4 Calling Birds
The Bruery

Copenhagen 14/1 2026. 37,5 cl heavy glass bottle from DrikBeer web-shop. Label in the Bruery's usual design in green and red.

Pours almost clear dark mahogany with red hue. Mid-sized off-white head. Settles as a 0,2 cm thick layer of foam covering the surface of the beer. Settles as. thin pack of foam in the middel of the glass. Moderate lacing.

Aroma is fairly intense with a sweet malty odor saturated is sweet spice and alcohol. Dark malts, caramel and toffee. Marzipan, sweet banana and a hint of cardamom.

Low carbonation. Slightly thick, oily, soft, almost flat texture.

Flavor is fairly intense with a surprisingly light sweetness followed by a rather strong bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter and a little harsh. Lingers for a while. Finish is dry and a bit boozy.

Potent but well balanced in its own weird way.

 

 

If I am reading the date code correctly, this bottle has about a year and a half of age on it.

Pours a brownish copper color with ruby edges and a finger of beige head. The nose has notes of walnuts and holiday spice cake. The flavor leads with some molasses combined with dark fruits and backed with a touch of nutmeg and clove. There's a dry quality on the finish which is both hard to place and a bit surprising. The body is ever so slightly thinner than expected.

4 Calling Birds pours a dark brown with not much of a head. The aroma is mild hint of ginger cookie. The flavor is a ginger snap cookie flavor, with hints of dry dark fruits. Good feel. Overall, a nice mellow desert beer; hints of ginger cookie.

 

 

 

Pours a dark brown, fizzy cola 2" head with very little retention or lacing; once this guy warms up, however, some streaking lacing is left behind. Nose is cola, dark fruit, figs, raisins, mulling spices, raspberry cordial chocolates. Overall the nose is rather sweet. Taste hits many of those cola notes, including a some orange peel that provides a lot of balance. Dark fruits are relatively mild, though they do comprise the flavor notes here - stewed raisin and prune; spicy ginger as well. Sweetness definitely present and lingers on the finish. Feel is pretty thin, but the alcohol is very well hidden. As it warms, however, it picks up a bit more body, though the alcohol heat starts to emerge. Overall, this was solid enough, but didn't have enough depth to really blow me away.

 

From a bottle into a balloon glass. Pours a deep red-brown with a short cap of tan foam. Smells belgiany and spicy. The flavor starts out with molassas and ginger, not unlike ginger bread. The flavor then shifts toward a clean and roasty finish. Medium bodied and easy drinking.

its cool they remade all these this year, this is one i had missed, stoked to be able to finally try it, on tap no less! deep brown with some red in the right light, not real viscous, frothy off white head an inch high crowning it nicely, matte luster, lots of bubbles. it smells complex on the malt side, dark bread, bran muffin, molasses cookie, that sort of thing, not way different from the couple of beers before it in the series, subtle on the spices and not as sweet as some, light raisin and dried red apple fruitiness, light anise and clove, warming alcohol, tree bark and leather, subtle belgian esters but thats not really a defining feature of this for me, mellow and well integrated. a kiss of smoke, nice dark grain without roasty bitterness, sweet in the center but not so much later on, layers of licorice, tobacco, fruitcake, and cook banana, some burnt orange peel too, a light coffee thing but like the fruity nutty natural process beans, lighter roast, dry cocoa, soft mouthfeel too, light for how strong it is really, and just a little of the alcohol which fits in just fine in a winter warmer type. a bit less intense and aggressive overall than i thought it would be, relaxed on both the spices and on the fermentation, not sugary but long on the palate anyway, very well made but maybe not the most memorable beer in this series overall. an absolute treat to drink on a few of these at the idaho location this weekend, cool to have all of them on tap! this warms up well, fits the season, and is of expert quality.

750 ml bottle from Jeremy. Dark brown pour with a small beige head. Spincy, savory aroma. taste comes in smooth, winter spice on topf some plum flavors. Plenty of warmth all around.

Pours a very deep ruby red color with a large tan head that sticks around for a bit.

Nice complex smell, reminds me of the smell of treats baking.

Stars out sweet, like eating a sugary holiday cookie. After the initial sweetness the spices kick in. Seems to be ginger, anise, and a hint of pepper.


Fairly thick and solid on the feel, no doubt this is a big beer.

Overall this is a decent beer. The biggest downside to me is how sweet it is. The spiciness after the sweetness save it, makes it more like a traditional holiday beer.

 

picked up a bottle at TJ’s actually. i never go for the highest price point of The Bruery but in my opinion they’re the best in Orange County. i’m a sucker for holiday releases and this one is wonderful. dark, strong, spicy and aromatic. look and feel are on point with a dark and translucent toasted caramel color and a heavy mouth feel. still features some fruity notes like cherry and candied fruit which sit on top and are not too strong or off putting. boozy finish.

 

 

There doesn't appear to be a date code of any kind but this was purchased in 2023. From the front label "ALC. 11.1% BY VOL."

Appearance: It has a very dark brown body which is completely opaque. There is a slight hint of a reddish hue to the brown as well. It starts out with a light tan head which is medium in size when the beer is first poured but it quickly fades out to a thin film of bubbles and a narrow ring around the edge of the glass.

Aroma: It has a bit of a milk scent when away from the glass. Coming closer to the glass there is a bit of a banana note but it definitely has a noticeable Belgian yeast aroma. There is some bubblegum that surfaces as well. It has nice notes of Belgian yeast but it mostly focuses on banana and bubblegum.

Taste: A strong clove taste comes through up front. It has a bit of a plum character towards the middle with a hint of green apple. The beer has a very deep flavor profile which comes across as a bit like port wine and a dates, but not the sweetness of the dates. There is a bit of a charred note towards the back of the palate and there is a bit of a nutty character as well.

Mouthfeel: It is smooth with a somewhat full body. It feels full but the high alcohol seems to cut that thickness a bit, which balances out quite nicely. There is a light warming sensation from the alcohol which is pleasant, but it is important to note that despite the "ALC. 11.1% BY VOL." (as indicated on the front label) the beer is very easy to drink and the alcohol never stands out in any negative way.

Overall: The front label states that this is a "BELGIAN-STYLE DARK STRONG ALE WITH SPICES" and on the back it says this is made with "a festive blend of orange peel, allspice, nutmeg, and star anise." The beer does have a bit of a spicy character but it comes across more as clove than what was mentioned. That could be from the yeast though. It does have a bit of a fruity character which comes across as plum, date, and port wine. Again, the orange peel that was advertised doesn't really stand out. What the beer does have is a lot of Belgian Ale character from the yeast and most likely the malts.

Although the beer doesn't have a lot of spice character, the beer seems to work well as a whole. If you are into Belgian Dark Strong Ales or Belgian Ales in general it is likely that you will find this one enjoyable. I would drink it again and I would probably buy it again if I was looking for a quality BDSA. I would recommend it with the caveat that you shouldn't expect much spice.