Brunehaut Abbaye de Saint-Martin Cuvée de Noël

Brewed by Brunehaut
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Rongy, Belgium

sweet, candylike nose. pours like rootbeer. the real stuff so less fizzy. Loads of sweet malt but not a whole lot else. Hints of caramel. An easy enough finish, not much aftertaste of any kind. I really hope the brewer’s not at their best with this one.

Pours deep mahogany into a trappist glass. Off-white micro head recedes to hug rim. Jaegermeister aromas. Sharp botanicals upfront turning to earth and leaves in the lasting sour finish.

Bottle courtesy of ogivlado who brought it from Belgium and shared it with me (thanks!)
Poured a lovely darker ruby red body with a small off white head. The nose, while a bit light is as good as the appearance, gingerbread, chocolate-covered banana candy, all in all, great. The taste, however, doesn’t match the first two as it’s too weak and light for the abv. What’s there, however, isn’t bad at all. Gingerbread, pepper, maybe light speculaas, not much alcohol. Balanced, drinkable and genuinely nice but it’s desperately in need of a fuller body. A pleasant surprise nonetheless.

Bottle @ Cardinal. Pours hazy brown with a small head. Aroma is light sour, roasted malt and spices. Taste is sweet with noites of christmas spices, light roasted malt, sweet caramel, finishes off nice and dry.

Bottle from Binny’s Beverage Depot, Orland Park, IL: This poured a dull chestnut body with a modest light beige head. No lace. The aroma was faded caramel, some indistinct spices, and a slice or two of very ripe banana. The flavor had an increased spiciness, some ginger and burnt cinnamon, the latter adding a touch of bitterness. Okay enough.

Tasted at Belgium beer weekend. From tap. Actually had some pictures of the brewmaster for the turkish magazine Gusto for later releases. They were very kind and kindly intoduced the noel beer. they say every it tasted different but this years was some what very nice and different taste. Spicy and sweet malt caramel taste. Nice aftertaste. It is very nice to see different beers have different tastes...

Bottle, bought @ BelgianShop.com.
A serious gusher, all over the table, floor and sofa... great!
What did end up in my St. Bernadus glass is a lovely ruby, deep red with a very limited film head. Tiny bubbles surching upwards. Lovely Christmas spicy aroma. Quite sweet with cinnamon, cloves, caramel, cardemum and raisins. Medium carbonation, lovely creamy mouthfeel. Flavour is not nearly as sweet as the aroma. A slight touch of a metallic off-note, but otherwise a fine, spicy Christmas beer. Chocolate and caramel is the base with a heavy cinnamon note, light cloves, some herbal notes, anise and ginger. Finish has dark chocolate and a slight gingery hotness - which I really like. My kind of sicy Christmas beer!

Bottled (thanks fonefan!). Hazy amber colour, mediumsized yellowish beige head. Aroma is banana, alcohol, spices, some fudge and mild notes of caramel malts. Flavour is caramel malts, alcohol and some mild bananaish notes. Mild spices as well. not that pleasant x-mas beer.