Beer Spotlight!

Brasserie d’Achouffe Houblon Chouffe

Belgian IPA
$11.99 for the 11 oz bottle four-pack

It had to happen. It just had to happen.

With the world having become so small, it just had to happen that after decades of Belgian beer influencing American craft brewers, that American craft brewing would return the favor. That development happened in 2006 in southeast Belgium, in the Ardennes Forest, in the town of Achouffe, when Brasserie d’Achouffe broke with their brewing tradition and made the first Belgian IPA.

Already responsible for one of the tastiest Belgian Strong Pale Ales ever, d’Achouffe took a fruity Strong Pale Ale and hopped it like an American IPA. Sure, the familiar Saaz hop is a welcome friend for Belgian beers, but what are Tomahawk and Amarillo doing there? They’re having a good time. That’s what.

This beer was a bit of a head scratcher when we first tasted it some 15+ years ago. In a way, it was ahead of its time, but now a world of New England Style IPAs has primed us for the taste combination of fruit and bitterness. If it’s been awhile, do yourself a favor and revisit the first Belgian IPA.

The Achouffe gnomes knew what they were doing.