t Smisje Kerst
Belgian Winter Ale brewed with spices (coriander and grain of paradise) ABV 11-12%
3.5
298 reviews
Brugge, Belgium
Community reviews
33cl bottle. Pours an orange body with a medium off-white head. Little lasting foam. Aroma is great and complex: mostly malty with coockie, grain and something toasted, some yeasty sweetness too. Alcoholic warm. Flavor is mostly sweet, then a bit bitter, and finally sweet again in the finish. Full bodied beer, very cloudy in the appearance. Lively carbonation. 11 ABV but still very well balanced and easy drinkable. A joyous experience!
On tap at 101 Beer Kitchen. Nice looking Belgian ale in the glass. Roasted malt flavor, belgian sugars, spice, dark fruits, and candy. Somewhat tart and sour on the palate, but not overwhelming, and a nice compliment to the flavor. Very enjoyable beer. Would purchase again.
Draft at Stumbling Monk, Seattle. Pours a cloudy medium plum brown, decent amount of off white head. Aroma is rich and fruity, dried fruit and a bit of coriander. Body is well-balanced, combines a liveliness with a richness owing to the ABV. Finish is surprisingly mellow. Little to no warming, and a fruity sweetness. Not generally the kind of thing that I go for, but points for being really well done.
Had on draft at Beer Revolution in Oakland, 11/24 - hard to find on the beerbuddy app =/
Lots of kandi sugar, spice, and alcohol burn. Nose is mostly sugar and is somewhat cloying.
Draft @ Three Fires. Raisin, brown sugar, bready/doughy malt, and spice aroma. Reminded me a little of a fresh baked cinnamon roll. Hazy amber with a small off-white head. Belgian yeast, toasty/bready malt, alcohol, and dark fruit flavor. Medium body, soft carbonation.
Bottle. I really enjoyed this brew. It has a very distinctive alcohol warmth and spicing.
On draft at the Rustico Novemberfest 2013. Pours a clear amber with a white head. Fruity caramel nose. Sweet orange, honey and tropical fruit flavors. Smooth finish.
Bottle. Pours dirty copper/mahogany with a thin tight off white head that fades to a thin collar and wispy film. Aroma is boozy and sweet with burnt sugars and caramel some dark fruit and clove. Taste is bitter boozy and dusty with more of the above is lesser than the aroma. Palate is medium slick and warming.
I reckon they used every spice they could get for this christmas beer. Nevertheless, it turned out very well. A rich and complex beer with a very diverse and nice taste.
2008 vintage bottle shared form Deanso. Pours murkey brown with a small off white head. Aroma is cheesy, caramel, yeast and fruit. Flavour is over moderate sweet, light sour and light bitter. Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
11.2 oz bottle: Appearance is brown with a off white head. Aroma is slightly sour. Taste is interesting for a Belgian, typical Belgian with some hints of sourness.
Bottle. Murky amber pour with a small white head. Rich caramel, yeast, and sour fruit aroma. Sweet taste, almost overly so. Slightly drying late. Moderate palate.
Bottle from Voldby. Clear amber with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel, candy sugar, oranges and light spicy. Flavor is quite sweet and rather bitter. Sweet and bitter finish with warming alcohol. Somewhat rough. 251212
Bottle at the Essen Christmas Beer Festival. Poured a cloudy golden brown with a very thin round head with no carbonation. The aroma is of fresh sticky toffee. The flavour is rich strong and alcoholic and the toffee is present here too. A lovely heart warming beer.
11.2oz bottle, labeled 12% ABV. Big foamy fizzing white head. Pours a red / brown color, with lots of particles and sediment in the body. I love the head on this, real big at first, but then half fizzes away, and the perfect amount retains. Bigger body. Very smooth carbonation. More dry finish. Surprisingly little alcohol taste, absolutely no bite, amazing for 12%. Light bitterness, nice dark fruit and spice aroma. Hint of tropical fruit. Very light, nice balanced sweetness. Never heard of this stuff before, but I was very surprised how light and tasty it was.
For a coriander beer, that bready sweetness was very well hidden. Instead you get some light berries, brown sugar and yeast. Also, for a 12% abv it was surprisingly easy on the palate. Good stuff for sure.
