Hollbeer Bière De Noël
Brasserie Hollbeer et Magasin

 

Pours a cloudy brown color with an orange hue. Huge, frothy tan head falls very slow. Thick, clinging lace. Looks good to me.

Has a malty aroma that seems sweet. Nice yet mild spice in the nose with hints of fruit. Seems to be a bit metallic.

Nice flavor. Body is all sweet malts with a bit of Christmas spice. I do taste a bit of the metallic flavor I noticed in the nose. Mild bitterness in the finish from the hops.

Medium bodied mouthfeel with moderate carbonation. Bit of a bite on the tongue.

Not bad. Not as heavy, malty and sweet as a Belgian Christmas ale would be so it's a bit more drinkable. Give it a try. Enjoyable.

Best before the fifteenth of February 2008, opened the tenth of December 2010

When opening the bottle , a strong sweet Christmas cake scent escaped. It remembers me of raisins, caramelized fruit and fresh peaches and banana. A candy-like sweetness.
I poured the beer in a chalice. The head grew very quickly and disappeared just as fast. It made large bubbles. There is quite some carbonation in the glass. The scent changed to sour: grapefruit and lemon. It reminds me of the lemon Lambic from De Troch.
The colour of the beer is a bright and warm, deep orange. I have left the sediment in the bottle because of the age of the beer.
The body is creamy and full. It retains its citric sourness. The taste is clearly rich of fruit aroma's.
The aftertaste is heavier, it adds malt and grains to the pallet.
After a second pour, the colour becomes a bit darker and the taste becomes softer, it adds a earthy yeast base note to the taste. The citrus is still present but is less outspoken.

The beer is not what I expected from an Christmas beer, In Belgium they tend to be very heavy and malty sweet. This is much fresher, though there is a logical link with the Christmas buffet in the taste. I don't find it to be an everyday beer, though it says so on the website, but in comparison to Belgian Christmas beers, you could say it is more accessible.