We Taste & Rank Every Classic Chouffe Belgian Beer, From La Chouffe Blond To Mc Chouffe, Cherry Chouffe & N'ice Chouffe

Belgium is home to some of the world's most historic breweries, many of whom date back centuries and have created some of the most formative styles of beers still beloved by millions today. It's not at all uncommon to find these breweries tied to monastic abbeys, many of whom still even reside within these ancient stone walls and have their origins as brews made by monks! Yet, one of Belgium's most recognisable and iconic beers is not at all one of these, which you might instead recognise from Marcel the red hat wearing gnome - this is of course Chouffe from Brasserie d'Achouffe!

The story of Chouffe - pronounced Shoof - starts in 1982 (which really is pretty recent for a Belgian brewery of such renown!) with two brothers-in-law, Pierre Gobron and Chris Bauweraerts, who had wanted to make their own beers as a fun little hobby. Back in those days, brewing was still very much a backyard kind of DIY activity with much of the equipment needed having to be cobbled together on your own with a great sense of industriousness and ingenuity, and so with that can-do spirit, Gobron and Bauweraerts would get to work setting up their little "brewhouse" in a cowshed belonging to Bauweraerts' mother-in-law, set in the small village of Achouffe in the Belgian Ardennes. By 27th August 1982, armed with nothing more than 5,000 Francs (before the Euro!), a 49 litre mash tub, having to pump the boiling wort through a makeshift cooling copper pipe dunked in a basin of cold water, and finally hand labelling one by one every 75 cl bottle (that they collected from local hotels), the dynamic duo would successfully produce their first ever commercial brew.

Inspired by the folklore of their verdant surroundings - a serene, forested wonderland of rolling hills and river valleys (which itself was called the Vallee des Fees, or Valley of the Fairies, according to local legend) - the pair adopted the fairytale gnome as their mascot. They also figured that the last thing Belgium needed was yet another paunchy monk on a beer label! Drawing from a watercolor painting of a garden gnome spying on a farm that Bauweraerts had spotted on a television program, Marcel the Gnome was born, with the little garage brewery taking on the name "Chouffe" when a colleague of Bauweraerts had jokingly suggested the made-up name whilst chomping on a mouthful of lunch.

For the next four years, brewing remained a hobby for the pair, where they would occasionally showcase their brews at local fairs, with the La Grange cafe and restaurant in Achouffe the first to pour La Chouffe by the tap. At the time, Chouffe stood apart from the other commercial blondes on the market, designed to be more flavourful, with greater alcoholic proof and fruit-forwardness (using 100% pale malt, Saaz and Styrian Golding hops), yet less bready and therefore less overtly heavy. Unusually, the brew was left unfiltered, retaining a thick sediment, and was allowed to re-ferment in the bottle. Over time, the recipe would of course be further tweaked, most prominently taking on a greater spiced profile, which the pair thanked Pierre Celis, the founder of the famed Hoegaarden, for whose suggestion to add coriander seeds to the recipe (precisely 3.7 kg for every 10,000 liters) would give Chouffe a greater kick! By 1986, Chouffe was starting to seriously grow and so the pair would decide to go all in and purchase the farm they were working out of and give Chouffe their full time effort. Just over a decade later, Chouffe would expand for the first time outside of Belgium to the Netherlands where it would be met with great excitement, even being crowned Beer of the Century in 1999!

2 hectoliters would turn into 7 hectoliters, and before long - ten years long, that is! - the little Chouffe would finally outgrow its brewery shed, this time properly expanding to a fully outfitted brewing room from which it would spend the next decades growing to over 5,000 hectoliters today. Along the way, Chouffe would also gradually grow its gnome family, first with the Scottish-inspired Mc Chouffe brown beer in 1987, followed by the seasonal N'Ice Chouffe (a winter themed brew with thyme and Curaçao orange peels), and later on the beloved Chouffe Cherry (the dark strong ale Mc Chouffe infused with Morello cherry juice) amongst others. Yet perhaps most unique of the lot was also the most begrudgingly made! In December 2005, Chouffe's USA importer had asked for a heavily hopped Belgian beer that was to be specially made for an Ultimate Belgian Tasting that was going to be held at the Empire State Building. As the story goes, the folks at Chouffe were hardly keen and had set a large order size for it to happen - turns out that was no issue for the American importer who would even go so far as to insist that American hops were used for the collaboration brew. This would ultimately become the Houblon Chouffe, an incredibly hoppy IPA-Tripel hybrid (containing 3x the amount of hops of a bottle of La Chouffe) that ended up creating the very Belgian IPA category! 

