Noël des Géants

Brewed by Brasserie des Géants
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Irchonwelz, Belgium

Bottle from Wells. Pours a deep reddish-brown with a small white head. Aroma of raisins, caramel, and malt; a little faint. Big, creamy body, lots of sweet malt, but with a hint of sourness. Dry finish. Average.

Bottled. Poured clear, medium reddish-amber with a creamy, well-formed cap of beige head. The aroma picked up raisins, figs, and dates with a little caramel support and a lovely dose of peppery yeast.. some spearmint accent that grew as it warmed up. The flavor opened with tangy yeast and minty notes, followed closely by raisins, sweeter chocolate, and caramel.. coriander and spicy yeast laced throughout.. finished with mint, dark fruit, and a pinch of licorice.. long peppery aftertaste. Medium-plus bodied and well-carbonated on the palate.. a bit too aggressive and sharp on the back-end.. filling in the belly. This was drinkable and interesting, but not great.

Cloudy orange color with thin white head. Bready aroma. First impression is roasted malt followed by a complex oaky and tobacco notes with robust maltiness

Hazy dark copper body when held to light. The head was dense and medium khaki. Funky sour apples with some leather and hay. The taste was lightly sweet green apples and salty leather. There was also some hint of cocoa in the finish. A decent and interesting brew.

Murky brown pour with a small white head. Aroma of yeasty bread, coriander and other spices. Flavor is sharp, earthy and tangy. Bittersweet with peppery spice notes and a champagne-like alcohol presence. Nice clean finish. Very good.

Pours a dark reddish-amber color with a root beer type head. Sweet, dark fruit notes in the aroma. Has a light to thin body in the flavor. More of a light hard alcohol taste. Hard to make out the notes of the flavors the alcohol is too overwhelming. A little harsh and acidic in the finish. Started out great but ended flat.

.333->trappist: Pours a rocky head that exhibits spare lacing atop a brown body. Aroma of molasses, caramel, and pine. The body is light, the texture thin, and the duration of the flavor is short, being lightly sweet and acidic. Not really all that memorable.

In short: A spicy Christmas Belgian ale. No surprise here. Very ordinary.
How: Bottle 11.2oz. Winter 2007 batch (if not mistaken) drank late 2008 (about 1 year of age)
The look: Cloudy burgundy topped by a small but persistent beige head
In long: Nose of bakery bread and spices. A whole lot of yeast, quite a bit (too much) of unidentified spices, very bready (baguette crust), dirty wet wood. Alcohol moderately well hidden. The spices give a slight dryness sensation. A tasty beer but somehow rather, you know, blah. I could not quite put a name on the spices flavour here, not the usual Belgian Christmas ale spices. It’s probably some weird spices, something other than the spices I’ve used in my 20 years of cooking, all 5 of them.