Beer sellers: Beers of Europe
ABV: 8.5%
Origin: Achouffe, Luxembourg, Wallonie
Website: www.achouffe.be
Achouffe La Chouffe and Mc Chouffe
Today the Achouffe brewery is one of the most internationally familiar of Belgian micros, with its cheerful trademark “chouffes” (gnomes) grinning out from beer store shelves in more than 20 countries. All this must have seemed unthinkable back in 1982 when Pierre Gobron and Chris Bauweraerts set up shop on a shoestring in the small village of Achouffe, near Houffalize in Belgian Luxembourg, deep in the Ardennes. But Pierre and Chris knew a thing or two about marketing – the rosy-cheeked chouffe, drawn from local folklore, formed the core of a regional brand identity that now encompasses a fan club and an annual event, La Grande Choufferie, based at the well-regarded brewery tap in the village.
The still tiny brewery was well positioned to benefit from the growing international interest in Belgian beer that developed from the late 1980s, and it became a pioneer exporter, with the Dutch and the Québecois the first to succumb to the chouffe’s charms. In 2006 the business was sold to expanding Belgian new national Duvel-Moortgat, though so far little has changed except improved access to market. For years the brewery insisted on selling nearly all its beers, including this one, in 750ml bottles, but most have since been made available in 330ml sizes too.
Besides La Chouffe, the flagship blond ale with which it launched, Achouffe has long offered a second regular beer, the vaguely Scottish-accented Mc Chouffe, originally inspired by a Scottish friend of the brewers, though it also reflects a significant strand in Belgian taste — there has long been a significant market in the country for “wee heavy” style beers, some of which were brewed in Scotland especially for Belgium. Mc Chouffe stretches the definition a bit but the influence is discernible.
It’s a cloudy brown bottle conditioned beer with a good foam head and a moderate aroma of burnt twigs, fruit and flowers. A quite fizzy but rich palate has grape-like fruit, a herbal coriander touch, and some sharpish roast which dries out the swallow. The finish turns slightly sweeter with ashy roast tones percolating to the surface through rich malt, leaving a lingering tang.
Some serious beer fans can get a bit snobby about Achouffe, but it’s a little unfair. Like its golden older brother, Mc Chouffe isn’t an overwhelmingly brilliant world beater, and isn’t specially authentic to its style. However it’s an enjoyable, easy drinking craft-brewed ale with its own distinctive character, and there’s no shame in that.
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mc-chouffe/1615/
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