These are just a snippet of the Chouffe story with of course many more fun and crazy adventures that went on behind the scenes. By 2006, Chouffe had proven itself so beloved as Belgium's first (legal) craft brewery that it would be called to join the equally famous Duvel Moortgat family, of which it continues to be a part of. At its core, Chouffe is a Belgian strong ale that is distinctly spiced and is made with a proprietary yeast that favours fruitiness over breadiness, which is then bottled unfiltered and made to undergo re-fermentation in the bottle. Till this day, Chouffe continues to be a big hit with both consumers (who regularly celebrate Chouffe by donning their red hats) and homebrewers alike (who really enjoy the ability to get their hands on Chouffe's yeast, often attempting to recreate or give their own spin on the iconic La Chouffe)!

With all that said, let's get down to trying Chouffe's classic Belgian ales!

Let's go!

Beer Review: La Chouffe Belgian Blonde Beer

8% ABV, 100% Pilsner Malt, Saaz & Styrian Golding Hops, Sugar Syrup, Coriander Seeds

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Gold

Aroma: Opens bold and honeyed, with lots of oranges, from orange peels to orange blossoms and orange marmalade, wrapped up in herbal robes of manuka honey. It's rounded and rich, spiced with cloves and white pepper, with then rustic touches of hay and some brie rind yeastiness. Really aromatic!

Taste: Medium-bodied, honeyed and herbal with a light bitterness, it's really smooth and with a good richness, showing spices of coriander and white pepper, orange peels and orange blossoms. Lightly yeasty, it's really rounded and whilst rich, is not quite heavy.

Finish: That really malty, honeyed richness carries through, coaxing in all those classic orange peels and clove spice, working into a clean finish. Lingering gentle yet firm bit of savouriness of burnt meat.

My Thoughts

Absolutely lovely! You've got the classic Belgian ale flavour profile yet here much bolder and more forward, with more verve and chomp really. It's like everything is given that much more vigour and powerful, yet at the same time it's neither heavy nor brash. Somehow it finds the canvas for all these nuances to still show through with such clarity and definition, almost rather elegant in fact! It's really aromatic and packs so much in to give utter satisfaction! This really is a modern reinvention of the historic style, which immediately tells you why Chouffe is such a classic!

Beer Review: Mc Chouffe Belgian Brown Beer

8% ABV, Pilsner & Darker Malts, Saaz & Styrian Golding Hops, Sugar Syrup, Coriander Seeds

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Brown

Aroma: It's immediately roasty and chocolatey, with dark chocolates, roasted coffee beans, milk coffee, baking spices with some added clove, all over treacle, caramel and toffee. There's a delicate outline of bright fruitiness of citruses, apples and bananas, lightly burnt orange peels too that's topped over cream. It's then given a savoury edge of burnt praline and burnt ends.

Taste: Medium-bodied, although thicker and more velvety with a dense foam over the smooth and creamy body. It's almost like a cappuccino, with tones of coffee cream, milk sugars, burnt sugars and roasted malt, along with still that little flicker of bright citrus, this time accompanied by juicier darker fruits of dates and stewed plums.  

Finish: Really long finish, milky throughout, with a more prominent bit of charred bitter savouriness. It's dry and lightly bitter on the finish with then lingering confectionary tones of milk sugar that's backing up the espresso and whipped cream. Slight bit of pistachio praline nuttiness too.

