Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Houblon Chouffe


This one is new for me; a Belgian IPA. Houblon Chouffe comes from Brasserie d'Achouffe. They are a small, but well known, brewery in Belgium. Most beer geeks know La Chouffe well, but finding these beers on draught in Canada is difficult. This brew is essentially a heavily hopped Belgian Triple. Tomahawk is used for bittering  with the spicy Saaz hop for aroma. Top make things even better, Amarillo is used for dry-hopping. "Houblon" is the French word for hop. Clocking in at 45IBU, this in not your usual triple. So, how does it taste?

Houblon Chouffe = 8/10

Ratebeer 3.9 99th percentile
Beer Advocate A-

The aroma is oddly subtle but complex. There was a lot for the nostrils to sort through: citrus, floral, coriander, light fruits and various spices. At the start of the sip, an effervescence carries this creamy brew to a warming finish. While Pacific North West hopheads will not be impressed with the magnitude of the bitterness, they will appreciate the complexity. A never ending wash of citric acid, spices, floral and light medicinal hops is suitably balanced by apricot/peach and light bready malts. These tastes morph to leave a long, and very dry, spicy sweet finish.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 9% (you can't tell)
Value +1
Appearance +1

2 comments:

Gerry Hieter said...

Hey Ian, Draught is not spelled draft. It's a pet peeve of mine!

Unknown said...

No worries Gerry. Correction noted. I often get my math mixed up too.