De Graal Speciale

Bottle @ Kerstbierfestival 2006 in Essen, BE. Brown color with a off-white head. Aroma off toasted malt, hoppy, brown sugar. Very sweet flavor with mederate bitternes and a avage finish.

Bottle. Slightly cloudy orange brown color with a nice thick head. Malty aroma with some notes of yeast, dry fruits and spice that I thought was coriander. Medium-full bodied with a fresh dry mouth feel to it. Well balanced bitter-sweet flavor. Great beer, which I would like to come back to one day

Bottled. Aroma of chocolate, light roasted, raisin, hints of spices and lactic sourness. Brown color, very small beige head, good lace. Light sweet, light bitter, bit roasted, prune, licorice finish, hints of spices, bit lactic, medium body. Not really balanced and technical quality below De Graal’s standard.

33cl, bottle. Deep dark brown colour with a beige head. Aroma of yeasty, dark fruits. Sweet fruity taste. Medium body with a sweet, dry finish. Ag reat creation.

Cloudy dark brown color, large creamy off-white head. Aroma of some roasted malt, heavy chocolat, some cookie. Taste is slightly sharp, but most creamy malt, bit bitter and slight sweet. Palate is bit metallic and slightly sticky. I like this taste for a belgian strong ale, but it’s just not it. It has body, it is reasonably balanced, but it lacks some complexity.

Lovely, sour-ish aroma full of burnt candy and overripe dark fruits and slight alcohol. Gorgeous dense brownish head that graces the glass with its presence for a very long while. Dig in and a full, faintly stout-like bouquet spreads in the mouth. Very dry and initially with quite a lot of carbonation, more so than I expected. Nice and not your typical Belgian, even if does lack depth.

Bottled. Dark amber colour, small off-white head. Aroma is spicy, malty and a bit earthy. Flavour is quite the same, but even more spicy. Too spiced for my taste, and in my opinion quite a bore.

Bottle. Caramelly, with some light notes of brown sugar/candy sugar. Some raisiny fruit characters, with some warming alcohol bitterness in the finish. A bit raw.