Kerstbie

Bottled in september 2007. Bottle, from Tbone, thanks! Dark brown color, cloudy. Porto and honey in the aroma. Malty sweet flavor with chocolate, porto, raisin and a hint of cinnamon. Low on carbon. has already thinned. Notes of alcohol and chocolate in the aftertaste. Pleasant beer.

In short: A tasty fruity Begian Dark Ale but too aggressively sweet for my taste.
How: Bottle 330ml, between 6 and 12 months old
The look: Partly cloudy redish brown body topped by a short-lived beige head
In long: Nose is typical sweet Belgian dark ale with dark fruits yeast esters and candy sugar. Taste doesn’t offer a lot more but the blend of a lot of dark fruits, molasses and graham cookies is well done and rather tasty. Unfortunately I find the beer really unbalanced and by half of the bottle its tasty sweet flavours were getting just too much for me and I was sipping on it as if it was a 14% Barley-Wine. As the beer warmed up some tobacco and a mild bitterness almost saved the day. I liked the malt and yeast character of this beer but it really needed something to dry it out a bit. And with such a sweet beer and with a label like this, one has to wonder if they are not targeting 5 to 7 years old as customers.

cloudy dark brown colour with a poor head retention; aroma of spices (I can get ginger) and licorice, sweet and sticky, quite full-bodied; moderately dry finish of spices, marzipan and cola

Bottle - 330ml. Dark brown body with average carbonation and a thin off-white bubbly head. Strong malty aroma with plummy and brown sugar hints. Alcohol is well hidden. Its malty/hoppy taste carries plummy, caramel, and cinnamon notes. Ends with a decent bittersweet finish. Good winter beer.

33cl, from De Hopduvel Gent, complex X-Mas brew, balanced, cloudy, good head, good brew

(Bottled Dec 06) Pours a cloudy medium brown body with a small beige head. Aroma of brown sugar, raisins, caramel, and cocoa. Flavor of raisins, prunes, dates, honey, molasses, and toffee.

33 cl bottle from Bieropholie, served at cellar temperature in a tulip glass. BB Dec. 06/

App.: Nice deep mahogany with a tiny tan head and lots of floaties. Aroma: Really sweet and fruity: grapes and cherries, dried figs, prunes and raisins, lots of hazelnut, some ginger, cinnamon and other ambiguous spices, goopy molasses and brown sugar, some herbal mintiness, a touch of wood and a touch of alcohol. No cardboard or other age-related defects noted. Palate: Medium body, soft carbonation, a bit syrupy and slick. Flav.: Up front, there is a lovely, inviting hit of vanilla, followed by sumptuous fruit wrapped in chocolate and crunchy brown sugar; a touch of the nuts, spices and herbals are there as well; on swallowing, there is a big hit of alcohol and some cookies, ending with a bit of nuts and light molasses.

Thoroughly inappropriate for this time of year, but that’s all my fault. Nicely put together and quite enjoyable. Glad it kept beyond the best before date.

Bottle from Bitter Virtue.  Honey and rich malts with chocolate and yeasty spice aromas. Sweet and fruity but with enough layers of flavour to add interest. A fairly light finish for a beer of this strength helps it to remain drinkable.