Notes on beers brewed by
The Blonde 40th anniversary beer. The usual Chouffe presentation. Lemon colored, lightly clouded body with an initial high, white, bubbly head. Retention and lace are not great, but there is a thin film left on the surface of the beer. Light, hoppy nose but more sweet than anything else. Tastes reflect the nose with a lightly hoppy note surrounded by some sweeter cereal notes. It finishes dry and with a kind of light, orange juice. The zesty, orange peel/pith tastes come on stronger as the...
Well … it is what it is. Various shades of red in the body that range between dark burgandy to alarmingly red, depending on the way that the light hits the beer. The moderate head is slightly pink - again dependent upon the light source - and it leaves some decent lace. Nose has plenty of cherry notes, not too strong. It’s sweet, but honestly not too sweet. It threatens, but then backs off. As long as you want that strong cherry taste, and you don’t mind the sweetness, then this is a ‘beer’...
Additional notes 03/17/23 (pictured) Almost 12 years ago since I last made notes on this. Note the new spelling. This is such a hard, hard beer to review in 2023 given what has happen to it in the 12 years since my initial notes. It’s not really because that much has changed, if indeed anything at all, but this is now brewed by a brewery that has long since lots its way in terms of the beer that it puts out generally, and now, God forbid, it’s in a can. Like most of the canned beer produced...
Updated notes, 03/30/2022 Sixteen years between these notes! Wow. The bottle pictured is from the latest tasting, and you’ll see that the name has been simplified to Houblon Chouffe these days. I’m not sure when that happened, but it makes sense because the original name (referring to three types of hop), had the confusion of the word ‘Triple’ in the name. Over the years the style has grown on me, but if I’m completely honest I’m just as happy keeping traditional Belgian styles and IPAs in...
Additional Notes: 07/12/22 Sixteen years on and my notes below look a little naive and dated. Having said that I kinda stand by them and it's still the same color, and for me the beer really lacks the depth that many others can provide. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like this beer - I do, really - but it always feels a little thin in every department. I continue to buy it from time to time when something not quite so hard-hitting is required, but it's an occasional beer for me...
11/24/22 (Pictured) Still that same, dryish bitter finish that is atypical of a Belgian Strong Dark or Quad, and plenty of dark malts that place it in brown ale territory. Still enjoy it. 2004 Vintage. Dark brown pour, but not so deep that a real deep mahogany type body was evident, with nice spotty lacing on the surface of the beer and on the glass. A lot of malt and spice in the aroma. Detected some orange peel (as advertised), but the others were more difficult to detect and definitely not...
Pale orange and some chill haze adds to the cloudiness of the pour. A thin but persistent head is present with some mild, fluffy lacing. Aroma displays Belgian yeast character. I didn't notice much of the spice that is advertised, but there is a little hint of cloves(?) and some orange. A nice, solid pale Belgian with a decent kick too. Quite ordinary for a quality beer, but goes down well. This was very expensive ($9.90 for a small bottle - yes I was shafted) and there are a multitude of...