Name: La Chouffe
Nationality: Belgium
Type: "Blonde"
ABV: 8%
Reason for selection: There is a gnome on the bottle. Presumably. Could be a redcap, I suppose.

This bottle has... coordinates? 59°09'03.4"N, 5°44'45.0"E. This appears to be open water in the North Sea, Norway. However, coordinates at the top of the actual brewery website give a location in Houffalize, Belgium, close to a beer shop and a street with a suspiciously similar name. Hell, I'm just gonna link the site.

https://chouffe.com/en-us/our-beer/la-chouffe

Pouring develops a comical amount of quite robust head. The appearance is golden and rather cloudy. Aroma... sour beer, not especially distinguishable to my philistine nose. Flavour... This is not... bad, but it's somewhat unsettling at first. It tastes like someone used to make violins, then decided to try beer for a change. Lightly sour, well balanced bitterness, cleanly sweet, with a very forward note of spruce pitch. Ingredient list includes coriander... okay yeah, I get that now that the flavour source is specified. So, we're kind of a gruit hybrid, which is neat. I'd say the mouthfeel is sort of midrange, neither heavy nor particularly light. It's worth noting that A: the strong alcohol content is not immediately obvious to the palate, and B: this comes in a 750ml bottle. Make of that what you will.

The bottom line: Interesting and well crafted. 4/5 questionable fae.