Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Creamy lightbrown good mostly lasting head. Dark brown colour. Moderate malty and hoppy aroma. Heavy bitter flavor. Long haevy bitter finish. Creamy palate.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle @Ulfborg. Black, beige head. Roasted malt, wood and perhaps some berries in the aroma. Bittersweet roasted flavour, dark choc, wood and fruit.

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Clear amber beer, thick lively head. Smells of toasty malt, dried fruit, caramel with a boozy waft to it. Flavour follows suit. Lots of malt, a bit of zestiness, dried fruit again, some toffee, considerable boozy hit to it. Not properly burny (to my taste) but definitely demands respect. No guzzling!

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Auch wenn es die Brauerei angeblich nicht mehr gibt, habe ich noch eine Flasche dieses Biers bekommen. Es ist eigentlich ganz ok mit den brotigen und weihnachtlichen Gewürz-Aromen, allerdings wirkt es irgendwie zu brav. Es sticht nicht wirklich heraus und geht neben den belgischen Abteibieren und amerikanischen Craftbieren unter. Trotzdem finde ich es schade um dieses einzige nicht europäische Trappistenbier.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

33 cl bottle. Honey gold pour. Yeasty malt aroma. Notes of banana, white wine and mild citrus. Earthy, bitter notes on backend. Decent.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

*rating uit 2016* Flesje gedeeld met familie. Het is een donkergeel, licht troebel bier met weinig schuim. Het aroma is fruitig en hoppig. De smaak is bitter en hoppig. Nasmaak is bitter.

Botella de @El Cabanón, Avilés. 17/06/2022. Color negro opaco corona de espuma beige, aromas tostados, licorosas, sabor licoroso, tostado, café.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Spiced amber lager intended as a winter beer by Spencer, the only American trappist brewery, which recently announced that brewing activities have ceased – sadly, because I have always liked them: old-fashioned as they may have been to the present-day American beer geek palate, they did create a bunch of perfectly fine beers in styles which were never before executed by trappist breweries, and did it technically flawlessly. This winter warmer had a thin and open, off-white ‘ring’ for a head consisting of tiny bubbles, on a clear deep copper-brown-hued amber robe. Ethereally-spicy nose, hinting at clove, star aniseed, cinnamon, perhaps vague nutmeg and even a background touch of liquorish candy, patchouli even springing to mind, caramel, bread crust, peanuts, tea, honey, dried apricot. Clean, sleek onset, typical lack of fruity esters because this is a lager, so immediately turning to maltiness, sweetish and caramelly with a peanutty edge and light carbonation-induced minerality at the edges; the finish brings a toasted malt bitterness to the foreground and pairs it with the spicing, again reminiscent of clove, star anise, nutmeg and light cinnamon, with very herbal-ethereal effect. Quite firm leafy hop bitterness appears in the tail as well, matching with the toastiness and spiciness; it is the toasty effect which lasts the longest. ‘Mulled’ Vienna style lager as it were, clean, sleek and bittering with a very spicy profile – quite an interesting combo in fact, drawing from different European traditions and combining them to create something altogether new. Enjoyed it – cheers to the zealous trappist monks at Spencer, they can commit to other tasks than brewing now, but I will never forget how solid many of their beers have been (and often challenging to obtain here in Belgium, too…).

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

The trappist monks at Spencer started out with the Belgian idiom back in 2013, then ventured into more Anglo-Saxon style beers, and finally returned to Belgian style brewing with this witbier. Tasted from a can at Tournée Trappiste. Snow white, moussy, small-bubbled and creamily lacing, but quickly opening head; clear, warm pale orange-tinged peachy golden robe with lively sparkling. Aroma of bread crust, dried orange zest, biscuit crumbs, drying grass, unripe peach, apple peel, light honey touch and some very vague ‘rusty’ oxidation already setting in. Fruity onset in a sleek, only subduedly sweet way, apricot, apple and light banana, lively carbonated even with minerally, bit stingy effect; smooth, slender bready malt core, bread crumb- and dry biscuit-like with wheat-slick edges, gently spiced with a mellow dried orange peel zestiness and agreeably lingering floral hop bitterness, making for a somewhat ‘bittersweet ending’ with some breadiness at the back. Pleasantly drinking wheat ale with a Belgian twist in the form of dried orange peel spicing, an ingredient used in Belgian wit since the late sixties, but strangely looking less ‘white’ than the Spencer Premium Pilsener we had next to this one… In any case an elegant, refreshing and fruity wheat beer, delivering what it promises.

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

355ml bottle from Beers of Europe and drunk at home. It's dark gold, almost with a hint of olive, and clear. Scent of overripe orange and tropical fruit peel and pine, pine, pine. Taste is far sweeter than I expected from the aroma but the pine is still there in a big way. Finish is a little bit more balanced with more bitterness coming in. Thick oily body with grapefruit and orange oils in the aftertaste. I was really sorry to see Spencer stop brewing, they weren't to everyone's taste but I liked the beers I've had.