kerstbierfestival essen

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

33cl bottle from Carrefour Market Boondael in Brussels F: medium, tan, good retention. C: brown, hazy. A: malty, caramel, bready, bit apples, dried fruits. T: medium malty base, bready, caramel, mellow fruity, dried fruits, medium carbonation, bit more on the sweet side yet not bad, enjoyed.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

33cl bottle from Carrefour Market Cours St. Michel. F: medium, egg-white, quick diminishing. C: deep gold, hazy. A: malty, light mellow fruity, bready, honey, caramel, toast. T: medium to full body, caramel, sweet grainy, bit mellow fruity, banana, mineral touch, medium carbonation, nothing special yet not bad, enjoyed.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

33cl bottle from Carrefour Market Cours St. Michel. F: medium, white, average retention. C: blonde, hazy. A: malty, pear, apples peels, bit banana, flowery, dough, bready. T: light malty base, bready, decent harmonic bitterness, bit grassy, dough, medium carbonation, bit mineral, not for the style as I like it yet not bad for sure, enjoyed.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

4/VIII/20 - 33cl bottle as a gift, shared @ Fred’s Social Distancing BBQ, BB: 5/IV/21 (2020-720) Thanks to Ama Deke for the bottle!

Clear orange beer, big creamy off-white head, unstable, bit adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: pretty fruity, funky, bit weird, floral, something’s off here. Can’t put my finger on it. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: soft bitterness, malty, grains, fruity, quince I guess, bit oxidized. Aftertaste: soapy, soft acidity, bit oxidized. Aftertaste: more quince coming through, soft acidity, bit sweet, dry, bit dusty, fruity finish.

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

Bottle from a gift box. Pours clear amber/red with a lasting, thin, off-white head. Aroma of raisin, toffee, brioche, red grape, cranberry, unripe strawberry, candied apricot. Taste has (heavy) sweet raisin, dark toffee, estery apricot & red apple on a cake-like malty body, bitter herbs & yeast in the back with a sour touch. Malty finish, some herbal hops, lingering red fruit maltiness. Medium body, oily texture, fizzy carbonation. Better than I expected based on the previous ratings here - maybe they altered their recipe a bit? Style-wise I'd opt for Amber or Red Ale perhaps?

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

5/VI/20 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: 6/III/22 (2020-466)

Clear red brown beer, big creamy dense yellowish to beige head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: malty, some caramel, dried fruits, ripe banana, somewhat sweet and sugary. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit sourish, caramel touch, pretty bitter, banana peel, bit metallic. Aftertaste: hoppy, dry, bit acidic, soft caramel touch, malty, nice and fruity, slightly roasted, soft bitterness.

Paired with a pesto margherita pizza, nice pairing!

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8.5

Gushing to small, if persistent cream-coloured head over dull dark red beer. Superb woody/red fruit/lactic nose. Vinous as few, reflecting the Bordeaux barrels. Old wood, dark and milkchocolate notes. Red or orange fruit. Very good woody, chocolate and lactic acid notes, but also lactose. More than a hint at (sugared) balsamico. Well bodied, very slick to viscous, low to medium carbonation in contrast to the stable head.
Wow, the Merelbeke guys are really in full gear!

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Slightly amended version of the regular Louis XVIII by Wilde Brouwers in Merelbeke near Ghent, only in 75 cl bottles with paper wrap, launched for the winter of 2019-2020. Bottle from De Hopduvel, now a year old. Snow white, thick and frothy, cobweb-lacing, stable head on an initially more or less clear, warm and deep orange-hued peach blonde beer with a thin 'suspension' of yeast, perturbed by enthusiastic sparkling; shifts to a cloudy to even murky 'dirty amber' with sediment. Aroma of ripe peach, dried orange peel, banana, chewing gum, dry hay, 'herbes de Provençe', white bread dough, honey, carrot peel, green mandarins, cloves, touch of melon. Sweetish onset with light sourish edge, fruity and 'cleanly' estery with notes of peach, banana and freshly cut red apples, strongly carbonated with very minerally, initially even somewhat numbing effect, but acceptable for the style. Sweetish, caramelly and very lightly peanutty maltiness with residual honeyish sweetness on top, towards a mildly phenolic, bit earthy-yeasty finish with spicy notes (clove, dried rosemary, some dried citrus peel - and a soapy coriander accent), lingering breadiness and floral hop bitterness. Very classically styled Belgian blonde, I must say that I was expecting much more from a 'Grand Cru' version of the regular Louis XVIII - this clearly shows that this old term, which the Belgian family brewers originally borrowed from French wine culture, has no 'real' content at all and is a purely commercial thing, like the 'premium' in premium lager. Still, technically well made, and indeed feeling a bit maltier, 'fuller', spicier and hoppier than the regular, so in that sense this Grand Cru edition is still a light improvement.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5

Dark brown colour, beige foam. Caramel, some tartness, weak and watery, unbalanced. Not very nice.