Beer No: 76
Page No: 392
Category: Blond
After a failed attempt at two sours and a delicious delirium, I continued on to a duo of Chouffes. First up was the Houblon Chouffe, aka Dobbelen IPA Tripel. Wow, this tripel was good. A wonderful blend of 9% alcohol, citrus hops, and malty undertones was just a perfect way to continue the night. More on the beer later. Now for my next endeavor...
With the World Cup starting in just a few days, I wanted to see if it would be possible to drink a beer from each of the different countries represented in the Cup. So, let's see if this is possible.
The first game of the World Cup is South Africa v. Mexico. South Africa actually has quite a few beers listed in the book - 6 to be exact. However, I haven't heard of 4 of them, and I do not know if I'll be able to track down Castle Lager or Castle Milk Stout. I will try and find them in time for the game though. With Mexico, I'm presented with another problem...I tried to buy as many Mexican beers as I could to review around Cinco de Mayo. So of the 7 Mexican beers, I've had Cucapa Chupacabras, Negra Modelo, and Dos Equis XX Amber. That leaves just 4 others, including two more from Cucapa which I have not seen in stores along with Mexicali and Tijuana Morena. Again, I will try and track them down.
Game 2 features Uruguay and France. Uruguay does not have any beers in the book, but France sure does. 25 to be exact. A lot of them I haven't heard of though. And last time I was at Hi Time Wine Cellars, I looked for some French and Italian beers and didn't see many. I will return though, search high and low, and hopefully return with some French beers to sample throughout the tournament.
The next day features three games, with South Korea v. Greece, Argentina v. Nigeria, and England v. United States. Obviously England v. United States is the game of the day, but it's almost cheating to use that game for the day. So while South Korea does have one beer in the book, Prime Max, I have never seen or heard of it, so I doubt I'll find it. Greece, oddly enough, also has just one beer in the book - Mythos Red. Apparently it's distributed to 30 countries, but I've never seen it, but will try to find it. Argentina, like South Korea and Greece, also has just one beer listed, Antares Stout Imperial. It sounds good, but chances of finding it are slim. So I'm left with Nigeria, which also has just one beer listed, oddly enough, it's...Guinness Foreign Extra (Nigeria). However, this isn't your standard Guinness. The dark stout wort is imported from Dublin and then blended with a Nigerian-brewed pale beer made from locally grown sorghum and maize, resulting in a sweeter beer. Chances of find this one...slim to none. So what does that mean? I have to take the easy way out with an English or American beer. Blah.
Oh wait, I just remembered, Day 2 is the day of my stout party, so I'm most likely going to be having an English or American stout review that day. And then I'll just save the rest of my stout reviews until the World Cup round robin ends.
Day 3 features the team I'm rooting for above all others, Germany, facing Australia. But let's see if the other two matches can provide a drink. First up is Algeria v. Slovenia. No dice there, neither has a beer in the book. Next up is Serbia v. Ghana. Again, nothing. So it will either be a German or Australian beer on Day 3. Australia actually has 32 beers in the book, and even though I've had Barons Black Wattle Seed Ale and Coopers Sparkling Ale, I should be able to find something else from Australia. If not, there's always Germany and its 96 beers in the book.
Day 4 has some matchups that could easily produce some good drinking. Netherlands v. Denmark (13 v. 12 beers), Japan v. Cameroon (22 v. 0), and Italy v. Paraguay (47 v. 0). Ok, so it seems like Netherlands v. Denmark is the most evenly matched, and maybe that will be the day to have Grolsch. If not, we can go to Denmark and knock out a Mikkeller or two (since Elephant has already been done). I'll save Japan and Italy for another day.
Day 5 features matchups between New Zealand v. Slovakia, Ivory Coast v. Portugal, and Brazil v. North Korea. New Zealand leads the way with 17 beers in the book, but I have heard of none of them, so I don't think my chances are good to find any. Slovakia actually does have two beers in the book - Brokat Dark and Zlaty Bazant 12%. I would love to find that 12%, but again, chances are slim. Ivory Coast features no beers and Portugal has just three - Sagres Bohemia, Sagres Preta, and Super Bock Stout. Again, I will try to find them, but I wouldn't count on it. North Korea has zero beers (surprise, surprise), but Brazil has 9, including one of my favorite dark session beers, Xingu Black. So you can count on me having that on at least one of the days that Brazil plays.
Day 6 features the final four teams of the 32 in Honduras v. Chile and Spain v. Switzerland. South Africa will mix it up and play Uruguay that day as well. Both Honduras and Chile feature no beers in the book, while Spain has 11, including Estrella Damm (one that I will definitely review during a "Spain Day") and Switzerland features 12 beers, however, I have not heard of any of them, but would love to try them all. Hmm...maybe I should just go to Switzerland.
So in all, there's 15 days of Round Robin play. After that, we have 4 days of Second Round play with 2 games each day. Those teams are all to be decided, but chances are, many of the big teams will be there - England, United States, Germany, Brazil, Spain, etc. so I should be able to keep my "Beers of the World Cup" going. There's then a couple days off, two days of quarter-finals (2 games each day), another couple days off, 2 days of semi-finals (1 game each day) and then another couple days off, a third place game (one match) and the final on July 11 at 11:30pm Pacific time. Hopefully I'll be able to predict which teams will win each round and have beers ready and waiting for me as the teams progress through the later rounds. Obviously, going with the smaller countries in the earlier rounds should leave me with plenty of easier-to-find beers to imbibe in the later rounds of the tournament.
My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:
Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel by Brasserie d'Achouffe (Moortgat)
Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20
Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Had from 750ml bottle. Pours a hazy yellow with good two-finger head, nice head retention, and good lacing. Aroma is heavy with citrus hops, pine, spices, and yeast. Taste is heavy hops, light blonde undertones with hints of malts and spices. A wonderfully balanced tripel that artfully hides the 9% ABV. Finishes slightly dry, but with good hop finish. A treat on a hot day.
