De la Senne Equinox Winter Beer

Nice deep brown coloured body with a very thin tan head. Aroma of nice fragrant malt, tart cherries, alcohol, sour grapes, caramel and nuts too - very interesting, but very nice. Very effervescent mouthful, medium-bodied; Strong assertive roasty malt up front with some mild nuts and caramel flavours. Aftertaste shows alcohol, some vanilla and oak and a very minor cherry flavour. Overall, a pretty good beer - better in the nose and in the glass than in the taste and afterwards. I sampled this 33 cL bottle purchased at Beer Mania in Bruxelles, Belgium on 28-December-2007 sampled on this side of the Atlantic the day before I head back over to central Europe on 06-November-2009.

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a large sized head of foamy tan colored bubbles that were mostly lasting and left behind a slightly hazy softly carbonated brown colored body and a thick foamy lacing. The aroma was mild hop and mild spice. The semi-flat mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish. The flavor contained notes of mild spice and dough. An OK brew just nothing special.

My Bottom Line:
Barn-like emanations reach this Belgian Strong Ale’s chocolatey malts, while peppercorns and strong effervescence render more liveliness.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam covers the cloudy terracotta.
-The carbonation is ample but soft on the palate.
-The yeast character came off a tad strange throughout. Not necessarily cohesive with the malt profile.
-Roastiness accompanies the chocolate flavors.

Bottle.

interesting as it’s not an usual taste for a belgian beer. It seems to be inspired by the originality of the american beers but with the mastery of a belgian brewer. Brown with "burnt" taste. Its pretty nice.

Bottle. Brown pour, light tan head. Aroma has some roasted malt, caramel, bitter hops and some coffee. Flavor has some bitterness, toasted malt. Somewhat spicy, but all in all this beer just does not come together very well. I wouldn’t drink this again.

Large creamy light brown lasting head with good lacing. Dark brown body. Aroma of coffee, roasted malt. Heavy hop aroma. Herbs, basement, raw vegetable, spiced? Medium body and oily texture. Moderate sweet and heavy bitter.

In short: Burnt brown sugar dominates this overly sweet and simple strong ale
How: Bottle 750ml. Consumed when 6 to 12 months of age
The look: Cloudy bronze body topped by a small beige head
In long: Nose of burnt sugar. Taste is brutally sugary and toasted. Burnt brown sugar, brownies crust, burnt caramel, chocolate milk, campfire wood, tree bark. Barely any fruity notes except for a very light red fruit flavour when the beer warmed up. Ends up tasting like a burnt crunchy sweet brownies in a bottle. Alcohol apparent. A sipper, took me like an hour to drink my bottle, the Equinox truly was one of the longest beer of the year.

This beer stands on it’s own. First the bad things: It does not smell particularly special, but gives off a fresh chocolate odor with a slight tingle in the nose. Imagine a lemonade version of hot chocolate with alcohol. It does not have a beautiful lacy head, and not something as creamy as a good stout either. However, it is one of those beers where smell and appearances do not count. This one has the liquorice smoky heaviness of a good stout blended with the slightly sour freshness of a blonde triple. It does not have the overly sweet stickyness of many winterbeers, but it does own up to the category by it’s wonderful dark brown colour and silky palate. It is sweet, yes, but balanced by a stout-like bitterness. I have had many of those in bottles, all season through, and I still keep rediscovering it. Possibly the best beer of Brasserie de la Senne.