De Dolle Stille Nacht

Brewed by De Dolle Brouwers
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Diksmuide, Belgium

The color was golden, hazzy, and had orange hues. The head was foamy, creamy, laces well, and frothy. The aroma was belgian yeast, alcohol, tart, and dry. The flavor had an alcohol nose, belgian yeast, dry, and a lot of activity. The palate was thin/medium bodied and smooth. The finish was warm and dry.

06 bottle: 100th rating. Cloudy orange color with big, quick diminishing white, fizzy head. Aroma is very sweet. A big rock candy quality along with very subtle citrus tones and an apparent maltiness. Smooth as silk; it has a wonderful texture and dense candied sugar flavors with a strong malt presence. Can definitely notice the alcohol, but not in a bad, overpowering way. This is a wonderful beer and I’m glad I chose it as my 100th. Bottoms up!

12 oz bottle. Pours cloudy dark yellow color with white head and lacing. Smells yeasty, sweet, a wee bit sour. Taste is complex... fruity, spicy, very sweet. Kind of sticky-tasting. This is a unique beer. Good for Christmas maybe, but this one won’t be a regular one for me.

Mmmmm, what a beauty this is. A deep ruby-to-brown body with a tight layer atop. It’s got a very lively body and a yeasty freshness like a tripel, but backed up by rich malts and some spice (but not over the top like so many yule beers). Dark but not too syrupy, crisp and hoppy for measure. A truly fine beer.

Almost no head. Clear, but with some yeaties floating around despite a careful pour. Good aroma of grass, heavy yeast, raisin, pepper, and alcohol. Kind of syrupy with a light carbonation. Long finish.

Hazy hay in color with a this white head. Aroma is sweet fruits, banana, candied malts, alcohol, oranges, and pears. Thick and creamy body. Flavor is sweet, fruits, caramel, yeast. finish is sweet with a medium bitter bite. Strong, rich, sweet, and delicious.

pours golden with minimal bubbly head. aroma is spicy with some banana, pear, booze and candied sweetness and maybe a tiny floral hop note. taste is initially tingly with strong sweetness and fruitiness. it becomes very sweet by mid-taste finishing in a spicy booziness. enjoyable stuff but not a whole lot to it.

Aged 3 - 5 years this is one of my favorite beers on earth. I’ve had it many times over the years, in the U.S. and in Belgium, in the bottle and on tap, fresh and aged. There are variations over the years, but this is always a wonderfully complex, super rich, sweet and flavorful strong Belgian malt monster. Fresh it can have an overly strong alcholol taste, not beautifully balanced like aged...but after 2 or 3 years it starts to mellow out with rich malts, sweet fruits like dates and raisins, caramel and cognac, oak and cane syrup. Wonderful aroma of malts and sweet fruit; dark amber-orange color. Comparative beers include aged (Swiss) Samichlaus and Thomas Hardys. What’s bad is when you know it needs aging but you just can’t wait, like I’m doing now, drinking it too young, knowing it’s so much better later, but ooooh, it’s also so good now!