Bush de Noël (Scaldis Noel)

Brewed by Dubuisson
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Pipaix, Belgium

Tap at Muddy Pig. Pours a deep slightly hazy orange color with a minimal swirly head and a nice whisp of lacing. Flavor is sweet and earthy, notes of bubblegum, ripe fruits, banana candy, bready yeast. Medium bodied and somewhat syrupy on the palate. Finish is slight hints of hops and candi sugar. Alcohol provides a nice warmness going down but is not noticeable in the flavor. Solid and delicious.

Nice winter ale. Lots of fruit and spice flavor with slight alcohol aftertaste, but not overpowering.

it’s christmas! so I got this beer as a present from santa! Stong beer. Maybe the strongest one i’ve had so far. Strong aroma. Coudn’t stop sniffing it. Warm mouthfeel with hints of alcohol and hops in the taste. Really nice christmas beer. To bad i’ve only got one bottle. Gues I’ve to wait another year!

Bottle served in a snifter. Pours dense medium brown amber in color with some floaties. Short off-white head that doesn’t last long. Aroma of dough, malt, and alcohol. Becomes much more aromatic as it warms. Medium-full body, chewy creamy texture and mild carbonation. Moderate sweetness, yeast flavor, and hop bite. Some bitterness on the finish. Not my favorite, but certainly an quality brew - that shouldn’t be served too cold.

Pours cloudy caramel color with thin tan head that dissipates quickly. Aroma of caramel and a good amount of alcohol. Sweet caramel malt and Belgian yeast flavors. The alcohol comes through a bit too much for my tastes. Medium body with average carbonation.

Nice aroma of bubblegum, rich malt, with a touch of alcohol. Head fizzes out fast, leaving a nice dark amber with a tiny lace around the glass. Notes of spruce and vanilla. Sweet malt with a nice touch of hops covers up the 12% very well. No noticable alcohol except for a bit of warming makes for a very impressive beer.

This is my first rating on ratebeer, and it’s Christmas, so I figured: Why not make it a Christmas beer? I picked this bottle up while I was in Belgium, not really knowing anything about it but knowing the holidays were on their way ands as it turns out, I’ve got nothing better to do today than to rate a beer! So here we are... Pours an amber/brown color with some lively carbonation and an unimpressive light, off-white head that fades moderately fast, and when it leaves forgets to leave any lacing on my glass or any reminder at all that it was once there... Nose is sweet, fruity malts dominated by lighter fruit like pear, but with some vinous notes to, and balanced with a nice, piney hop zing in the background and earthy notes with light alcohol. In the mouth there is an aggressive flavor with a big, vinous, fruity malt character that really bites into the tongue and lingers beyond the slight burn of alcohol on the back end... Though there is a piney hop note to help balance it out and a bit of a caramel sweetness that helps to mask the 12% and that really comes through on the follow-through. A decent holiday brew, and winter warmer, but not one I will find necessary to pick up again...

75 cl bottle, about 6 years old. Extremely smooth and rich. Sweet, fruity, spicy, with great balance and eminently drinkable. A bit too oxidized, though, so I guess it would have been better a year or 2 ago. Still a treat.