Corsendonk Christmas Ale

Brewed by Du Bocq
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Purnode-Yvoir, Belgium

Bottle. Dark amber. Aroma and flavor is nice malty. Sweet. Has apricot and a good balance of spices. A typical belgian strong ale but with a nice X-Mas twist to it.

bottle, poured a deep amber color. sweet malty smell, candy taste. pretty good beer. yeasty at the bottom.

Botle. Pours a clear very deep amber with a two finger long lasting light tan head that lasts leaving great lacing. Aroma of sweet malt, caramel, licorice, yeast spice, and light citrus. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium mouthfell with a mild amount of bitterness that finishes slightly spicy. Very good.

2006 boxed set including (8) 8.5 oz bottles and a glass. I watched this sit on the store shelf for a year, and finally it was drastically discounted likely to make room for this year’s edition. Well aged and a true bargain for sure. Dark Mahogany color with a large head that builds up during the pour and eventually settles down. Lots of stringy/streaky lacing around the glass. Amazing aroma of dark sugary fruits and berries coupled with a robust mustiness. The wonderful scent lingers in the air above the glass. Nice malty body, this beer is smooth and filling. Very drinkable with little inclination that this is a strong beer. Detailed flavors of mostly dark fruits like plums, cherries, berries, and raisins. Mild Belgian yeastiness along with some light brown sugar and spices. This one takes on a familiar quality of a light port wine. Never having this fresh I am not sure what a year in the bottle has done to this fine ale, but it appears to be in grand form right now.

This beer poured a clear copper brilliant color with a minimal head. Aroma was a malty cerealness (that I didn’t care for) combined with clove and ethyl hexanoate (liquorice) notes. Aroma struck me as being very floral. Flavor was yeasty and champagne-like with lots of clove flavor, but definitely less complicated than the aroma. Mouthfeel was smooth and good. I’d recommend this.

And here I come to the rating number 200! In front of me I have Christmas Ale from the brewery that surprised me very pleasantly with their dubbel and tripel. BB date Sep 14, 2007, so it’s also kind of aged :)
So, it was a 0.25 bottle which poured dark, almost black body with medium creamy brown head. Sweet dark fruits from malts in aroma, specially raspberries and cranberries. Flavor is quite nice fruity, but quite light bodied, although creamy on palate. Nice finish though, sweetish with berry fruits. Alcohol is not felt at all here and carbonation is, contrary to the other beers from this brewery I’ve tried, very low. Surely a good beer, although I’ve expected more, which it would probably be with some more body.

Bottle, 25cl. Reddish brown colour with a tan head. Surupy aroma with notes of ginger, caramel & fruits. Sweet, slightly spicy flavour.

Really good Christmas ale. Dark brown in color with lots of malts, spicy yeast, and woodsy, orange citrus aromas. Equally complex on the palate with a dominating maltiness and a long finish.