One of the most commonly heard accusations levelled against Bottle & Board, is that "All your beer is 14-15%, rocket fuel!" One of our most infrequent customers makes this comment, every time he visits the shop, whilst at the same time, conveniently ignoring the irony of the fact, that the Lindemans beers he buys for his wife are 2.5% abv. The reality is, that Bottle & Board has a fantastically wide range of beer based on alcohol (Including the lower end of the scale.) as well as some splendid alcohol free beers.
Recently a number of Belgian breweries have been trying to break into the British market, and have been somewhat confused by the apparent lack of popularity for the style of beers that they produce. There is of course, nothing at all wrong with these great Belgian beers, it was simply a case of the brewers gaining an understanding of the British mindset, with regard to drinking beer. Having had the concept of, session drinking and the love of the `Pint pot!` explained to them, some of these breweries have begun to produce beers of a much lower A.B.V. in relation to their usual more heady brews, whilst at the same time managing to retain the body and flavour profile of their classic beers.
The first of these beers that I tried was the splendid, Westmalle`s Extra at 4.8% abv. another beer in a similar vein, that we recently had on tap at the shop, is Chimay Gold at 4.8%. Both of these beers are superb, and have lost none of the weight or mouth feel of the original.
A couple of years ago Brasserie d`Achoffe decided to get in on the act, and initially got of to a slightly shaky start. Chouffe Soleil is an absolutely fantastic Summer beer, however at 6% abv, it is not really suited for session drinking by the pint. (although a chilled half on a Summer`s day is a delight.) Bottle & Board are delighted to announce that Chouffe have finally cracked it with the launch this month, of Chouffe Session, a tremendously refreshing 4% blond beer. We are hoping to be pouring this beer, throughout the Summer month`s, so get it while you can!
Having now brewed a great `session strength beer` the team at Brasserie d`Achouffe have gone one step further in embracing the U,K,`s style of drinking, by producing an imperial pint version of their iconic glassware.
Now that Radler season is (nearly) upon us, why not come along to our shop and discover a range of lower abv Belgian beers for yourself!
Cheers Chums!
Chouffe glassware: From the left, Imperial pint, 33cl for bottles and finally half pint.
Having tried the Chouffe session I can definitely recommend it. Still has the distinctive Chouffe taste despite the lower ABV. The Chimay Gold was a lovely beer too. Look forward to drinking more of them during the summer (or what passes for summer).😀