I might try working that angle next time I'm in. We'll see.
Tonight, I'm reviewing another of Dr. Rob's recs, but this one comes with a bottle cap on top: La Chouffe, the original. I've had the tripel/IPA blend, and while it was good, it wasn't my favorite, and I've had other beers, notably the Brooklyn Hopfenweisse, that do a better job of blending a bold, sweet, fruity, yeasty pale malt with a strong hop character. With Dr. Rob saying he preferred this even compared to the mighty La Fin Du Monde, though, I had to try it. It's fun to pop off corks, but the bottle cap on this one means it's more likely to be a good bottle. This was the most expensive beer on my last shopping trip at $10.85. It's 8% ABV.
This was definitely a livelier brew than the Karmeliet. It started foaming out the bottle as soon as I popped the cap, and I hadn't been rough with it at all. The head isn't that persistent, though. It's more like coarse champagne bubbles that dissipate rather than a thick creamy persistent head.
I could also smell the grassy European hops as soon as I started pouring. I didn't even need to stick my nose in the glass. Tasting it, I'm quite frankly shocked that Dr. Rob was so high on this one and so down on Duvel. To me, they taste like very similar beers. There's a little fruitiness in this: hints of apple, apricot, orange, but it's not as sweet or as yeasty as the LFDM, and it's missing the clove spice flavor, too. Reading the back, it looks like this is only twice, not thrice, fermented, so I guess it can't be a tripel by definition
. Guess I should have checked. Not that that's truly to the detriment of this beer, but maybe I got the wrong one. Dr. Rob, is this the right one, or did I grab the wrong one and need to try again next time? Regardless, I might prefer this slightly to Duvel, but not enough for an extra half heart rating.
. I don't think this is worth the extra $3 compared to what I paid for Duvel on sale, but I'm not sure what Duvel's regular price is. I wouldn't pay any more than $1 more for the La Chouffe.