Big Sky Biere de Noel
2012 vintage 10.0% abv. Earlier 8.75%.
3.5
165 reviews
Missoula, United States
Community reviews
Aroma is caramel, roasted malts, plum, raisins and candy sugar. Taste is rich dark caramel, molasses and bread. Some subtle dark fruits and candy sugar here. Appearance is a clear bronze with a thin pearl head that retains fairly well.
355 ml bottle, 2014 vintage, 10.1%. Unclear deep copper, fading off-white foam. Aroma of dark fruits and spice. Taste is sweet and rich, caramel, toffee, dark fruitiness, some chocolate later on, no bitterness. Softer carbonation, medium bodied, low hopped. Nice enough, certainly not worth a novel. NFL (Not For Lagerboys)
Thanks Tony. Mostly clear amber beer, slight aroma of spice and caramel. Fruity and lightly spiced with a creamy caramel. Nice stuff.
750 ml bottle into tulip glass, 2012 vintage bottling. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy deep reddish brown color with a 1-2 finger dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of plum, pear, apple, fig, raisin, caramel, toast, brown sugar, light pepper, herbal, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good complexity and solid balance of fruity/earthy yeast and dark/bready malt notes; with solid strength. A bit too fruity in the aromas and lacking much malt depth and complexity. Taste of big raisin, plum, fig, date, apricot, caramel, toffee, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, light chocolate, light nuttiness, pepper, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light earthy yeast spicy finish; with lingering notes of raisin, plum, fig, date, apricot, caramel, toast, toffee, brown sugar, brown bread, light chocolate/nuttiness, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Damn nice complexity and robustness of fruity/earthy yeast and dark/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/yeast balance and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very smooth, creamy, and lightly slick mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with only a small warming present after the finish. Overall this is a damn nice Belgian strong dark ale. All around great balance, robustness, and complexity of fruity/earthy yeast and dark/bready malt flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. The aromas were a bit unbalanced, but the flavors were spot on with great complexity. A very enjoyable offering.
Bottle at the DC Tasting. Clear dark amber with off-white head. Aromas of caramel, dark fruit. Tastes of dark fruit, spice, caramel. Medium body with a dry finish.
Some raisin and light florals but this doesn’t come together super well. High on the boozy side. Pours amber with OK head and lacing. Sweet finish. Bottle.
Poured from a bottle it is a clear light amber color no head the aroma is acitrus and the taste is a strong boozey taste that emerges sweeter on the palate
From a 75 cl bottle at the Brony bottle share at Travlrs place. Pours clear dark copper with a thin ecru head. Caramel nose. Flavors of toffee and light fruitcake spice. Smooth rich finish.
Bottle courtesy of Iphonephan, thank you! Clear amber brown color. Aroma of lightly burned caramel. Taste is herbal, spiced, malty, with some hops at the finish. Decent.
Pours rather unclear , dark amber . Smell is unintense, bit sweet, some caramel . Taste is sweet , dark fruits . Bit boozy . Sticky mouthfeel , thnx to the sweetness , yet feels a bit thin at the same time . Not bad .
Rated on 4-19-2013 (Corked & caged bottle-Limited Edition 1446 of 3240) This beer forms a small smooth tan head with a short retention, hazy orange brown body, fast rising carbonation, and no lacing. The aroma is malt, dark fruits, spicy, and alcohol. The flavor mimics the aroma. Very nice! The mouthfeel has a nice warming sensation and is light-medium bodied. Overall, a most quaffable beer with a very nice flavor. It is well brewed, worth trying and most definitely a beer I would drink again.
Draft at Uber, Seattle. Bright, sweet and rich. Plums and raisins, nice quad style even if yeast isn’t quite right. Sweet, big, a little leather and lots of dark fruit. Alc is strong but balanced. Nice beer.
Dark amber color with medium head. Malty, caramelly, sweet, with low bitterness, bit of alcohol, and some ending nuttiness. Mild fruity esters. I had some Belgian beer similar to this, not the most impressive though.
Simple, not bad.
Pours very hazy brown to red with a way too thin head that reduces to a small collar. Aroma is candy sweet, malty, spices. The taste is again candy sweet, malty and spices, banana and other fruits are there too. Body is medium, carbonation is medium to almost low
Deep maroon body, some white head and lacing. Sweet fruity dried fruit malt aroma. Taste is rich and sweet, touch of anise. Decent, but there are better quads than this.
355 ml bottle. Pours a deep mahogany color with light head. Aromas of brown sugar, raisins, toasted malts, and light spice. Flavor are similar with more emphasis on sweet malts and Christmas spice. Nicely done winter warmer.
