Bush de Noël (Scaldis Noel)

Brewed by Dubuisson
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Pipaix, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Dark caramel with a thick, frothy tan head. Big malty nose full of caramel, prune, apple, orange peel, alcohol, toasted grains, licorice, peach skin, whole-grain bread and a touch of treacle pudding. The body is big, full and warm. The flavors are well crafted with the toasted grains, evident hops and warm alcohol keeping the sweet malt from becoming cloying. The finish is warm and long. Probably the best Bush beer I’ve ever head.

bottled, just a small one alas. rich amber with a light haze; quite a nutty liqueur aroma; flavours of earthy spice, crushed almond and some orange cordial; a little messy but warming and cosy nonetheless

deep amber with minimal head. sweet and fruity, but mainly just alcohol. definitely a sipper. thank goodness it’s a tiny bottle.

Bottle from earth fare Asheville. Pours brown with an inch of khaki foam. Definite alcohol on the nose. The taste is malty and slightly sweet. The finish is pure alcohol. It actually burns a bit in my throat. This doesn’t scream Noel to me.

Hazy golden. Huge white head. Yeasty, fruity aroma and favour; apricots and pineapple.

Deep yellow color, creamy feel, good foam. Caramel and nuts, also malty taste. NIce beer, but not sure if I want to drink again. (Velp 201201)

deep cloudy murky caramel coloured light head. Aromas of sweet dark fruity whiskey, spice, bread. Flavors of whiskey, dark fruit, wood, caramel, light bread. Sweet, but the whiskey alcohol comes through a little much for my tastu.

Bush De Noël: Brown 25cl bottle with sparkling blue foil around the cap and neck. Best before 13 Nov 2010, poured and reviewed on 5 Dec 2010. The bulbous tulip glass (Palm Special badged) into which it was delivered into didn’t show it off too well: sediment left the bottle and I was faced by a murky, reddy brown liquid with large lumps of gunge flaoting around within it. No head appeared, just a thin off-white collar and a weak wisp covering a third of the top surface. The sediment did eventually settle, but the beer never cleared, staying a cloudy mess throughout the tasting. A smell of sweetish malts came from the glass, toffee being the main flavour I could detect. The sweet toffee, mentioned in the aromas also appear in the taste, however the alcohol content plays a huge part in the taste too. It claims to be the strongest Belgian Christmas Beer, not too sure that’s true, but it has more than enough alcohol for me to handle. Just a little too much alcohol for my tastes, a pity because the texture and flavours were fine, it doesn’t need to try and blow your head off with every sip. Difficult to score, because I really enjoyed the beer, even though I know I’m going to wake up with a headache!

Cider-sweet flavor. Goes down smooth, creamy and velvety. Wintery hops, balanced but robust.

Dark with a tan head. Aroma is very fruity, spices, a bit of sweet malts, dark sugar. Medium body. Flavor is dark fruits, yeast spice, earthy, dark sugar. A light bite on the finish. Very nice.

Bottle. Dark red-amber colour with small brown head. Aroma sweet sugar. Taste sweet, sugar and malt. Good carbonation. A little hoppy finish, a bit of alcohol burn.