. I can see why this beer is so popular (though I don’t know why the beer nerds and BA are so hard on it).

I’ve had a few other beers and will hopefully have something more interesting before the week ends. More to come…

Duvel

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So I’m catching up on a bunch of beers I’ve had recently. I usually jot down some notes whilst drinking, then polish them up later (and maybe throw in a movie review or write a screenplay or something), but I’ve been slacking on the polishing piece, so I’ve got about 5 more posts ready to go here. First up, one of the more common Belgian beers you’ll find in the US:

Duvel

Duvel – My true gateway into the world of craft beers was Brewery Ommegang, which was sold to Duvel Moortgat in 2003. Back in the day, I got me a case of Duvel, expecting something… Ommegangy, but I remember being a bit disappointed. It was better than most of the swill I was used to, but it wasn’t a revelation, like the Ommegang beers I’d had at the time. But that was a solid 6 or 7 years ago, so I figure it’s worth giving them another shot.

It pours a light, clear yellow/gold color with a billowy head and lots of lacing as I drink. It’s very aromatic and smells strongly of Belgian yeast, cloves, etc… Taste is very sweet with an unexpected tart finish. Hints of a lingering tart bitterness as well. Mouthfeel is a bit on the harsh side, lots of carbonation. It has a bit of a bite to it, no doubt due to the lemony tartness, but is otherwise not quite as complex as I was hoping for… It works well enough for one glass, but the entire 750ml bottle was a bit much for me and it was grating towards the end. It’s a fine beer, certainly a step up from something like, say, Stella (and a mile up from typical macro junk), but I think my initial impression way back when was probably right on. B-

Beer Nerd Details: 8.5% ABV bottled (750 ml, caged and corked bottle). Drank from a tulip.

I didn’t realize it, but I had another beer from Duvel Moortgat in my fridge (Maredsous 8, a dubbel), which I’ll be reviewing sometime this week. I liked that one better than this, but it wasn’t particularly mindblowing either.

Brooklyn Local 1

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I’m still making my way through 2010 movie releases, hoping to find a final gem in the rough so that I can complete a top 10, and the process is, of course, made much more fun by the imbibing of good beer! I recently caught up with The Last Exorcism and was quite pleasantly surprised. It’s not really a top 10 kinda movie, but it’s a lot better than the marketing for the film would have you believe. I don’t really want to ruin anything, but it takes the form of a mock documentary with an effective setup and conflict, though I think the resolution isn’t as satisfying as it wants to be. Still, well worth checking out for fans of horror (it’s certainly better than most recent exorcism-themed film). Perhaps it helped that I was drinking some great beer whilst watching:

Brooklyn Local 1

Brooklyn Local 1 – Pours a light, cloudy yellow/orange color with a big head that leaves some lacing as I drink. Smells fantastic – bready belgian yeast, some candi-sweetness, and lots of citrus in the nose. Sweet and spicy with a bit of a kick in the middle and a nice dry finish. A little bitterness lingers… Mouthfeel is strongly carbonated and a bit harsh, but in a good way. A lot of this reminds me of a good Belgian tripel style beer, though BA classifies it as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale. I suppose there’s a good reason for the classification that has to do with ingredients and brewing methods, but in terms of tasting this is certainly more like a tripel than the last two tripels I’ve had (Incubus and Weyerbacher Merry Monks (not reviewed yet)). All of which is to say, this is a great beer. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 9% ABV bottled (750 ml, caged and corked bottle). Drank from a tulip glass.

I guess this means I should try Local 2 (apparently a strong dark ale), eh?

Unibroue Don De Dieu

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Canada’s Unibroue brewery has quickly become one of my favorites. If nothing else, they make La Fin Du Monde – perhaps my favorite beer evar. But everything I’ve had from them has been fantastic (or at least worth a try) and thanks to their habit of bottle conditioning (“ale on lees” as they say on the bottles), their beers seem to be available far and wide (and won’t break your wallet either). This one has been evading me for a while, but I finally caught up to a bottle:

Unibroue Don De Dieu

Unibroue Don De Dieu – Translates literally as “Gift of God”, which is pretty audacious, even for French Canadians. While that may be setting the bar a bit high and this beer doesn’t quite reach the heights of Unibroue’s best, it’s certainly a worthy effort and still at the top of the brewery’s offerings. Pours a light, hazy orangish color with a small head. Smells strongly of citrus and coriander/clove (a spicy combo seemingly favored by Unibroue, at least for their lighter beers) with the flavor to match. Good carbonation and nice medium drinkability, which is surprising considering the high alcohol content. BA calls it a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, but Unibroue says it’s an “abbey-style triple wheat ale”. Well, it would certainly place well in either category for me, though again, it’s not quite the perfection that is La Fin Du Monde (though it does have a similar flavor profile). B+

Beer Nerd Details: 9% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank from a tulip glass.