Brøckhouse Julebryg

Formerly brewed at Brøckhouse
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Hillerød, Denmark

Julebryg 2007, sampled 30 dec 2009. Big beige foam that quickly goes down to a thin lace. Dark red color. Spicy aroma with some chocolate. The spices is also present in the taste but blends well with some residual sweetness and a big body. The belgian yest is not giving any special caracter. The 9% alcohol is noticed after some time. Good christmas beer but not in any large quantities.

500 ml bottle, 2006 vintage sampled@RBNAG 2009, Vatlandsvåg. This rating is compared with my notes for the 04, 05 and 06vintage sampled fresh. Clear mahogany body with a beige head that’s creamy on the fresh version but small and diminishing in the old version. Aroma of light burnt malt, some caramel and spicy – the old version has less burnt aroma and a light pleasant butterscotch impression together with Madeira. The flavor is mainly malt driven, with a hint of roasted caramel and spices. Balanced bitterness and a hint of warming alcohol, this becomes more like dry fruit and Madeira in the old version. This is a damn good Belgium inspired Christmas beer served fresh and becomes more Barley Wine’ish when matured. A totally different beer, I like them both but luckily I had many occasions to sample this and prefer a one year storage version.

20-NOV-2009, bottle @home. 2008 version, bought resently. I still have some left from last year, an as far as I remember also previous years. Dark brown and a little dull look, with huge head. Impressing for a 1 year old beer. Nice liqour-like taste with some dusty, spicey notes, like cinnamon. Very breadlike (rugbrød), brown sugar. very creamy, quite high carbonation, but actually a little less than I would have guessed from the high head. Still one of the best danish X-mas brews. Brøckhouse, please reopen;-) 04-DEC-2009, bottle, Ulkløbben @Michael. Brought the 2006, 2007, and 2008 to our meeting. We tasted them blind. and revealed the bottles, when we had tasted them all. First served was what turned out to be the 2007. Very port-like, nutty (walnuts). Sediments, low but nice carbonation, a little dusty in the taste. My guess, and most others, is that this is the 2006, but we are wrong. Next served was the 2008. Brown sugar, spicey, not port-like. More carbonation than the previous. Not alcoholic. No one is in doubt. this is the freshest of the three, and must be the 2008, and it is. Then the 2006 is served. Port-like again, but more carbonation and more head than the first (2007). This is the beer, that most of us prefer as a perfect "mean" between the fresh 2008 and the "older" 2007. Well, Faurschou guessed them all as the only one. I do not know what fooled the rest of us? But again all three are wonderfull beers. A nice experiment.

Despite some oxidation, this 2005 bottle carelessly cellared for four years was probably the best Danish Xmas beer I’ve tried. Sherry pairs well with Xmas pud, and the oxidation melded fairly seamlessly with the beer’s figgy, clovey characteristics. This didn’t seem a million miles away from the Traquair House Ale at the same session. Sweet but no overly so. Big warming finish. Nice. 񢉕 bottle courtesy of Papsoe - thanks buddy - at the Sep 2009 ’Drunk in the Park’ gathering at Milsons Point)

50 cl bottle. Dark reddish body with small brown head. Flavour is roasted malt, spices, lots of fruit and notes of coffee.

Bottle, 2006 vintage, courtesy of TheCheeseMan. Pours mahogany with scant head. Cranberries, malty sweetness, brown sugar and xmas spices. Sweet and spicy with earthy hops, lots of plums and slightly mushy fruits. Low carb, nice finish, slightly tannic from spices.

2008 edition! Dark reddish color with brown long lasting head. Aroma is sweet and malty. Enters the mouth with a rather rich palette but leaves a somehow messy picture dominated by anise. Actually I like the beer even as it is not splendid.