Big Sky Biere de Noel

Brewed by Big Sky Brewing Company
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Missoula, Montana USA

Serve in Trappist glass

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Bottle from Julie Thanks! Dark brown with a foamy off white head. Floral caramel toffee molasses chocolate clove and huge nutmeg aroma and taste with vanilla notes. Excellent.

UPDATED: DEC 4, 2007 This brew was aged for 3 months in Bourbon barrels. Pours a dark brown apricot color w/ a full, semi creamy froth. Superb hangtime reducing slowly to a thick downy canopy. Nice! Strong aromas of darkfruit, cakebread, and cocoa. Full nectar w/ perfect carbonation for a luscious creamy texture. A moderate sweetness possessing rich fruit flavors of blackcherry, plumb, apricot, red flame grapes, and wild apple. Cakebread, mild spice, and cocoa also push forward. As the brew warms the chocolate cakebread flavor takes control and wins out over the fruit. It’s a nice transition. The finish lingers w/ an alcoholic burn that doesn’t annoy me in the least. This brew is rich, viscous, and like the holiday very giving. Highly recommended.

Good brew from Big Sky. Poured was a nice brown color with good size head. Aroma was oaky dark fruits and something else. Flavor was much the same, vanilla oak was strong and lots of fruits. Good beer.

Bottle: The aroma is a nice combination of apple pie, cherries, light caramel, chocolate, yeast, cinnamon, and faint alcohol. It pours a transparent brown with a moderate beige head. Lots of chocolate and caramel up front. There is some faint apple pie and cinnamon flavors in the background. It’s medium bodied with soft carbonation. Very tasty, but Abbey Dubbel? Only because the label says so I guess.

bottle #281/1800... not sure what that means but it is from superdave70. hazy chestnut-y brown with a thin tan ring of a head. there is something very comfortable about the aroma?!... brown sugar candied nuts, chocolate, grain, spice, bruised apples, vanilla and medjoul dates. it tastes a whole lot like a chocolate covered werther’s original butterscotch candy!... alcohol is noticed but it is slight and very welcomed as it clears the palate of flavors of malt powder, grain, brown sugar, dates, vanilla and flowers. a very mild bitterness comes in late on the finish. medium to full bodied but strangely thin enough to drink this entire bottle myself. i very easily could at the abv% and not have a headache in the morning. really enjoyable... 8/4/8/5/17/4.2

Capped bottle from Corti Bros., Sacramento. Slightly sour dark aromas of plum, berries, chocolate, bread, and likely more. Very dark color with a substantial beige head (that crawled out of the bottle - it’s bottle conditioned). Thin to medium body with creamy carbonation. It starts chocolate. Very. It’s a bit sweet, but has an underlying sour note. It has a very fresh berry fruit aspect. There is a little heat. After a bit the chocolate is more cocoa. The finish is dark, very mildly sweet, and woody/bitter. I still think there is a sour note, but with so much going on it’s difficult to be sure. The Belgians could learn from this. Fantastic drink.

Bottle: Brown hue with amber highlights, frothy head and spotty lace. The aroma has notes of currant, plum, carrot cake, coriander, nutmeg, anise, chocolate, caramel, Belgium candy sugar, wood and leather, NICE!

Rich sweet malts an ripened fruit greets the taster with a spicy and moderate alcohol presence in support. Slight sour and bittersweet tones come in and out. The mouth feel is lush and aggressive with a slight warming upon the chest. Really nice surprise but this should be listed as a Belgian Strong Ale however. (THX Kevin)

Bottle 171 of 1800. Pours clear dark amber with a large, creamy, light brown head, mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (caramel, cookie, nutty), average hops (flowers, pine), average yeast (dough, earth) with notes of dates, candied apples, pears, and brown sugar. Full bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation, and an astringent finish. Long duration, moderate sweetness, light acidity and bitterness.

Bottle from Topps in Tempe. The pour was beautiful garnet-brown, very generous tannish to light brown colored head (foaming out of the bottle after the first pour and loud pop upon opening), good but somewhat spotty paterned lacing. The aroma was oak, vanilla, dark fruits. The flavor was bourbon (although the bottle doesn’t mention bourbon barrels), vanilla, oak (all of those a little too strong, but not typically overdone), plums, raisins, insignificant spicing. Finishes with a full body, slight yeast dryness also. Very nice brew.

Picked up a 22-oz bomber at Topps Liquors in Phoenix, AZ. Pours a dark brownish amber brew with an average sized off-white head that has some good retention and lacing. Aroma of sweet dark caramel malt, tart berries, some pear, apple and some molasses. Taste is medium bodied, light carbonated with flavors of dark roasted caramel malt, some chocolate, brown sugar, a touch of dark pitted fruit and some raisin. Finish is semi-sweet, some tart fruit aftertaste with some alcohol character. A rich Christmas brew.