Cherry Chouffe

Cherry Chouffe in a branded glass. Copyright 2017 by Andrew Dunn.

Rare beers and special beers and one-off beers are always fun to find. My wife and I found many while on our trip to Belgium.

Most brewers have a cadre of suds they produce on the regular. Building a business is hard without producing a few favorites. But most brewers will also experiment, mixing and matching ingredients, barrel aging brews, or spiking the batch with a particular flavor.

One ingredient the Belgians excel with is the cherry. Tart krieks (sour cherry lambic beers) have long been a Belgian favorite. But sour is not the only route one can go.

Brewery Achouffe, in Achouffe, Belgium, brewed a special Cherry Chouffe this year, which is their McChouffe Scotch ale brewed with cherries. The wife and I were able to sample it on tap at ‘t Poatersgat Cafe (The Monk’s Hole) in Bruges.

Smell: You are hit with a wonderful cherry vanilla smell.

Sight: A deep purple color to the beer with a raspberry beret of a head.

Taste: Sweet cherries, obviously. Bright, lively, lovely. The beer is like biting into a fresh cherry. Drinking the beer is like drinking sparkling cherry juice.

Alcohol: Cherry Chouffe is deceptively light. Those mischievous gnomes have spiked this beer with more than cherries as it clocks in at 8 percent. Watch out!

Overall: We thought it was amazing beer. We both remember it quite fondly. However, I will say, I already know it will not be for everyone. It is a sweet beer. Some might say it is far too sweet to enjoy, perhaps verging into the artificial, cloying, candy range. But we really enjoyed it. Each to their own. But this is NOT a kriek, not a sour lambic. It is a rouge (red) fruit beer. So keep that in mind. Also, we sampled it on tap. The flavors may be different in the bottle.

Bottom line: The beer was only a few euros. Well worth it in our minds.

Gnomegang

Gnomegang with a tulip glass. Copyright 2017 by Andrew Dunn.

Life has gotten in the way of this blog, badly. I am again two months behind in posting. But I have taught two summer classes, taken care of some personal obligations, and gone through a small last-minute travel crisis.

That last one was a killer. Less than a month away from our big trip to Belgium, obviously a big deal for this blog, and I noticed that my passport had a big rip in it on the signature page.

The wife and I had to drive five hours to Atlanta to get me a new one at the passport agency there. Our friends were gracious enough to put us up for the night in Athens, Georgia, just a short drive from the city. Though it took some serious logistics, my new passport arrived in the mail a few days ago with only a week to spare until we travel. Yay!

In other news, my parents celebrated their 49th anniversary on July 5. So we celebrated with them this weekend. My wife and I celebrated our fifth anniversary last month, which is the whole reason we are going to Europe this summer.

The day before my parents’ anniversary was the Fourth of July, USA’s Independence Day. To mark the occasion and to celebrate getting my passport taken care of, I decided to turn to an American Belgian beer.

Gnomegang is a collaboration between Brewery Ommegang, an American brewer in Cooperstown, New York, and Brewery Achouffe, a Belgian brewer in the town of the same name. Both are owned by Belgium’s Duvel-Moortgat Brewery.

The beer is brewed with Chouffe yeast and bottle fermented with Ommegang yeast. I have avoided reviewing any American beers up to now, but this blonde ale seemed to be worthy of inclusion given its Belgian pedigree. Plus, we leave for Europe on Wednesday, so it is a nice tie-in.

Smell: Tart fruity smell with some funk.

Gnomegang poured into a tulip glass. Copyright 2017 by Andrew Dunn.

Sight: Gnomegang, much like its Belgian cousins, pours a ridiculously large white head. The beer has a bright golden hue. It certainly looks like a magic elixir made by gnomes.

Taste: Right away you are hit with that Belgian yeast, and it is a strong jab. Along with the yeast, you taste the tart banana that is familiar with so many yeasty Belgian beers. The beer is surprisingly spicy. However, it is a bit drier than I would have expected. There’s a touch of bitterness to the finish.

Alcohol: Technically, Gnomegang is a strong ale at 9.5 percent. But you really don’t notice it with the exception of maybe the spiciness.

Overall: I have loved many of Ommegang’s beers. But I wasn’t wowed by this one. I much prefer its Belgian counterpart La Chouffe. I wouldn’t say it is a bad beer. It isn’t. But there are many more out there I like better. In fact, there are many more Ommegang beers that I like better.

Bottom line: There’s no reason not to try Gnomegang. It’s readily available in the States, and it is cheap. I paid $2 for my bottle. You can’t really beat that. So grab one and enjoy.

Bonus points: We plan to visit a number of Belgian breweries, bars, and bottle shops on our trip. And I plan to blog as many of my finds as I can. The Belgian Beer Bureau is back!

N’Ice Chouffe

N’Ice Chouffe with O.G., my old-school branded snifter. Copyright 2017 by Andrew Dunn.

Christmas is officially over. The tree came down today. The ornaments and decorations have been put away.

We’ve celebrated almost a month of Christmas around here at the Belgian Beer Bureau. First, the wife and I had Christmas between ourselves in mid-December. Then we celebrated Christmas at Walt Disney World in Florida with friends and family.

On Dec. 25, we enjoyed Christmas Day with my wife’s family in Florida. And shortly after, we shared Christmas with my family in Alabama.

Finally, today, we had time to put all that holiday cheer back in its box, so to speak. Well, my wife did most of the work. I made chili, a hot lunch on a very cold and snow-covered day.

So how else should one celebrate the end of Christmas? With a Christmas beer, of course. N’Ice Chouffe, my selection for today, is a seasonal holiday/winter strong brown ale from Brasserie d’Achouffe in Achouffe, Belgium, a Duvel-Moortgat Brewery property.

Smell: The nose on N’Ice is of licorice and molasses.

N’Ice Chouffe poured into O.G. Copyright 2017 by Andrew Dunn.

Sight: The beer pours a muddy brown with a medium cappuccino head to it.

Taste: N’Ice is a sweet and rather spicy beer. However, it has a strong herbal note to it and just a light tartness and bitterness. The beer is brewed with thyme and curaçao, the bitter orange liqueur. You can definitely pick up those flavors. A complex mix for sure.

Alcohol: This one burns. The alcohol is 10 percent, and you definitely feel it.

Overall: The beer was nice enough. But it didn’t blow me away. I’m not wild about the herbal flavor. I think had it not been a seasonal beer, I would like it more. I just expect a certain flavor out of my Christmas beers, and this one just doesn’t deliver what I’m typically looking for. I know, I know. It’s not exactly advertised as a “Christmas beer.” But it’s also not exactly not advertised as such either. I mean the dwarves are clearly wearing Santa hats and beards. So bah humbug.

Bottomline: Achouffe can be a rather economical beer. A four-pack of N’Ice Chouffe is only $10-$12. So a single bottle will set you back $3-5, a very reasonable price making it worth sampling.