As Saint-Monon Spéciale Fêtes. Murky amber brown colour, small frothy tan head, mostly diminishing, good lacing. Aroma malty, roasted, anise, thyme, liquorice. Taste heavy sweet and slightly bitter, malty, liquorice (also retronasal), sugary, average duration, sweet liquorice finish, herbal notes. medium body, watery texture, soft carbonation, strange brew, reminds me of a spiced-up cola, not nice.

(Bottle, Chez Moeder Lambic Saint-Gilles, Brussels, 16 Oct 2015) Hazy golden colour with frothy, white head. Malty nose with notes of bready malt, honey and peaches. Malty, fruity taste with dried fruit, honey, dried peaches and a fairly sweet finish with low bitterness. Almost full body, soft, with a certain sweetness. Well balanced and tasty. Quite nice.

F: thin, white, quick gone to thin film. C: coppery/amber, hazy, opaque. A: malty, white sugar, honey-herbal, hint of spicy, yeast. T: malty, spicy, honey, sugary, caramel, yeasty, banana, medium body, average carbonated, some dusty/earthy tone, 0,33l bottle from Delhaize in Brussels.

330ml Bottle - Dark brown with red tinges. Blackcurrant, plums, spice and herbs in the aroma. Herbal, spicy and slightly sweet taste with berries, blackcurrant and a hint of basil. Aniseed and liquorice can be detected in the finish. A bit strange but not bad.

Dark brown coloured body with a very fast-fading head, only a bit of light brown bubbles a few seconds after pouring. Aroma of nuts, earth, raisins, figs, coffee, hazlenuts, dirt and a touch of mushrooms in the nose. Medium-bodied; Assertive effervescence; Strong meaty and mushroomy flavour up front with a defined nutty characteristic, some raisins and fig sweetness, but mainly a malty and very umami-related taste right after the sip. Aftertaste shows a relative mildness with only some nuts, caramel, toffee, earth and meaty flavour in the finish - relatively simple for the style, and especially this coming from the motherland of Belgium. Overall, a pretty disappointing beer in every sense - with the high ratings here, the carrying back home from Belgium and the short aging, all disappointing. I sampled this 33 cL bottle purchased from Beer Mania in Bruxelles, Belgium on 30-June-2012 for €2,25 sampled at home in Washington on 30-November-2015.

19/11/2015 sample from 75cl bottle - tasting @Work. Orange colour, small head. Malty nose, light spiced. Taste is malty, light spices, some yeast and sweetness. Light tasted.

19/11/2015 - sample from a 75cl bottle @work tasting Hazy milk chocolate colour with small head. Nose is like an odd Dubbel. Taste is light roasted malts, spices, some bitter hops coming through, little sweetness, some earthy and herbal notes.

*Old rating. Best before March 2014. Smooth sweetish Belgian Ale. Sweetish, honey and malt, not much bitterness, round and sticky.

Bottle from Bier Tempel. A bit hazy copper with a white head. On the light side with some fruit and yeast. Nothing to write home about.

Bottle from Bier Tempel. Brownish with a medium head. On the sweet side with toffee, malt and some nuts. Kind of ok.