Church Brew Biere de Noel

Brewed by Church Brew Works
Style: Bière de Garde
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Sampled at the brewpub. Poured a nice amber color with a tan head.The nose was sweet with dark fruits and toffee. Flavor was full of sweet dark fruits, toffee and nuts with a nice alcohol warming.Finishes off clean leaving a warm feeling in my belly.

Had on tap at brewpub.Like Christmas in a glass. Nice amber pour. Aroma of cinnamon cloves and vanilla. Alcohol warming on the back end. Very nice!

Toffee flavor with spices. This beer is very similar to the pumpkin stout. Enjoyable beer.

Hazy medium brown. Nice notes of dried fruits and toffee. Subtle spice as well.

This year’s version is actually 11% ABV. I spoke with the head brewers of CBW at Bocktown tonight for their tasting. This is an imperial Christmas Biere De Garde of sorts...very similar to their St. James biere de garde. I really like what CBW is doing and I don’t think they get enough respect from the BA community because their specialty beers are awesome while their regular release German lagers are somewhat run of the mill...and that’s what people know them by. A- Body is a medium foggy murky brown color that is served with a 1/2 finger off white head. Head has great retention but leaves no lacing behind in the glass. S- Cinnamon and other spices and lots of them. A dose of phenols also come to the nose along with a nice bready yeast. T- Much like the smell. Lots of cinnamon spiciness upfront with a sweet malt and bready yeast backbone. The spices intensify for the finish and a big dose of alcohol hits as well. Lots of spiciness and an alcohol heat linger. P- Medium carbonation and a medium weight body smooth with bready yeast but also hot with alcohol. O- This is a great Christmas beer but the alcohol gets to you after a bit. I also sampled their whole lineup tonight (about 2-3 oz samples) cherry quad included (which was very good and might be a future investment)...so that might have something to do with it. Something that I wish they bottles so that I can age it for a few months in order to give it a chance to settle down a bit. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 12-11-2008 03:01:44

Enjoyed via draft in an elongated tulip glass at the brewery. The beer pours a lightish to medium brown color, with a substantial and fairly thick head. The nose throws a combination of familiar Belgian ale esters, along with some interesting notes that lean towards being saison-esque. Reasonably appetising. The palate begins with a nice melange of Continental character malts and ester/phenol interplay. However, there isn’t much of a leveling out, and the finish seems far too sweet; almost to the point of being difficult to finish after a meal. The alcohol is nicely hidden, and the beer remains quite light on its feet. Overall, a decent seasonal, but in need of some drying out.

The 2009 version is 9.5% alcohol. Sampled on draft at the brewery this beer poured a very dark brown color with a large tan head. The aroma was dryish, nutty and tangy with a touch of raisin and cherry. The flavor was dry, nutty and malty with notes of raisin, fennel and bourbon with a slight medicinal undertone. Long finish. Moderately full bodied. The alcohol shows through a bit too much. Ok.

draft: dark brown, thin white head, malty aroma, candied sugar and spiced taste, medium bodied

On draft at CBW. It was a dark brown color with a minimal head. It was hard to smell any aromas due to the overpowering aroma of grain inside the building at the time, but I was able to make out some dark fruits and some alcohol. Flavors were of raisins, malts, and brown sugar with an underlying alcohol taste (wasn’t overpowering thought). Overall I liked this beer.

On tap at the brewery. An unusual version of the style. Pours a cloudy brown-red with a small white head. A sweet fruity nose, malty and raisin. A similar flavor; rich but a tad thin, fruity, raisins, loads of caramel. Festive. Nice.