Yule
Boom Island Brewing Company

 

All the right components are here - overripe fruits, banana, spices (cloves/allspice?) and anise. The only problem is that the anise is way too prominent. Aroma is a little more balanced.

another really cool and well executed beer from these guys, this is a spiced belgian strong, sort of a quad, with a lot of character and a lot of life, boom island is killing it. 2015 vintage, pours a clearish red brown with much less viscosity and more bubbles than most beers this strong show. aroma of sweet malts and mild spice, seemingly as much from the warm fermented belgian yeast strain as from any real spice additions, although clove and allspice definitely come out a bit more as this opens up with temperature. flavor matches the nose, some bitterness in the finish, but a lot of sweet grain throughout. i love the yeast, this is a pretty unique beer because of it, and thats really what i like most about these guys in general is their use of yeasts. kind of a winter warmer meets a quad, its very bubbly and active, especially for what it is and how strong it is, and just really well made overall, not overdone on spices and obviously holds up pretty well with a little time on it. easy to get a little too loose on beer like this...

This is the 2012 version, cracked open up on the North Shore on New Year's Eve, crossing into 2016. A real gusher...massive foamy khaki head on top of a kind of hazy brackish sienna that subsides after a minute and leaves spotty lacing. Nose has some muddy sweetish chocolate, overripe banana, toffee candy, and light fruitcake...seems promising. Taste: this is a bit disappointing, the chocolate and banana are there, with some breadiness, but the spice or yeast notes are far too muted, and things just don't come together very well...in most respects, just doesn't have the complexity that one might hope for from the style. Fairly light body for the style, and a little too sweet for me, too. Glad I finally cracked this one open, but glad we had something else on hand to really bring the new year in right.

Wouldn't go looking for another bottle of '12, but I'll keep an open mind about later editions, especially since the brewery is a bunch of good guys who keep on working on their craft from year to year.

I ordered this without looking at the ABV. Although I could tell it was on the boozy side, I definitely didn't think it was 12% until I got towards the bottom. Uff. ABV aside this is more or less what I expect from the style, but nothing to go out of the way for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exceptional beer.

 

so smooth. boozy part catches you later. this year's is 13%

 

Black currant flavors were extremely sour. This is the second time that I've had this beer and both taste like they could be infected but I have been assured by each sender that they were not as they drank bottle from the same purchase.