t Smisje Kerst

Formerly brewed at Brouwerij De Regenboog
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Assebroek-Brugge, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

330ml, 2006 bottling. Strongly sweet and fruity aroma, full of plum, red grape and berry, with hints of banana, spice, perfume and bubblegum, along with bready malts and toffee in the background. Translucent garnet color with a lasting, fine, off-white head. Flavor is highly sweet to start, lots of candyish dark brown sugar, then becoming spicy and moderately bitter, finishing vinous with notes of dried fruit, licorice, orange peel, coriander, gently medicinal alcohol, and a certain tanginess at the close. Smooth, creamy and warming mouthfeel, body is quite full. Very flavorful and pleasant on a cold night.

33cl stubby bottle. Muddy orangish brown with a big off white head. Big nose, sweet and yeasty, light brown sugar and dark fruit. Nice sheet of lace. Somewhat sweet, orange, apricot and cherry, lightly yeasty and bready. Mild bite in the finish. Fairly full but lively body. Pretty good.

Darker amber, gushing head, good lacing and retention. Aroma is darker fruits, sugar, yeast, hint of gum. Flavor is BAD... very sour in a bad way... guessing infected. Undrinkable.

Pours a golden/amber brown color with foamy beige head. Spicy citrus aroma with hints of cherries, sugar cane and alcohol. Fruity spiciness up front with hints of cherries, raisin, honey, sugar cane and plum. Peppery dry finish with a pleasant alcohol presence that isn’t overbearing.

Bottle @ Carlsens Kvarter, Odense. Pours a very nice redish brown with a very good, steady, dense, almost completely white head of medium size. Sweet aroma, very fruity - some apples, strawberries and raspberries. There is caramel and figs as well as a little yeast and alcohol. Very full, rather creamy mouthfeel. Flavour starts of vinious, with just a slight of alcohol. Lots of sweet dried fruit, but there is the same tone of berries behind as in the aroma. Quite a powerful roastiness at the end with a touch of spicyness and hoppiness. Great balance of flavours, but it should be 9 % or something. A little too powerful in alcohol is a drawback here.

Bottle perhaps about a year old, as I picked it up over the summer. Pours slightly hazy amber, with a thick, dense beige head of two fingers. Excellent lacework as the head fell to full surface coverage. Plenty of curtains and strings of fine foam. Aromatics are fruity, boozy, and spicy. Dark rum with caramel maltiness, orange marmalade, and clovey goodness. A fairly evident vanilla note steps forward as the beer breaths. Mouthfeel is medium, sticky, and somewhat creamy. The pallet is bursting with citrus notes, rummy quad-essence, and pepper dusted raisins. Shades of Grand Marnier and Amaretto, with a hint of cherry. Alcohol is very warming but not quite hot, and drinkability is terrific for an 11% beer. Finishes warming, juicy, and slightly nutty. The body is light enough, and spicing mellow enough to make this one dangerously drinkable brew. Also, there is no sign of any lactic tinge which I have found in other Regenboog’s

Bottle. Pours a cloudy light brown with a generous beige head. Aroma is an enticing mix of sugar and coriander. Taste is sugar and coriander up front with a sweet aftertaste and a noticeable alcohol burn. Not very complex, not very balanced, and the whole thing left me wanting more. A rare miss from these guys.

(on bottle) Light brown, beighe head. Cloying sugar aroma. Smooth mouthfeel, yet still a overpowwered canesugar-finish. The alcohol fights, warms, but´s looses in the end. Not really the complexness I hoped for.