Winter Solstice (2019)
Brasserie Elfique in Aywaille, Liège, Belgium 🇧🇪
Belgian Style - Strong Ale Winter|
Score
6.50
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Dark chocolate and roasted aromas enhanced by a woody and vanilla note brought by the maceration of oak chips during ageing.
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bier4der (3351) ticked Winter Solstice (2019) from Brasserie Elfique 5 years ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Winter Solstice (2019) from Brasserie Elfique 5 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
The winter beer in this Walloon Elfique series, aged on oak chips. Medium thick, creamy, dense, membrane-lacing, greyish white head; initially clear dark chestnut brown robe with copper red glow, cloudy and darker (almost blackish) with sediment. Aroma of dried prunes, cloves, cooked chestnuts, burnt raisins, old cinnamon powder, brown honey, reduced port sauce, dried juniper berries, caramel, wood glue or indeed a hint of actual oak wood, cold tea, sage, coffee grounds in the background. Sweetish but not overly so, candied fig, raisins, dried elderberries, vague maple syrup-like effect probably linked to the wood chips; medium carbonation, supple and slightly resinous mouthfeel. Caramelly maltiness with a light nutty-toasty edge, again refraining from overt sweetness (unlike many other Belgian Christmas beers), spicy aspects in the finish as expected (clove, cinnamon, sage, thyme) with indeed a faint woody effect. Hard-caramelly maltiness, soft spiciness and a dash of warming alcohol round things off. Typical 'spiced Scotch' like so many other Belgian winter beers, with a tad more emphasis on malt bitterness than candi sugar sweetness; quite clean, too, if perhaps a bit on the thin side for a 10% ABV beer. The oak chips, too, should have been more prominent, as they add very little to the overall flavour. That said, better than expected, to be frank.
mike_77 (15875) reviewed Winter Solstice (2019) from Brasserie Elfique 5 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Dark brown colour with thin head. Aroma and flavour have plenty of dark bittersweet malts. Some chocolate too. Hints of dried fruits. Some diacetyl butteryness.