Corsendonk Christmas Ale

750ml bottle. Dark brown/amber with white head. Creamy & soft mouthfeel. Sweetness with spices like clove & coriander. Orange touch. Plum & maltiness. Warmth from alcohol. Good finish!

Reddish brown with big brown creamy head. Slightly thin aroma with complex spicyness. Lots of cinnamon and coriander in the taste - ending on a citric note.

Molasses and citrus blend nicely with bready and spicy notes in the chewy malt forward aroma. Opaque darkest brown body is topped by a huge and fluffy, fine bibbled tan head that recedes slowly and coats the glass with lace. Bready malts are joined by a treacly sweetness with some spice and citrus fruitiness. Never cloying and alcohol is never apparent. Tannins and light orange character emerge and strengthen as it warms. Very drinkable. Medium body with moderate effervescence that bombards the tongue with pointy little bubbles. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature. Bottle (BB 16/09/07, leftover from YeHa 2005).

This brown ale poured with a fluffy tan head, eliciting a pleasant fruity aroma. The flavor is smoky and malty, with a slightly bitter peppery herbal finish. There is the same carbonated mouthfeel as the abbey brown ale, but the only other similarity to that product is the color.

This is definately the best offering from Corsendonk. Excellent rich amber color with fantastic aroma of apple, fig, plum, etc. Pours with typical large head that dissipates. Very well balanced all around. Tastes of a more intense aroma. Slightly oily. Very grand Ale!

750. Deep ebony pour with thick, moussy, bubbly tan head that falls to film and thick swaths of lace. Some visible carb, nice dark tan bubbles, but only for a minute. Big sharp tart fruity volatiles; they’re only there on the nose for a couple minutes. The attack has some carby zip to it; also some sweet, grabby-but-not-cloying fruit flavors: pear, green apple, fig. Mid-palate has that caramel that you know will be there just from the darkness and viscosity of the pour. Finish is a little citric but only if you really listen for it; it’s a pretty neutral finale. This is delicious if not super-individualistic.

29.09.06 750ml bottle. Black tea colored medium teak with little to no head. Aroma is woody, smoky, and a bit corky with touches of sweet malts and oxidation (cardboard). Aroma is mostly that of old beer and I’m not sure how old this is, but it’s obviously not from this year. Caramel, leather, and must aromas and flavors with mostly pear and plum notes to entice. Finish is nothing to write home about, kinda dry, kinda not dry, kinda old. Whatever is happening, it’s tasty.

Vey slight barnyard aroma. Slight apple aroma. Sweet and malty. Some caramel. Creamy. Medium body. Nice beer. Didn’t seem to be spiced.