t Smisje Kerst

Brewed by Brouwerij De Regenboog
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Assebroek-Brugge, Belgium

Bottle sampled with Stegosaurus. Pours amber with an off-white head. Aroma of spices, alcohol, fruit. The flavor is smooth, fruit, and spices. Great beer.

Pours a ruby caramel color, with a nice creamy tan head. Great lacing also. The aroma is that of banana, dark fruit, and a hint of caramel or tofee, accomanied by a slight hint of alcohol. Very sweet up front with a little bit of bittersweet on the mid-palate. The flavor is complex and very malty with a noticeable alcohol character, but it is not overwhelming. Slight hints of banana, spices, and a decent hop presence on the end. I think this is a wonderfully balanced beer that lingers on your palate for awhile.

Bottle... Cloudy caramel-colored ale with a huge, rocky, off-white head. Yeasty, soapy aroma with notes of fruitcake and malty-sweet caramel. Moderately bitter flavor with dark fruit and alcohol. Mildly acidic. Full-bodied with a dry mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Harsh, bone dry finish.

Orange coloured getting darker towards the middle. There is an off white head that was quite tall to begin with, but faded to a thin covering after some time. I smell a bit of alcohol burn in the aroma, but not much. Mostly it is spicy with coriander, combine that with some light fruit notes and some banana. The flavour is sweet with fruits and spices in there as well as some orange like citrus followed by hints of alcohol.

Bottle. Hazy orange coloured with an off white head. Aroma of fruits, spices and yeast. Flavour of dried fruits, yeast and spices. Well hidden alcohol.

Cloudy, dark copper-colored body - slightly soapy, off-white head. The aroma is spicy, filled with coriander, yet sweet and candy-like. The flavor is also sweet, with a grassy and herbal quality. Slightly astringent, and some banana esters. A decent and easy-to-drink BSA. , despite the high alcohol.

I wasn’t that impressed with this when I had it on tap a month or so ago, so I’m giving it a go in bottles - cloudy copper pour, with a well-sustained, foamy head - the aroma is actually quite tart, with a bit of bitter orange peel, grains of paradise, ginger - the flavor is a bit tart up front, with a tangy citrus flavor - this fades pretty quickly, and is followed by some candi sugar sweetness and winter spices (ginger and nutmeg,mostly) - a bit of toffee and slight alcohol warmth in the finish - not as balanced as it could be, but pretty tasty.

Bottle @ O’brien’s in San Diego. I recently had the Calva ale and I thought why not try something else from this brewery. Poured rosy amber with a large thick white head into a maudite snifter. The aroma was light and difficult to guage, it was sweet and strong smelling. The taste was sweet and potent with a holiday feel. Really it felt like a decent Belgian strong dressed up for the holidays.