Abbaye des Rocs Speciale Noel

A very lively beer. Jumped out of the bottle as soon as I cracked it. A deep red/brown color with some haze. Head is a light tan and diminishes relatively quickly. Aroma is slightly astringent and spicy. Flavor is a nice mix of spices, malt and hops ? a well balanced taste with character, but not overdone. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, creamy and lively. Damn good. These Rocs all seem to have a similar sharp aroma, but the taste is world class.

A strong nutmeg beer, and cinammon and ginger and licorice and orange peel. Some malts and candy sugar to tone down Belgium spice. White foam. Basically syrupy. Some brandy alcohol. Three years of aging would add to the experience.

Rating 614. Bottle from Pitfield Beer Shop, London . 330ml. Rich and dark christmas brew similar to the regular Abbaye des rocs.

Large beige head that was mainly lasting on top of a tawny amber body. Roasted aromas along with fruit, vegemite and yeast. Strong sweet flavours of malt and caramel, biltong, butterscotch, a touch salty, medium body, soft carbonation and a long finish.

Another Belgian whose head explodes with white foam but then collapses. Ruby colour underneath. Huge sweet and spicy aroma, lots of cinnamon. Flavour is sweet malt with a little alcohol in the end. Great for winter.

Nice deep red-brown colour, with a fair bit of yeast and weird patches of good head retention. Great aroma very similar to regular AdR - heaps of spices - nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, pepper. Yum! Doesn’t taste as good as it smells, like most of this brewery’s products, but is nice nonetheless and improved with a bit of air and warming. Quite light-bodied, and perhaps a bit light on flavour, but spicy like it smelled, with light but nice maltiness, a nice, faint, alcoholic edge and perhaps a touch more bitterness than I would care for. Nice beer, but it didn’t change my life. And frankly I’m not convinced it isn’t the same beer as regular AdR (my bottle said 9%, I think.)
RR: Grabbed this at Purvis on a surprisingly cold early March night when nothing else stood out - great decision!! This beer didn’t grab me much when I first had it but last night it just out muscat/tokay/port-ed the real thing. All the beautiful sultana and brandied apricot flavours with a sublime smooth and intense malty sweetness. Probably closest to a muscat, without the cloying sweetness that really turns me off. Coriander and nutmeg in the aroma. Flat out brilliant, only a slight muddled fruit flavour detracts from it. (Previous rating 9/3/6/3/14=3.5)

I got this bottle from frink. Thanks! Almond skin brown pour with a surprisingly fully diminishing light brown head. It looks fairly still with the tons of small floaties not moving at all. Aroma is mostly big malt and spices, very chocolatey straightforward with mint, dark bread, and ripened dark fruits undertones (raisin, dates). Thick body could use a bit more carbonation. Palate is very sweet and not as balanced as others. I like the grassy hops from the grand cru and the regular seems far less candyish and spicy chocolate syrup like. Slightly cloying finish with a long spicy aftertaste (cloves, mint, pepper). I expected more frankly.

Bottled. A predominantly fruity and spicy aroma, but there is again that meaty smell present in the regular AdR. The appearance is dark brown with plenty of floaties. A nice spicy, sweet clean Belgian taste - more agreeable than the regular IMO. Good beer.