My Thoughts

This feels hearty and warming, and whilst with roasty overtones, is in fact a great balance of sweet and bitter, always pairing burnt notes of malt and sugar with also cream and toffee. In between are delicate notes that range from bright and darker fruitiness to nutty and almost exotic, with also that array of baking spices. These combine with the bitter and sweet overtones to showcase quite the display of confectionaries that go from bitter dark chocolate to pistachio praline! More so, there's a wonderful textural contrast between the milky richness and the precise punch of spice that is really delightful. Overall, that cappucino-like weight and texture serves well in delivering the bold flavours of the palate perfectly.

Beer Review: Chouffe Cherry Belgian Cherry Beer

8% ABV, Pilsner & Darker Malts, Saaz & Styrian Golding Hops, Sugar Syrup, Coriander Seeds, 12% Sour Cherries / Cherry Juice

Tasting Notes

Colour: Very Dark Amber

Aroma: Heaps of cherries! It's forward and confectionary, going from cherry twizzlers to cherry frosting and fondant. It's got an almost cake-y and resinous quality that's giving wax candles, really perfumed and aromatic if not alittle synthetic. The maraschino cherries and cherry hard candies are then met with baking spices, brown sugars and fruit cakes that forms the richer and darker, more grounded base.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, the pop of cherry candies comes through although more subtle here as compared to its aromas, cherry frosting and cherry hard candies, here instead backing up the brown sugars, caramel, treacles, honey and baking spices. It's malty and rich, rounded and luscious, with the richness supporting the high tones of the bright and confectionary cherry tones.

Finish: That light pop of zingy cherry candies carries through, here joined with a richer lingonberry sauce to go with the brown sugars and treacle. The malty richness persists all the way through the finish, not at all heavy, with then a clean finish. Lingering resinous cherry tones of wax candles, drops of cough syrup, dusting of baking spice and a final light savouriness of charred meats.

My Thoughts

This is big on the cherries which come through really candied and forward, without the tartness and alittle more confectionary that one might assume. It's everything from cherry twizzlers to frosting and hard candy, with this resinous quality that's really reminiscent of wax candles. In that sense, whilst it was really aromatic, it might come off alittle divisive to some. The palate shows more balance with the cherries much gentler, although still very prominent, here tucked behind the brown sugars and baking spices and rounded out by the malty richness. Really delightfully, it gets richer towards the finish, with this delicious drizzle of lingonberry sauce to go with the treacle. Altogether a really nice surprise, although leaning more towards a confectionary and waxy profile!

Beer Review: N'ice Chouffe Belgian Winter Beer

8% ABV, Pilsner & Darker Malts, Saaz & Styrian Golding Hops, Sugar Syrup, Coriander Seeds, Thyme, Curaçao Orange Peel

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Brown 

Aroma: Opens with warm, spiced overtones of nutmeg and cinnamon, brown sugar, and coffee powder, with then a richer core of dried fruits of plums, prunes and dates mixed in with the treacle. There's a slight nuttiness here of marzipan and really light flecks of orange peels, along with banana hard candies.

Taste: Thick and velvety, again really spice forward, verging on herbaceous in fact, with cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as that pronounced bit of coriander mixed in with various green herbs. It's backed up by brown sugars, caramel, and an almost herbal bit of cough syrup and stewed monkfruit, that's then given more richness from the big maltiness. Almost a little gristy, with also an umami, savoury side to it, reminiscent of teriyaki sauce. More on cocoa powder into the finish.

Finish: Soft, almost powdery cocoa and coffee powder, really plush and alittle more confectionary and warm. Baking spices, fruitcake, gingerbread and brown sugars begin to show through into the spiced finish, bringing with it some more of those stewed dark fruits of cooked down plums and prunes. Some lingering savouriness of charred burnt ends too.

My Thoughts

This feels immediately much more spiced, and even more savoury, although those orange peels and thyme are far more subtle than might be expected. It's also certainly richer, with swaths of brown sugar and fruit cakes, cocoa powder too, with then that noticeable dab of teriyaki sauce for that umami savoury edge. It's warming and bodied, and would definitely be fitting for a snowy, winter night, although less Christmassy than one might anticipate!