Belgian Abbey Ale
750 mL corked bottle
10 percent ABV
Sampled:Dec. 27, 2008
Noel indeed!
What a better Christmas treat than a new addition to
Grabbing the last one stocked at the Jax Package Store in
I can smell this Christmas Ale’s bouquet from across the room. Candied sugar, a slight molasses and raisins permeate the initial pass. Do I detect a little cinnamon and nutmeg ducking back beneath the more dominant flavors? As a package, it’s a remarkably earthy nose with a sparkling head and lace that rapidly thins down to wisps.
At first taste, St. Bernardus apparently delivered its Dubbel on steroids. But that comparison doesn’t only serves as a starting point – this ale goes in different directions.
For an ale clocking in at 10 percent ABV, it remains amazingly light and never succumbs to the pepperiness unavoidable with many stronger Belgian ales. The pepper frequently proves the limitations of beers with double-digit alcohol contents.
But the flavor rolls from the candied sugar and molasses into fruiter territory. Joining the raisin notes are hints of dates and plums with apples elbowing into the bitter finale. The fruit gives way to a roasted maltiness – chicory, possibly – and bows out gently for its size.
This reminds me of the Noel produced by Brasserie a’Chouffe, only more lively and festive. The other beer was darker than the normal Chouffe range, but lacked the complexity of its blond and brown ale brethren. St. Bernardus offers a nice diversion, as the St. Bernardus 60th Anniversary Abt 12 from two years ago.
Eschewing the typical spices of Christmas ales, the brewers from Watou refine their techniques for Christmas to deliver another complex and mysterious ale
Maybe next year I can find one to sock away for a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Pasts in 2023.
Rating: 8/10
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