La Moneuse Speciale Noël

Brewed by Brasserie de Blaugies
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Dour-Blaugies, Belgium

Malty, herbal aroma and flavor. Licorice and coreander, I guess. Just a bit of salt and pepper. Peardrups. Full bodied. Bitter aftertaste, somewhat alcoholic. Good beer.

Bottle from Styles via Matta. The cork just about blew my hand off when opening. This is a well carbonated beer. Slightly sourish, farmy aroma. Spicey and tart flavors. Hard to cut through all of the carbonation. Better after sitting a good long time.

GABF, at the flat of a gracious host (whose name I can’t remember). The beer was much better than it smelled. My nose was assaulted by a yeasty vinegar aroma that almost made me not want to try it, and definitely made me not take more. Noticably acidic, but not overly so. Clear gold-orange in the glass, leaving dense lacing on the side of the glass. Pear, pineapple, malt, and mellow cob webs on the flavor. Finish was soft and a little dry, which was nice.

This is such a crazy brewery....a couple of Belgian teachers brewing wonderful beer in their garage, I know that had my teachers done the same my school experience most likely would have been more enjoyable. This seemeed to run the gauntlet of extremes: very subtle aroma, wonderful estery character with hints of plum, apple, and banana; flavor was intensely yeasty and a touch tart; palate was a bit unenjoyable due to the tighty packed carbonation and cutting alchohol. I think there was a hint of funkiness here which may be a sign that this bottle was not kept in the best conditions, but overall it was a nice beer.

New Year’s Eve, 12/31/2004. I asked for a Blaugies for Christmas, and Santa said "You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!!!" Of course he’s right, but I like to live dangerously, and I cannot resist the charm of Blaugies. "Fire in the hole!" as the cage is released - I hardly have it off the bottle and POP!- the cork goes flying who knows where. We should’ve saved this for midnight, but we couldn’t wait any longer. Bright deep hazy gold, thick fluffy head, great lacing. Spicy sweet, malty, medium bodied. This, to me, just has a real "handmade" feel to it - I’m not sure why, maybe it’s that light funky sourness and hint of the wild outdoors in the aroma. Happy New Beer!

Cloudy, copper body. Yeasty, spicy aroma with some floral notes, tripelesque aroma. Sweet malt body with strong sugary flavors, some light lemon and citrus flavor is present as well. Spicy mouthfeel, notes of cinnamon, a nice complex malt body overall. Clean finish, still very sweet and sugary but nicely balanced. Lightly sour.

Fresh 2004 bottle. Brownish yellow in color with a nice tannish head. Sour tasting. Citrusy. Funky alcohol aroma. Hoppy. Styrian Golding Hop aroma is mixed in. Some tartness. Good beer.

"Fresh" 2004 bottle. Murky brownish yellow with a tannish head. Funky cheese and alcohol aroma with a slightly pungent Styrian Goldings hop aroma mixed in. Malty funky flavor with that Styrian Goldings note again. Slight tartness Not quite the malt character that I prefer (like in the Fantome brews) but interesting and satisfying.