Thanks, Harold, for bringing this brew. Aroma is mainly spice, some brown sugar, light amounts of dark fruit, yeast. Pour is a murky brown with tons of yeast and a nice head. Flavor is toffee, light roast, brown sugar, spices, Belgian style yeast, and a touch of alcohol. Very different. Nice.
11.2oz bottle in a Trappist glass. Pours caramel with a lacy, off-white head. Aroma of spicy yeast, a lot of caramel malts, and some floral hops. Flavor the same, with a good balance of sweet and bitter. Average texture. A good Belgian beer.
Bottle from beerplanet.eu. Strange hazy brown color with huge white heat. Strong carbonation. Aroma of caramel, apples, pears, cherries, alcohol. Taste, caramel, apples, pears, toffee,burned sugar, little bit harsh bitterness. Bitter finish. Good.
Cloudy orange body with a smooth white head. Sweet aroma with spices (notably coriander), butter and caramel. Smooth, well carbonated palate. Quite sweet flavour, with brown sugar, caramel, butter, spices, dried fruits.
THOUGHTS: Very intense. The head lasted incredibly long. A sort of peppery burn in the throat. Hid alcohol fairly well for the high ABV. My bottle was 12% ABV. It became more spicy as it warmed.
TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark, reddish amber with beautiful carbonation and an average, creamy, cream-colored head that fully lasted and left excellent lacing. The aroma had moderate caramel; moderate cobweb yeast; slight doughy yeast; rip and sour fruit; Butterscotch; lots of spices and some citrus. The initial flavor was moderately sweet, slightly acidic and lightly sour; while the finish was heavily sweet, light to mod acidic, ever so slightly bitter and lightly sour. There was pepper, some citrus, cherry, sour cherry, spicy yeast, caramel, molasses, orange, sour orange, dusty yeast, fruit jelly and spices. The medium to full body was oily, slightly sticky on the lips, then very dry with fizzy carbonation and a slightly metallic and light to moderately alcoholic finish.
Bottle. Clear dark amber with medium tan head. Aroma is malt, yeast, caramel and a little dried fruit. Flavour is malt, medium sweet, dried fruits, caramel, little toffee, hops, little rip fruit and a little bitter.
Bottle from beer table pantry. Pours reddish brown with nice thick creamy head. Nose of dark fruits, malt, and candy. Tastes a tad sweet with brown sugar, figs, raisins, caramel, earth, some spices, warm alcohol finish.
Pours a hazy medium orangish amber color. Aroma is lightly malty, hoppy, yeasty, with a touch of fruit. Flavor is a nice mixture of malts and fruits.
Bottle @ Ølkonsortiet christmas beer tasting. Pours dark amber with a offwhite head. Aroma of malt, brown sugar, fruits. Taste is malt, sugar, riasins and other dark fruits, spices, bit of alcohol. Full body, high carbonation. 051111
33 cl bottle. BBE Q4/2013
Pours hazy orange colour with small lasting head. Aroma is of english strong ale type honey and malts, caramel, spices and some berries. Flavour has distant spices like coriander, some honey and caramel, sweet malts and sugar candy. Full-bodied with high carbonation and some sourness at the end. Not too sweet or spicy. Balanced.
4334
33 cl bottle (bottled on 2007/2008?), BBE Q4/2013
Aroma has sweet toffee, just like in english barley wines. Also some candi sugar and raisins. Loads of CO2 in palate. Flavour is very sweet with sugar and raisins, but also some sourness does appear in the background. Could not locate the promised spices. Aftertaste is really sweet with loads of candi sugar. Adding the yeast makes this more stale and worse.
330 ml bottle. BBE Q4/2013.
Pours a dirty reddish brown colour with a large, foamy, beige head. Aroma of strong toffee, mild spices and some hay. Flavour of rich malts, toffee, spices and raisins. Flavour of candi sugar, rich malts, toffee, mild nuts and some sour notes. Quite high carbonation and an alcohol finish with raisins. Pretty much an English barley wine.
Bottle at Ungstrup’s - Thanks. Clear amber - offwhite head. Fruity, berries, yeasty, phenols, toasted, spicy, beetroot, alcoholic, high malty, coriander, peppery noes.
Bottled. A hazy amber beer with a lazing off-white head. The aroma has notes of alcohol, malt, and caramel. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt, caramel, and alcohol, leading to a dry finish.