Petrus Winterbier

Brewed by Bavik-De Brabandere
Style: Belgian Ale
Harelbeke, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

UPDATED: NOV 6, 2007 Bottled, consumed on 10/29/07. Overflowed bottle immediately upon opening. Poured into glass a hazy golden brown with thin white head that lingered a while, more than covering surface in a trappist glass. Alcoholic, spicy honey aroma. Mild flavors of nutmeg and a pleasing, mellow tartness. Lightly bready yeast also present. Astringent but not outrageously so. Lingering thin bitterness.

The Dan Journal #106. Tasted 8/25/07. 330ml botlle. Golden honey brown hue with a skim layer of off white head. Musty caramel aromas. Full bodied and big palate. Big citrus note with abundant grapefruit flavor. Not too hoppy, but yeasty citrus. Nice and bitter. Good spices. Tasty.

Pours a slightly clouded amber with some head. Nose is malty...and at first I thought I got a whiff of something like burnt toast. Basically this one has the aroma of a strong and very sweet Belgian. Flavor is strong with a syrupy sweetness. Borders on too much. Though the following sips seem to be more tolerable. Caramel tone is heavy as well. Feel is slightly syrupy, though not a lot of carbonation - but a bit above the average. Very drinkable as it is smoother as you go on. I could easily go for a few of these if I was sitting and relaxing in the cold winter.

Thanks to Blake for bringing the bottle! Poured clear medium caramel with a shorter cap of whitish head. The aroma picked up warm wintery spices and caramel.. nice estery notes with a little oxidation present.. definitely a Belgian-style “winter warmer”. The flavor had caramel and semi-sweet chocolatey sweetness along with dry, cardboardey spices that threw me off a bit.. mild herbal bitterness with the spices around the tongue.. tacky sweetness at the finish. Grainy and warm on the palate.. medium-bodied with a decent flow at best. OK.

Unknown vintage. The beer pours to a brown brassy body with a dense but creamy off-white head. The aroma is a yeasty Belgian brown ale and minerals. The flavor is a yeast laden dry brown ale that’s full of mineral water. The palate is minerals and medium bodied.

Winter 2006/2007 release, Sampled September 2007
A careful pour produces a three-finger thick, amber-tinged, tan colored head in my tulip glass. The beer is lightly hazy and is a reddish amber color. Fruity aromatic notes waft from my glass as I pour this beer. Wow, this is very fruity with ample notes of cherry, strawberries, sweetened berry schnapps and even some fruity tartness. Underneath the fruit aromatics are some notes of musty malt and toasty biscuits.

Well carbonated, quite frothy as it hits the tongue and it has a significant, though not overwhelming, tartness to it. Not nearly as sweet as the aroma suggested, in fact this beer is quite dry. I wonder if this was meant to be a sour beer, coming from Petrus it very well might have been. There is a definite spiciness here, something like fenugreek, a touch of nutmeg in the finish, and soft allspice. Despite being so dry, this beer has some significant fruit flavors to it; tart cherries, just ripened plums and a non-descript, yet tart berry like flavor. This beer is quite light bodied, this pairs quite well with the tartness.

An interesting beer, reading other reviews I definitely get the sense that this has become sour over time in the bottle. I still do wonder if this was intentional or not, though I really don’t care as it seems to have reduced the sweetness and added a noticeable tartness, both of which probably make this a much more enjoyable beer (at least for me).

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ

bottle. very carbonated. maroon with a thick grayish head and a fruity nose. dry grape flavor with a medicinal herbal hint. some light orange slice candy flavor. a graham cracker not in the finish. fuck, i’m tired, and can barely keep my eyes open. it should be fun deciphering these notes(it was actually rather easy) biscuity, a light vanilla taste abounds in this. 4 5 6 3 13

Poured out a dark amber with a frothy tan head with decent retension. The aroma was of dark pitted fruits, grahm cracker, candied orange peel. Not very complex, but nice. The flavour was fruity with mild spice (cinnimon) and a short, watery, malty finish. The body could have been a bit fuller, especially for a winter brew. There is a mild warming sensation from the alcohol.