TLDR Beer Club

[rowaiaru]

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Just had La Chouffe, which is a golden belgian ale similar to Duvel, so here are the notes I have for the two.

Duvel:

Pale yellow with a huge white head. Aroma is clove, sugar, pear, yeast. Flavor is sweet, with fruit and clove notes. Finish is a bit bitter but not as bitter as delirium tremens but stonger than leffe. Has enough of a bitter kick to keep it from being too cloying. Nice warmth from the alcohol as you finish the bottle.

my notes for Le Chouffe are,

Pours hazy golden with a huge foamy head. Aroma is sweet, with yeasty and candy sugar notes. Nice coriander hints. Flavor is sweet, spicy, slight hints of citrus, and medium bitterness for a belgian. Finish is nice, but could last a bit longer. not as hyped as Duvel, but just as good if not better in my opinion.

My rating for Le Chouffe
4/5 and just a hair better than Duvel. I reccomend it to those looking for a duvel-type beer, I think le chouffe is a bit cheaper and at least for me is easier to find.

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I live in Belgium and I have visited the La Chouffe brewery a few years ago (now it's being brewed in the same brewery as duvel, Moortgat Brewery). I just [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] La Chouffe and I'm surprised that you can find it in America.

I like Duvel just a little bit more though, and where I live you can find Duvel in every bar and every store, whereas bars here don't often sell La Chouffe.

Anyway, maybe a few beers you should definately try if you can find them. I'm guessing the Leffe 9° should be fairly easy to find, but I have no idea about the Augustijn.

http://www.retail-deli.be/file_uploa...I0400xADAA.jpg and http://www.globalbeer.com/Merchant2/.../Augustijn.jpg

The Leffe 9° is rather new, and rather strong [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
It costs about 3$ here.

Augustijn has become one of my favorite beers in the last year. It has a very strong aftertaste but once you get used to that, it is a very nice beer. There is a bar here in the town I study in that sells them from the tap for about 1.8$ (the price of a regular beer), it is 7-8° strong and me and my friends always drink this if we come to this bar (which is quite often [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]). It is also brewed in the same town, so maybe that's why it's so cheap.

[RunDownHouse]

I couldn't find a link to the article on Men's Journal's actual site (maybe they don't put new issues up right away), but here's a link to their top 25 American beers.

I picked up the La Fin du Monde today. Haven't cracked one yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I should be, as it ran me $10.99 plus tax (9.25% in TN).

[MrWookie]

WTF? I think that list is terrible. DFH 60 instead of the 90? Ommegang Hennepin instead of any other beer from Ommegang? Sam Adams Black Lager?

[Skjonne]

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I live in Belgium and I have visited the La Chouffe brewery a few years ago (now it's being brewed in the same brewery as duvel, Moortgat Brewery

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Luckily that is not correct. Yes, Duvel-Moortgat have very recently bought D'Achouffe but the latter will continue to brew its own beers.

[milesdyson]

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WTF? I think that list is terrible. DFH 60 instead of the 90? Ommegang Hennepin instead of any other beer from Ommegang? Sam Adams Black Lager?

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LOL.

number one is FIRESTONE pale ale, are they kidding?

sam adams black lager maybe belongs on a top 100 list

and alaskan amber is disgusting

[RunDownHouse]

To me that list looked like "Most mainstream beers from the top 25 American craft breweries." That's why I went looking for the actual article, to see if they mentioned criteria.

Still, any list from a major publication that is completely devoid of BMC breweries is a good thing. I'm glad that New Belgium got left off but was surprised that nothing from Bell's or Three Floyds made it on.

[MrWookie]

I actually love Alaskan Amber. I find it disheartening I can't find it on the east coast. I'd buy it by the case from Costco when I was back home on the west coast, though. That said, I think it's more of a "staple beer" rather than a gourmet, top 25 beer. An imperial stout, imperial IPA, barley wine, or something Belgian-style are going to be the sorts of American beers that just straight up taste the best, but they're not necessarily what I'd drink the most.

[milesdyson]

mrwookie,

i have never had a beer with the word "amber" in its name that i didnt utterly hate. i hate the style, and yes, alaskan amber may be one of the best "alt style" ambers out there, but i cant help the fact that i cant stand it.

amber bock makes me barf, as well. i would rather drink bud/budlight, coors/coors light, miller/miller lite, miller high life and high life light, keystone, keystone ice, natural ice, natural light, pabst blue ribbon + light, or mickey's. i think only old milwaukee is worse to me.

[MrWookie]

Huh. To each his own, I suppose.

Weird thing about Alt beers, though. I picked up a couple from Beers of the World to explore the variety a little bit. The first one I tried was dark brown with some earthy tones, not much in the way of hops. The second was very light in color, almost like a white ale, and it had a little bit of lemon in the flavor along with a medium level of hops. Alaskan Amber is a little lighter in color than the first one, a little maltier, and has an intermediate level of hoppiness. Had I not been reading the label, I would have laughed at anyone who tried to tell me that these three beers held the same name for their style. Anyone know what an Alt style ale means?

[JPinAZ]

http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/Category7.html

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7. Amber Hybrid Beer Styles

1. 7A. Northern German Altbier
2. 7B. California Common Beer
3. 7C. Düsseldorf Altbier


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