De Dolle Stille Nacht Special Reserva 2005

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

Suttree thanks man. Hazed golden brown pour with a creamy white head. Aroma of corriander and dried fruit. Very winey flavor with the dried fruit and hints of the abv. Solid palate and carbonation in aggressive and full. A very clean very nice B/Strong. I was really surprised when I saw exactly how much abv was cloaked in this beer.

Cloudy golden orange color and starts off with an titanic head of meringue foam with delicate retention. Doesnt lave sheets, as much as thick curtains of lacing on the sides. The occasional floaty bit did survive the pour into the glass. Sweet and vinous aroma of red wine with a backing of acidic tartness. Powdery sugar candy sweetness, sort of SweetTart like in aroma. Dank earthy woody oak lingers in the nose as well. Sweet grape juice, pale biscuity malt, and candy like sugar give the flavor a nice sweet, but not cloying punch to start. Acid and a touch of black pepper spice then leads to a dry finish of earthy wooden oak and baker’s chocolate. Rich, full body, although the acidity cuts down on the chewiness found in the original. A fairly unique offering. Drinks well despite the 12% abv. Not quite as sublime as the Oerbeir Reserva.

Bottle from Capone’s....a while ago. Pours out a murky orangy color with a small lacing head. Aroma of tart granny smith apples, oak, grape and some alcohol. Taste is complex, sweet fruits fade into some vanilla, wood and other earthy notes with some alcohol on the finish. Mouthfeel is rather thick but is a good compliment to the complexity of the beer.

Cloudy yellow, with a nice foamy white head. Juicy sweet, with notes of raisin and, uh, apple juice? There is a lot going on in the aroma, but its hard to pick out individual components. This pretty much the same with the flavor, as well. i was surprised how tart this was - there were a lot of citrusy notes and pleny of winey, grapey notes, too. This was a tasty and surprisingly quaffable drink. Sampled at Stevofest. Thanks to Ty5592 for the trade.

Sampled at Stevofest 08, courtesy of Suttree. Pours a cloudy golden amber with a white head. The aroma really play tricks on my senses, but I got aromas of red table wine and glue (the good kind of course). Medium bodies but with that soft Belgianesque feathery texture. Flavors of vanilla, citrus, white grapes, wood, and even a touch of white pepper. The alcohol is very strong in this one, but falls short of overpowering the beer. Enjoyable, but I would age this beer a while longer before I would ever open another one.

Bottle from fonefan. Thanks! Had this at Churchill’s side-by-side with the regular Stille Nacht. The unfortunate thing is that I had this after trying Surly Darkness. Oh man Darkness is so much better. When I first tried the Still Nacht tonight, I thought it was infected and had a bandaid aroma. Then I tried the reserva and thought it was better, but still some bandaid. After thinking about it, I release it was just the style. Possibly some orange peel and hint of corriander that gave me this impression. Lots of oak in the aroma. Sweet. Less carbonation than the regular reserva bottle, but still lots of mouthfeel zing of carbonation and alcohol. Light yellow amber color. Medium bubbles quickly fading.

Bottle at ØLbutikken (Thanks Jeppe for sharing). Cloudy orange - offwhite head. Sweetness, wood, vanilla, light de dolle sourness, fruity, light pepper, a bit sharpness. Very nice. Light sharp alcohol finish.

Very very sweet, almost too sweet for me but just rides that line so well. Yes it’s sweet but it’s easy to get past that. Smells like a creme brulee. The alcohol makes it a sipping beer but that is a good thing with this. The first taste is great but the aftertaste changes into an even better taste. Another bottle from my beer guru, my brother. Thanks as always for giving me great beer.