McChouffe

Review Date 8/30/2024  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Scotch Ale   Brewery: Achouffe   Country: Belgium   State: N/A   $ Per OZ: $.35 (B)   ABV: 8%

As I type, it’s the last day of August, 2024. This month marks the 35^th anniversary of the release of Michael Jackson’s Beer Hunter series on the Discovery Channel. Then too, yesterday marked the 17^th anniversary of Jackson’s passing. I’m currently enjoying a bottle of McChouffe while I watch the episode “Bohemian Connection”, McChouffe, of course, is a Belgian beer, not a Czech one, and while this beer is not featured in the episode that focuses on Belgium, I thought it an apt Belgian beer with which to toast the Beer Hunter.

To be sure, McChouffe is not featured in the Beer Hunter, but Jackson did attend a beer dinner in Belgium, and enjoyed a Belgian Scotch Ale-much like McChouffe. This was not my first beer of the night, and I began to reminisce a bit while drinking the beer and thinking back to the first time I watched The Beer Hunter series.

I had of course read plenty of Jackson’s books and writings in All About Beer at the time. I didn’t know about the forthcoming series, though, in the summer of 1989. I was having a beer with my good friend Jim, a König-Pilsner to be precise, when he told me he had seen a commercial for it on Discovery. Jim passed way too soon, too young indeed. I fondly remember him every time I watch The Beer Hunter, or drink a König.

Brasserie Chouffe says:

Full of character, Mc CHOUFFE delights lovers of dark beer all over the world. Its distinctive flavour, its dark ruby colour and its fine creamy head make it a unique beer. Mc CHOUFFE is also characterised by its spicy aniseed and liquorice flavours, superbly complemented by full-bodied caramel notes. Despite its robustness, Mc CHOUFFE is surprisingly smooth. It even reveals delicious fruity notes, especially pear, as well as a very slight hint of bitterness at the end of the palate. With its 8% alcohol content, like LA CHOUFFE, Mc CHOUFFE is appreciated with the same lightness as its big blond sister.

My 11.2 ounce bottle of McChouffe cost me $4.99 from Total Wine. You can get a 4-pack for $15.49. My bottle is stamped with a Best Before date of 08-2025.

McChouffe pours to a murky russet color with a medium sized head of creamy tan foam and a nose of sweet sticky toffee malts. Taking a sip the beer is medium to more in body, rich and chewy with caramel and burnt toffee notes. There are hints of cherry fruit, almond, licorice and chocolate. Finishes sweet (but not cloying) and gently warm with alcohol.

A very delicious beer indeed.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??