t Smisje Kerst

Super dark brown coloured body with a thinnish, very fast-dying tan and off-white head that starts at about a centimetre tall and fades to just about nothing, only a few seconds later. Aroma of strong pitted fruits, deep malts with some caramelised sugars, treacle, molasses and lightly smoked peat noticeable along with a dash of stronger umami and slightly meaty notes along with a alcohol warmth noticeable at the end. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong malty bite at first with a lot of earthiness, some nuts and a deep sweet bite from the figs, pitted fruits and caramelised sugars, all coming out at once, even with some honey picked up on the edges as well. Aftertaste shows the robust malts, a relatively thin body towards the end, most likely due to the [not very long] aging of this one, but a mellow nutty flavour and a lot of sweetness, which balances things out nicely without any bitterness or pungency, but the alcohol does come through at the end and warm things up a tad as you'd expect at over ten per cent alcohol, but this really doesn't feel like 12 per cent, as most real belgians won't. Overall, a good beer, and reminds me for a time when I could just hop on a plane, head over to Bruxelles and goto any convenience store and find 10 new beers that I haven't seen before, all for under €3! However, I'm stuck with this one, from here in the United States, but luckily a few years ago and I'd recommend this to just about anyone who can keep it for a little bit of time, and as long as you don't mind a slightly thinner body for a quadruple, then this one should probably be kept for at least 5 years before drinking. I sampled this stubby, 33 cL bottle purchased from Knightly Spirits in Orlando (Orange Blossom Trail), Florida on 05-May-2018 for US$4,74 sampled at my house here in Washington on 18-August-2020 after a bit more than 2 years aging here.

Aroma has speculaas (Dutch cinnamon cookie) and some licorice. Malty, herbal, alcoholic flavor with apple and seaweed. Somewhat roasted, bitter aftertaste. Raw and alcoholic, could gain some smoothness and depth by cellaring.

My bottle looks like the picture with Kerst not winter so this may be a bit old. Pour is a murky dirty river water brown. Aroma is dark fruit and fig pudding. Flavor is some dark fruit and lots of tootsie roll like sweetness. No alcohol is felt but it is getting a bit warmer in here. This is a big malty, dark fruit flavored strong ale. Not much spices are felt this is all about the dark fruit malt and sugar.

As: Kerst Smiske Vintage 2010 tasted in Nov. 2015. Aroma: fruity sweet with dark berries and notes of cognac. Flavour: sweet dark berries and a dry finish. A creamy mouthfeel and a warm alcoholic finish. Colour: reddish brown with an offwhite head.

330ml bottle at the Hoppy Pub, Thessaloniki, courtesy of skullgeorge. Hazy dark amber almost brown color with off white to beige head. Aroma is yeasty light funky, spicy, citrusy fruity, caramel malty. Sweet and light bitter, lot of caramel - burnt sugar, fruity, light wineous. Medium oily body with soft to flat carbonation.

Christmas beer from the former Regenboog brewery, a spiced barley wine mostly intended for export to the American market. Bronze coloured ale with a sweet main profile, honeyish, orange, liqueur, coriander, caramel, cookies, candied fruit, yeasty with a long dryish, warming alcohol finish in which the candied sweetness keeps cloying a bit as well. Nice sipper.

rood met bruine toets, troebel met minimale witte kraag (ziet er niet erg mooi uit), aroma is mout, zoet, licht zuurtje, laurier en rozijn. de smaken zijn redelijk zoet (kandijsuiker), matig bitter, zeer sterk (alcoholisch) in de mond, zacht, matig fruitig (donker fruit), sterk gemout (caramouten), redelijk kruidig (peper, zoethout, kardemom, iets lichts van sinaasappelschil), medium body, glad van textuur, afdonk zoetig en redelijk alcoholisch

Draft at the Alexandria Rustico location. Poured a slightly hazy amber-orange color with a small off-white head. Aroma was lots of sweet malt notes, toffee, caramel notes. Flavor was nice hops, light fruits, alcohol is there, but subdued for 11%. A touch of something that tasted a bit tart, sweet malts. Enjoyable.