Bottle, bb 10/25. Deep amber with an inch of beige head that lasts and laces q well. Aroma of brown bread, bubblegum, some Milo. Moderately sweet with a nice slightly bitter kick. Brown bread, a little dough, chocolate, bubblegum, pepper. Good finish and balance.

19 May 2023. At The Musketeers restaurant. Cheers to Anke, Silke, Nima, Elke & Gregory!

A: hazy dark brown, small, frothy, beige head.
A: 'pepernoot', gingerbread, clove, cardamom, milk chocolate, mocha, pear.
T: sweet pear, milk chocolate, spicy clove & cardamom, liquorice.
F: herbal hops, quite spicy, mocha, toast, softly warming liqueur-like alcohol.
P: medium to full body, oily texture, average carbonation.
Adequately balanced Winter ale.

An appreciated 33 cl bottle in one of my favorite styles. I got the beer from Belgian Happiness and am now opening and tilting the bottle into my Teku glass. The appearance is a dark brown body with a decent head of creamy light tan foam. I smell dark fruit and some yeastiness. And the taste builds on the scent, dark plums, bread, currants, leather and malt. There is a sliver of caramel sweetness and bit of spice accompanying. The sensation is somewhat dense, even chewy. Quite the good Belgian dark ale, not in the upper tier.

Winter ale by the ‘new’ (much more mainstream) Musketeers, bottle bought online somewhere, shared with Craftmember. Yellowish egg-white, thick and frothy, membrane-lacing, very stable head on an initially clear mahogany brown beer with ruddy-coppery hue, misty later on. Aroma of hard caramel, brown bread, clove, banana peel, dried apricot, bubblegum, soap even, coriander powder, ‘oude jenever’, hints of cherry candy, old cinnamon powder, nutmeg and something solventy (nail polish) tucked away in the background. Sweetish onset but not as sweet as many other classic Belgian Xmas beers, estery hints of fig, medlar and banana but generally on the clean side, lively carbonated with rounded, full mouthfeel – fuller than expected even, but with this annoying bubblegum- to soap-slick aspect to it. Dried fruit sweetishness lingers along with spiciness, but the latter is kept atypically limited for this kind of beer, with notes of clove, coriander and ginger; some floral hops add late but mild bitterness (not more needed considering the restraint in sweetness here) and gin-like alcohol warms the tail. Less sweet and overspiced than is typical for a Belgian Christmas or winter ale at least in the classic sense of the word, in itself quite solid, but deliberately made accessible to a large audience – like all of Musketeers’ recent beers. The bubblegummy aspect annoyed me a bit as well, but otherwise no complaints.

Dark brown colour with thin head. Aroma and flavour have clove and gingerbread. Some orange citrus too. Qualitatively good but not my thing.

Deep dark brown colour, beige foam. Nose of dried fruit, plums, spices, caramel. Malty, fruity and spicy. Interesting.

330ml bottle. Cloudy, redd-ish, brown colour with average, firm, creamy, moderately lasting and lacing, beige head. Sweet-ish, caramel malty and minimally vinous, yeasty fruity aroma, hints of cherry, dark honey, Taste is sweet-ish, caramel malty, yeasty fruity, slightly yeasty spicy and bitter, minimally floral hoppy, hints of cherry, cherry liqueur, dark honey, some almond, marzipan, praline; minimally warming, alcoholic finish, but well hidden alcohol overall. Dissolved sugar enriched, watery texture, slightly dry, simultaneously minimally cloying palate, medium to fine, mildly prickly carbonation. Clean, relatively monotonous - decent.

Fles gekregen van Inoven, gedeeld met Roelzie. Het is een helder koperkleurig bier met een beige schuim. Het heeft een aroma van mout, caramel en biscuit. De smaak is vol, warm, mout en fruit met een zoete afdronk.

Flesje gekocht bij Mitra. Robijnrood helder bier. Flink schuimend tijdens inschenken. Schuim blijft lang staan. Aroma van lentekersen en aardbeien. Smaak is bitterzoet en fruitig. Jammer dat de smaak snel weg trekt.