Abbaye des Rocs Speciale Noel

Tried a fresh bottle along with a three years old bottle together with some ratebeerians, they were quite different. The fresh version is rated here. Hazy reddish brown with medium beige head. Spicy and perfumy, with dark berries and some sweet liquorice. Medium bodied and smooth. Sweet but decently balanced with a dry edge. Quite complex.

330ml bottle (Poirotti Eira, Helsinki) Ruby red, thin light head. The initial sweet aroma becomes a bit acidic (not vinegar, something else), and like cut grass or hay, maybe fresh asparagas. Some rubber burntness. Taste is sharp and rich, but on swallowing it’s pure gravy, rich and beefy. Some soy sauce too. Confusing range of different tastes. Most were very nice, but I don’t expect them all in the same glass.

Garrafa. Coloração âmbar escura/avermelhada. Creme bege razoável. Notas de café, torrefação, nozes e amêndoas. Presença de sedimentos grandes no fundo. Carbonatação média. Encorpada. Creme denso, mas não persistente. Final levemente seco e amargo.

Lucious, full-bodied, complex, and spicy. Beer that makes you sad when you reach the end of your glass, which usually has some sediment in it. Yum.

Bottle from the now closed Pitfield beer shop. Dark brown coloured with red undertones and a big off-white head. Aromas of molasses, liquorice, cardamom and chocolate. Flavour was sweet with dark fruit, spice and more chocolate. Complex and excellent.

Pours brown with large head. Malty aroma with notes of overripe fruits, toffee and yeast. Chocolate flavor that is malty, sweet, spicy and has port notes. Very complex. Best Nöel I have sampled!

Bottle. Pours reddish brown. Cream head although fairly small. Aroma is of fruits / spices / chocolate. Taste is bitter and slightly spiced with a medium body.

2000 vintage (7 years old) at the Kulminator, only 3euro. pours dark with red tint and creamy tan head. nose is pretty awesome with fruity notes of raisins and berries with big caramel malts and hints of toffee and tobacco. flavor is bold, dark, fruits, and tobacco. there’s a charred note to it that seems to bottom out the palate leaving it flat and short, possibly this has well past its peak but the soul of this beer is still intack as well as its fine flavor. mouth feel is full carbonation perfect and smooth a nice beer but the charred note seems inappropriate and doesn’t enhance the beer but overwhelms the other delicate notes.