Diekirch Bière de Noël (Christmas)

Brewed by Brasserie de Luxembourg Mousel-Diekirch (InBev)
Style: Vienna
Diekirch, Luxembourg

Serve in Lager glass

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Dec 2009: Brown 33cl bottle, one of many Luxembourg brews given in an exchange for Shropshire beers. Poured into a ’Forbidden Fruit’ chalice. very dark for a Vienna lager, but not for a Christmas beer. Ebony black almost, with a tan head that soon left the scene. No Christmas aroma, just some malt smells, nothing too strong on any front. Burnt chocolate flavours with maybe some liquorice and coffee towards the end of the aftertaste. It becomes drier also as the aftertaste begins to die away. A little on the thin side when talking about the body considering it is 5.1% ABV. I have struggled to find a beer from Luxembourg I’ve truely enjoyed, this is getting towards that goal, but not quiet scoring.

Das Bier riecht röstmalzern, aber irgendeine Leichtigkeit ist zu bemerken. Im Geschmack fällt auch zuerst die Malzigkeit auf, die auch bis zum Ende nicht weicht, dafür aber mit der Zeit immer schwächer wird. Zum ende hin wirkt das Bier etwas wässrig. Ein eher einfaches Bier, das aber nicht wirklich schlecht abschneidet.

Bottle. (courtesy of Bierkrug). Sweet-sour toffee malt aroma. Chestnut brown with small head. Sweet chocolate toffee malt flavor with just a hint of bitterness. Nice, drinkable beer.

Bottle courtesy of Bierkrug - many thanks! Smells like sugar cane, taste is more of the same. Drinkable.

Tap, some time over Christmas in Luxembourg. Dark orange to light brown with a thick carbonated head. Some roasted malt and the slightest touch pine nut on the nose as it warmed up. Toasted malty mouth, something green. Quite thin at the end. Not at all robust, boring, drinkable.

330 ml bottle in Germany, Pours an amber-orange color with a light brown head. Aroma is sweet malty candy. Taste is sweet sugary with sweet grassy flavor with brown sugar notes. Weak palte and weak beer over all, watery Very bad.

Bouteille: Clear, ruby-amber coloured, small off-white foamy layer; light to moderate, but all in all restrained, dark-malty nose with almost imperceptible traces of roasted malt; light to moderate sweet-bitter flavour, light bodied for a beer of 5.1%; mild sweetish and toasty finish with a subtle metallic taste. Not so great......

330ml bottle! The beer in the glass is dark brown with slight reddish head. The smell is subtle, almost even neutral. Only a slight roasty malty aroma comes through. Starts roasty, nutty, minimally sweet, but all very subtle. Nothing comes through very much what the whole would do well, however. The aftertaste shows roasted malt, subtly sweet and very short-lived.

Bottle 33cl. A brown ale very clear with low carbonation and medium head. Smell is typically on amber ales kind of and spicy (sweets, caramel, anise ..). Aroma is mostly on amber malt side and pleasant, caramel like, high astringency at the finish. The beer is oily, hop character is grassy and medium bitter. Not a bad beer, not too alcoholic.

bottle. Clear deep brown colour with a decent off-white head. Malty nose. Malty with lots of roasetd malts and caramel, hints of chocolate. Quite nice.