De Dolle Stille Nacht

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

Pours a pretty amber color with a 1 finger white head. Aroma of fruit and some alcohol .Yeasty and Fruity with a nice alcohol warming. Very complex and full bodied. Beautiful beer.

495yen 11.6oz 2005 bottle from Takanaya liquor in Tokyo. Pours a light amber color with little head, and microscopic cloud of white floaters if you look closely in the light. Clean aroma of orange and some other fruitiness. Wonderful mild sweet flavor, with the subtleness of orange peel bitterness in the finish. Mild and spectacular. I would describe it as a grande fermented orange. Alchohol is well hidden. I love it. Good by itself, or with anything. Must buy more for storage and special events. I know Im rating it much higher than others and I dont care. This is great! 4.6 is probably too low. 10,3,9,5,19:4.6 1/10/07: Tried again a Churchill’s side-by-side with the reserva after trying a darkness. The Darkness was much, much better. This beer tasted a little bandaid at first, but then I think this is more an orange spicy flavor associated with the yeast and the beer. Leans sweet and nice. 7,3,8,3,17: 3.8 Averaged the two ratings

2006 bottle. A gusher. Lost a few ounces before it got it to the glass. Once in, hazy apricot with a huge layer of frothy milk white head, settling in sticky lumps. Rich, stewed fruit aroma, mint, menthol, pears. Alcohol vapor is very present, but in a rather alluring, concentrated way--like whisky. That translates in a pretty direct way to the flavor: the strength is quite apparent, but the flavor concentration is equally strong. Leathery dried fruit, a nice full bitter bite. Yeasty, herbal. Very bright, but not aggressively bubbly. (Apart from the initial bottle opening.) This continued to get more interesting as it warmed, even starting from just barely cool. A sipping beer. A beer to meditate on. Yum. Thanks so much Fin for the bottle!

Pours hazy orange. no floaters in mine. Light head and little lacing. Aroma is a light lemon and malts. Very sweet on the mouth feel. Bottle from the raleigh times, nc

2006 Bottle in Duvel glass. Pours slightly hazy orange with big orange-tinted, lasting head and lace. Some floaters. Mild aroma of tart lemon, bread, and malt and some alcohol. Sweet flavors of honey, candy sugar, then mild tartness with a dry bite in the finish with slight lasting bitterness and alcohol. Medium-full soft mouthfeel. Very complex and delicious.

Man how is everything by De Dolle so good? Started off with a very nice pour, hazy thick amber with a thick creamy light tan head. The aroma was sweet, smelled like candy, had a very definitive dry vinous grape smell, exhibited noticeable wine characteristics, tart sharp acidic smell. The flavor was very sharp, warming from the alcohol, tasted like a dry white wine, a slight hopped character, sweetness, didn’t really have the typical belgian earthiness, very sharp and acidic. The palate was very warming and dry with crisp carbonation and it went down dry and warm. I loved it.

33cL Bottle. Aroma gurgle forth in lathers of sherry-tinted foam. Bathing the drinker in brandied bread-pudding, with golden raisins, spicy fig sauce, Australian cheddar, and an earthly delight of piquant yeast, bread crust and cracker. The voluminous silk foam sits atop a mildly hazed golden-amber liquor, percolating nicely. Explosive in the mouth, with an airy perfume of carbonation, shattering a cascade of perfect pale flavors throughout. Apple, cognac, watered down lychees and herbal citrus marinades, fresh and garden variety. Slightly warm and full of esters bordering on medicinal, yet staying this side of overbearing. Phenomenal texture with an evaporative quality, and a lingering pungent dryness that carries the smidgen of hops through with a bit of apple skin and grape seed. Exquisite and complex.

Bottle 2005 vintage. Pours cloudy dark orange with a fair amount of sediment floating around. Pretty nose. Like being in a confectionary shop. Lots of caramel sweetness. Nice balance on the palate of creamy and carbonation. Beautiful complexity of flavor. Spicy sweetness. Rich malt. Caramel, toffee, raisins, candied fruits. A bit of yeasty sourness develops. For all the sweetness, it finishes rather dry.