Serafijn Christmas Angel
Microbrouwerij Achilles

Cloudy amber color with lots of yeast floaties and a modest white head that dissipates quickly.
The aroma is raisins, pears, cinnamon and allspice.
The taste is complex - plum, pear, dates, caramel, pepper, cinnamon, allspice, etc.. The finish is spicy and dry. Medium bodied, somewhat "oily".
Altogether an interesting and pleasant winter brew.

i love when i "discover" random little belgian breweries! i take great delight in these unsung treasures, and given my recent perpetual craving for belgian christmas beers, this was an exciting find! some age on the bottle for sure, not sure how old it is though, but its sure held up well. slightly hazy pale amber brew with a nice head on it. quite sweet to the nose and the taste, lots of belgian yeast fruitiness, and an appealing light maltiness. notes of apricot and white wine from the yeast, subtle coriander and honey, as well as a grassy spiciness as well to balance the sweet, which has an almost confectioners sugar quality, but it does not limit drinkability. the alcohol is super well hidden here, and the light spice and fruit from the yeast is familiar, but unique at the same time. quite obviously belgian, but the development of flavors is exceptional. smooth and fuller bodied going down, above average but not effervescent carbonation, and a long mellow finish. clever little beer right here, something a bit different than than the super strong and heavy dark malty belgian christmas types, but fancy and sturdy enough for a holiday celebration, but its christmas in july for me! had this next to their grand cru, which is also excellent but everyone in our group preferred this one. fun stuff from a brewery i had never heard of before!

 

 

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. A little bit of a gusher; pours a cloudy orange with small floating particles and a half finger white head that dissipates to patches with good lacing. Aroma of candi and caramel malt, peach and apricot, dates, Belgian yeast. Flavor is sweet caramel malt, light stone fruit, toffee, hints of orange; starts light and mostly fruity, but the finish is much more full with caramel and dried fruit notes. Medium bodied with light creaminess. The gushing opening caused a rapid initial pour that left this looking muddy and not that attractive (although nice medium to dark color), the aroma is classic Belgian pale ale. I was a little underwhelmed by the first seconds of the taste, then quite impressed with a much richer flavor developing into a great fresh and dried fruit and caramel malt finish. This is a great seasonal Belgian. Glad to find something from this small brewery and will gladly pick up anything else that makes its way into our market.

Not bad, but a little bit of a mash up. Amber color with a smallish head and a bit of lace. Aroma is standard Belgian amber brew. Flavor's more interesting, Bittersweet up front with figs and bananas, tang in the back along with some malt, and a hint of toffee. Decent body. Good brew, but not exceptional.

This is not a pale ale. Too dark. Light brown color, some sunset colors in the edges. Aroma hit you up with strong phenolic Belgian clove and spice rack.

Taste was mostly alcohol. You can pull out some dark fruit and citrus impact. Just can't figure how they call this pale ale.

 

 

Starts out nicely enough, with bubbles streaming up the amber brew. Decent foam in the Affligem chalice. But jostled by the bubbles are swarms of floaties. Another argument against aging beers. Hint of blackberry and biscuits in the aroma, though not very enticing.

Toasty and fairly dry. A flavor of vanilla wafers. No trace of hop flavors. A little gummy at the finish. Pronounced drying at the finish. Bitterish and dishwatery. This is certainly not one of the better Belgians. From the 750 ml bottle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serafijn Christmas Angel has a medium, fizzy, spongy head, some lacing left on the glass, and an initially clear (clouds up after the caked bottom contents are swished & poured in), bubbly amber appearance. The aroma is subdued, but one can detect some spices and sweet bread. The taste, just like the aroma, is mostly of beer, with a hint of spice and bread. Mouthfeel is full and fairly prickly, and Serafijn Christmas Angel finishes dry, refreshing, easy drinking, and not the slightest bit alcohilic. Overall, this is a nice Winter beer, because the focus is on beer flavor and not gimmicky spice flavor.

RJT

Like Picasso on a blank canvas- Belgian brewers just kinda go at it. Without regard of predetermined style delineation, they simply approach brewing as art and not engineering. This is true for many brewers and for much of the year, but for the Christmas season, their wacky ways kick into high gear.

Its creamy and yeasty pour has a slow separation of ale and foam. Its eventual rise of froth amounts to a tall, creamy and dense column that floats the hazy, deep golden ale with bruised peach low lights through the center.

Succulent aromas are richer than paler Belgian ales because of sultry cookie dough maltiness with caramelized grain and dark fruit esters- plumb, fig and dates offer up a slightly rummy nose especially as the alcohol scents fold into the mix. Lightly spiced with white pepper, orange zest and clove, the beer's aromas balance beautifully although they are muted by its dense meringue that acts as an aromatic barrier.

And that cookie dough character plays a major role in taste as its candied, yeasty and bready sweetness becomes the armature from which the fruit, spice, wine and earthy notes hang. Its malty-sweet early palate soon introduces the rum-soaked fruit notes of cherries, apples, dates, figs and cashew but never really extending into raisin or prune tones. Its soft and sweet spiciness layers on the fruit notes, seemingly making them brighter. A quick finish of spiced rum and earthy straw pulls from the malts and morphs into a sweet white wine finish.

Semi-full in body, the beer's bready-sweet weight lays on the tongue and fully saturates them with flavor and texture as its creamy carbonation never delivers enough sprite to pull the ale from the palate. Making the beer much more of a sipper than a drinking ale, its slow and steady savory tones settle well with the attitude of the Christmas season.

This Christmas Angel ale is sweet, whimsical and offers an aura of comfortable mystery to suit its namesake quite well.