De Dolle Stille Nacht Special Reserva 2005

Formerly brewed at De Dolle Brouwers
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Diksmuide, Belgium

Dark toffee w/ small head. Almost a sour dark fruit aroma. Love the taste...Lots of pure sugar sweetness. Lots of alcohol in the taste. Dark fruit. Good.

Tanks to my friend robert at state line liquors for this one. Sampled bottle with stegosaurus. Pours a deep golden color with a small head. Aroma is sweet with strong notes of alcohol and spice. Flavor is quite complex with light fruits,citrus,oak,and vanilla. An excellent belgian strong

Coudy, pale body with a small white head that fades to a cover. The aroma is caramel, toffee, chardonnay and vanilla. The flavor is caramel, golden raisins, candi sugar, tea and oak, fairly sweet. Medium/full body is soft and dense.

This pours a hazy dark apricot body, some particulates swirling about, with a healthy white head. Good retention and lacing. The aroma is fruit-filled with apricots, tart apples, a few drops of pineapple, green grapes, and old oranges. There’s also the warmth of alcohol and some hot spices. The alcohol is stronger in the flavor, but all blend together smoothly and take on a mild, somewhat funky sour note. It finishes on a warm, tart note. Very nice indeed.

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thanks cmubeerman. compared to ’05 special yeast, this is much more sour in aroma. more transparent than ’05 and darker. lots of apple/pear rinds in aroma, but not as dominant as in the oerbier to my recollection. complexity is undeniable, lots of yeast flavor. alcohol shows but so does everything else. probably could use a little age. i wish i had a better memory of what this tasted like back in july, but i don’t remember it.

12oz bottle, Max’s 3rd Annual Belgian Beer Festival. Pours a cloudy, orangish-honey color; brilliant white head with great retention and lacing. Hints of apple cider and brandy in the aroma; chewy, boozy sugar character. Full, chewy, apple brandy character: shows alcoholic, green apple, hints of sour-mash whiskey; plenty of honey and chewy esters. Long, sweet apple and honey-laden finish. Filling.

Bottle. Pours a hazy brass color with thin white head. The aroma is white raisins, banana, apricot, corriander, alcohol, some floral honey notes, and a faint waft of all-grain waffles. The flavor is apricot, banana, smooth alcohol, and some tart, floral hops. White raisins and ambient vinous notes are everywhere. Some toast and zest emerge in the middle, and sweeten into a fruity liqueur taste in the finish. It predictably leaves a lingering warm aftertaste. I later poured the yeast sediment in the glass, which unsurprisingly boosted the toast flavor in the middle and made it a little breadier. Pretty good drink.

Courtesy of goldtwins via trade

Bottle: The aroma is a combination of yeast, fruit, white wine, and sour grapes. The combination as a whole sort of has a sweet tart aroma. The alcohol in the nose is just noticeable. It pours a cloudy orange with lots of sediment with a large white head with decent retention. The flavor starts yeasty with some light fruit. The finish is a strong combination of white wine, sour grapes, and faint apple.