Abbaye des Rocs Speciale Noel

Brewed by Brasserie de l’Abbaye des Rocs
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Montignies-sur-Roc, Belgium

Bottle. Hazy reddish brown color, long lasting head. Sweet, very fruity and malty aroma with notes of ginger and toffee. Sticky sweet malty flavor with strong fruity esters and ginger. Dryer and spicier towards finish with licorice and unpleasant heavy mustyness. The fruitiness of this beer is nice, but there are some unpleasant tones and the flavor is also too gingery.

a tasty, fruity beer, not as good as the standard, sweeter with higher carbonation.

Bottle. Lively stuff! Opaque cloudy light brown / chestnut pour, medium but vanishing tan head. Great aroma, darkly malty and caramelly with some fruit (light banana and plum), yeasty and spicy with a very subtle note of toffee. Sweet taste, spices play wonderfully on the palate. Very complex. A little bit of smoke and hoppy bitterness in the finish. Soft, perfectly spiced for the holidays, caramelly with just a touch of alcohol. You’d have had a hard time convincing me this was at 9%. Plum, molasses, maybe a dash of coriander and cinnamon, creamy, brown-sugary. Only knock against this: a bit hard to finish a full bottle - flavor overload. Overall: Lovely, absolutely lovely.

Went to AMsterdam with Hans+Gert-jan and this was the winner overall that night. Now the name was speciale noel and after e-mails and research, i think this is it....was dark and pretty...nice smell...had a sweet delicous warming decadent taste. i liked this alot.

Dark amber coloured, small white head. Sweet malty aroma, some light alcohol touches. Full body, nice balance finish, some sweet.

Pours a dark red brown and doesn’t have too much head...some yeast and spice floaters. Aroma is very spicey...much more like a vegetable/spice beer. Aroma also has a lot of malt, candied sugar, and a bit of fresh dark fruit...not much yeast aroma. Taste is very spicey and sweet...candy sugar and cloves...and a bit of roasted malt. Again, not much yeast or bread flavor. Hides the 9% unbelievably well. Mouthfeel is smooth and very balanced. Probably one of the more interesting BSA I’ve had...but wish the flavor was a bit more kicking.

Bottled. Reddish brown beer with huge floaties and a lasting beige head. Aroma is complex and mild, with cigar, alcohol, spices, plum, tea and prunes. It is a delicacy just to sit back and sniff the aromas. The flavor is equally complex, but unfortunately a bit short, with candi-sugar, tea, alcohol, bitterness and a slight roastiness. Sweet, full and slightely fizzy mouthfeel. The finish is light hoppy. It is a fresh beer that gives me more spring/easter feelings than christmas feelings, but that is maybe a result of the Norwegian beer habits. It’s wonderful anyhow. (060320)

Bottle 330ml. Orange/red color with nice, rich beige head. A bit reduced rating points on appearance due to a big amount of rather big floaters, otherwise a lovely pleasant body. A fruity, spicy aroma with prunes and a clear hint of alcohol. The taste is also alcoholic with lots of candy sugar, complex and surprisingly still quite fresh. A bit short on aftertaste, still rather sweet.