Beer Review

Below are reviews of some of the various beers, ales, lagers, spirits, Ciders and maybe even a coffee that we have tried whilst on our travels.

Pelforth Brune.

First brewed 1937. Name comes from an Anglicised contraction of "Pélican forte" and the brewery adopted the name in 1972 changing from Pélican to Pelforth.

It's very like Newcastle Brown Ale but stronger. It has more of a caramel taste and is served in posh glasses.I especially like it as it gets you drunk rather quickly and is very suppable. It's quite heavy, so a Pelforth Blonde may be in order every fourth beer or so. KH

Jupiler

This is one of the best selling "Bog Standard" lagers in Belgium, and mass produced like Carling or fosters. It's a pale larger and 5%. But to be fair, its not that bad as a session beer. If the NMBS were in Belgium at the height of summer, a few Ice cold Jupliers would be a god send. Juplier also comes in a "Juplier Blue" variety, which is a gimmick like "Bud Ice". But for a quite cheap beer whilst you are having either a session or just sat in the gite watching Gavin and Stacy on DVD, it does the trick.

Sadly this is part of the company "Interbrew" - The owners of Boddingtons (once) in Manchester and provoked outrage by announcing the closure of the World famous "Cream of Manchester" brewery and the loss of 55 jobs. SH

Leffe

Leffe is the world’s most famous Belgian abbey beer - a beer for the connoisseur, If we knew just how to pronounce it. We say "Leff" and "Leffey" and even "Leffay" but thankfully Belgium barmaids when they are not being wistfully looked at, know what we are on about and serve it - which should be served cold at 5° C.

Leffe Brown is dark brown in colour - a full-bodied beer with a typical nose of dark malts and fruity flavours. The other members of the Leffe family are Leffe Triple, a fresh golden ale with hints of lemon and vanilla (8.4% vol), and Leffe Radieuse, a yellow brown ale with a strong fruity taste and a rich bouquet (8.2% vol).

Leffe Ruby. Just simply Orgasmic - One of my favourite beers and a nice "Quirky" glass too. SH

LA CHOUFFE

La Chouffe is an unfiltered blonde beer, which is re-fermented in the bottle as well as in the keg. It is pleasantly fruity, spiced with coriander, and with a light hop taste. rightly deserves its title of ‘Scotch of the Ardennes’ its dark, full-flavoured texture is reminiscent of its Scottish cousins. We went to the main Brewery which is in a small hamlet in Achouffe, which is midway between Gouvy (Where we stayed for the Ardennes 08) and Nadrin - on the Wibrin to Mont road. The Brewery has a nice little cafe and gift shop - but we opted to eat at the Restaurant across the road (there are two, we picked the one in a liitle nook around the corner) where, of course La Chouffe is served. To me La Chouffe is pleasant enough. Not my favourite beer, not a horrid beer and worth a try. McChouffe was not to my taste. Its more akin to a winter ale or a trappist ale. Too much for me. SH

Ale of Atholl.

Wow. What a find. What a beer. What a delight ! Simple as that. This gem of a beer was found on our travels in the Highlands of Scotland at a small micro brewery in Moulin. For me quite simply one of the best beers I have tasted. We had it in the Moulin pub spent on a lazy afternoon playing bar-billiards. We liked it so much we found a pub local to where we were staying who stocked in. Delightful. And from a man who certain members of the NMBS only drinks Coffee, me rating an ale so highly must be high praise indeed! SH