La Moneuse Speciale Noël

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

Dark gold to amber color with a tall white head. Vinous aroma with other fruits, namely apples. Buttery fruity sweet flavor. Overall a bit too thick.

Bottle, bought @ Willems, Grobbendonk. Explosive when opening! Pours a muddy light pale orange-yellow. Giant frothy white head with lots of lacing. Aroma is sweetish, barnyard, ginger, hops, citrus, pine and flowers on top of a biscuity maltiness. Full, but lively mouthfeel. Light dryness in flavour, relatively bitter and lots of crispness. A good dose of flavours of spices.

750 ml bottle from Wholefood. Hazy golden with a fluffy head. Some barnyard funk and Belgian yeast, bread aroma. Bright lively palate. Tangy fruit taste with a nice citric acidity and a crisp finish.

I had a bottle and a draught sample at the brewery - points are for the bottled version.
Both versions have a hazy amber body with a lightly brown, creamy head. The bottled one has aroma of hops, yeast, citrus, smoke. The draught one has the same aroma characteristics, but is better balanced. The bottled one has a lightly sweet, moderately bitter flavour of flowers, honey, ... The draught one also has the same flavour characteristics but is more smooth while the bottled one is somewhat harsher. I prefer the draught one as it is more in balance.
Bottled: 8/3/8/4/15, Draught: 8/3/8/4/16

bomber corked and caged with a blue label not the one pictured here and 2005 printed on the cork. poured with great carbination and a murky look, copper with some orange in color and a huge head on the pour that slowly melted down to a thick layer that was present on every glass poured and stayed to the last sip. smell is yeast, pear, caramel malt, dark fruit sweetness, and some nutmeg spices. taste is medium in body smooth on the tongue and finishes slightly bitter. malt flavors have a bitterness, yeast and spices give some interest, on the dry side, and does have some dark fruit like plumbs or figs. i will say in the glass the look is really nice, head and lacing will rival any brew, and some complex spices make it interesting to drink.

Bottle @ Frigo, Shibuya, Tokyo: Orange, cloudy mahogany, frothy white head, resilient and persistent with a charming crown of lacing. The nose is toasty with a clean biscuit and yeast note. Ample light caramel and herbal hop and spices. The flavor isn’t coming forward in the malt or body department as the nose acquiesced to. A dusty and bitter flavor lashes the palate and a cool emotionless liquid courses down resistantly. A futile touch of sulfur and coriander breath some life into the distant tail. Promising beginning with a faltered ending performance and no finale. Missing grace but interesting enough to continue quaffing.

2/20/05 750 ml. Plaza Liquor. Hazy amber with small beige head. Citrussy coriander spicey yeasty aroma. malty bland flavor not living up to the aroma.

From the bottle @ Bruxellensis. Christmas in September! Opaque orange-amber with an off-white cap. Nose of wet grains, cereal toast, with caramel malts. A touch sweet, with caramel rolling into mild bitterness, lively carbonation, dryish finish. Malty-bitter aftertaste. Mmm, I’d love to wash some Christmas turkey down with this...