Because of some stubborn foil around the top, I had to pour this into a glass rather than drink it from the bottle. This is a caramel colored beer, barely translucent with light carbonation, like watered down cola. It's not as fresh as it could be, since it's meant to be drunk around christmas. But I saw it on sale at my local beer store, so I grabbed a bottle out of curiosity. It's got an interesting combination of styles and flavors. A hint of bock, a lot of abbey style ale, and a hint of a much deeper set of flavors that an amateur like me has a bit of trouble describing. It comes in a small bottle, just over 8 ounces instead of the usual 11. But this might be to make up for the fact that it has a whopping 12 percent alcohol. Like so many others that I've reviewed, you'd never guess that it's that strong.
I've had a few beers at or near this strength, most recently the 'Double Wench' by Middle Ages Brewing Company. But none were this smooth and pleasant. All of the ones this strong that I've tried had either very strong taste (Like the double wench) or were of the sweet, tart dessert beer variety. This one is neither, a complex and yet light belgian style beer. It is a little bit on the sweet side, which makes me wonder where some of these flavors are coming from if this beer doesn't have much in the way of hops or other bittering agents to balance out the malts.
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