12
Dark amber pour, with a sweet malty aroma. Flavour was an unexpected pleasant sweet malt taste, hints of brown sugar, caramel and chocolate. Very smooth finish.
Dark brown colouring with a thin white head. Smell of a floral peppery aroma. Taste sweet with a raisin after taste, strong liqour bite in the end. Nice strong beer.
355ml brown bottle. Beer #12 of the Craft Beer Advent Calendar 2014. 10.1% abv on the label. Amber coloured brew, pretty clear looking. Very thin ring of white bubbles on top. Malty nose - toffee and caramel, hint of chocolate and light notes of dark fruit. Taste has caramel and toffee malts, a little chocolate, toasty, dark fruits. The finish has sweet malts, raisiny fruitiness and toasty notes. Alcohol isn’t too heavy. Medium bodied, maybe a little thin for the style. Still enjoyed it.
12 oz. bottle, pours a clear dark orange amber with a small white head. Aroma is very fruity and malt-heavy, with loads of caramel, toasted nuts, bready notes, and some herbal qualities. Flavour is cloyingly sweet, with lots of caramel, bready notes, and lots of residual sugar. Way too sweet, not anywhere close to a biere de garde. Not good.
Pours with thin head. Very pleasant amber. Aroma of mild hops and very faint malt. Very sweet taste, quite pleasant with moderate carbonation. Hints of nutmeg, nuts, caramel with a hint of ginger to finish. A really good balance and quite enjoyable.
Bottle into snifter. Pours a dark amber colour. Aroma is of sweet malt. Taste is pretty much the same. Maybe too sweet for me.-- rated via 'Find A Beer' for Blackberry 10
Bottle to tulip
Malt, raisin, ginger, and brown sugar. Clear, light red, small creamy tan head, with middling effervescence, providing decent retention. The thin head provided a good showing of lacing too. Taste is cherry, booze, brown sugar, and a touch of dark chocolate. For its boldness, I expected more body and this one came out a bit thin. Still, a nice one.
Has a dull fruity almost doughy nose to it, pours up rich and dark red a little cloudy but a nice thickness not much head at all, little figgy and a little molasses or caramel on the front end followed by a hint of ameretto and maltyness. I find it finished up with a sweet almost orange taste with a slight peppery after bite. .thick frothy mouthfeel only thinned out by the high abv boozyness..
Pour is reddish brown with a fizzy little head. Aroma is brown sugar and malt. Taste is all booze and feel is all alcohol at first. Wow, nothing hiding in this one! The Belgian yeast taste is in there somewhere but is hidden by the massive booziness. Yipes! Bit thin for all that alcohol.
2014 Advent Calendar #12, 355ml, no bottle date or best before.
Pours clear deep amber with one finger of loose light tan head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, minimal patchy lacing. (4/5) Nose is dark boozy fruit, brown sugar, slight chocolate and roasty grain. (8/10) Taste is moderate sweet, mild bitter, mild alcohol. (7/10) Medium body, prickly to moderate carbonation, sticky boozy mild bitter finish. (3/5)
Overall an enjoyable BSDA, tending towards abt/quad in the flavouring, but a little light in the body. I found the carbonation to be not-unpleasant prickly to moderate, but it tended to lift the body even further. Given the big flavours and big (though very polite) ABV, this beer might’ve been better implemented with a heavier body. Definitely a solid performer, though, and stylistically quite in keeping with the Advent calendar theme. (15/20)
Honey amber pour with a fizzy white head - no lacing. Aroma of malts and sugars. Flavour of yeast, malts, plums, dark fruits, burnt brown sugar and some dark chocolate. Yum! A nice Christmas Quadrupel.
330ml bottle pours black in color with a 2 finger white head that leaves very little lacing behind. Aroma is dates or raisins with some chocolate and light roasted grains. Taste is a dark fruit and chocolate malty sweetness with a light hop bitterness and finishing with mild alcohol on the tongue. A little light in body for the style and lightly carbonated. Would be better if there was more substance.
Bottle. Dark brown with a finger of white creamy head. Aroma is corn syrup, apricot, dates, and spices. Taste is mild spices, followed by sugary sweetness, dates, finish is mild spice and has a bit of heat, carbonation is high, mouthfeel is a bit thin for such a big beer. Really nice beer, lots of nice spice, perfect for a cold winter night.
750ml bottle #2037 of 3240, 2012 vintage, shared with Dave. Cloudy amber brown with golden highlights and a reluctant low head. Estery caramel, spicy, a tad musty, low carbonation. I don’t think this bottle aged well, despite having been stored properly.