Corsendonk Christmas Ale
Brouwerij Corsendonk

On tap at Monk’s Cafe. Strong dark ale is right.

Bottle purchased at Fattey Beer Co in Rochester, NY. 2022 vintage, best before 2025.

This one pours a dark golden brown color, with a small head, and a little lacing.

This smells like spiced bread, dried plums and raisins, molasses, and herbal hops.

This is a pretty standard but very well done Belgian dark strong ale. There’s not too much in the way of spicing - light clove and a general warming spice character, along with a malt note that’s reminiscent of molasses and baked bread. There’s just a touch of slightly bitter hop character.

This is medium bodied, creamy, and with no real booziness to it.

This feels pretty classic, and I enjoyed it a lot.

 

Purchased at Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, VA. Drank in my hotel room so had to pour it into a small clear plastic solo cup. Bottle info: Best before: 8/6/25 T9 13:20 Can’t believe I’ve never had this beer.

This beer may label itself as a Christmas ale, but don’t let your dislike of Xmas ales to keep you from trying this one. The Xmas/winter ale spice is very low. This is a nice but not exceptional Belgian dark ale. Complex, but not what I would call a rich tasting beer. Too much bitterness for the style in my opinion. 3.5

A – Pours clear dark amber with a huge tannish mousey head. Opaque in the glass. Excellent lacing, some of the best I have ever seen. 4.5

S – Generally lacking an aroma. What is present is malty with faint Xmas spices of clove and nutmeg. No sweetness, pepperiness or dried fruit. 3.0

T – Malty, slightly spicey brown bread, no sweetness, some minor dried fruit, some vinous red wine like astringency and an herbal bitterness in the finish. Alcohol is not evident. 3.75

MF – Medium heavy body with a surprisingly dry finish. Not particularly smooth, slick or coating. Slightly thin for the style. Carbonation is good with some sharpness on the tongue. 4.0

Smells of jammy dark breads with some spice.
Poured a long lasting thin off white head.
Taste is amazing. Complex.
Too hard to describe.
Great beer. Highly recommend.

 

Very typical color for a Belgian strong ale. Head is tan to dark tan. Nose is malty. Taste reminds me of hoarhound candy from my childhood, with a slight boozy kick. Also get a malty taste. Very good beer.

 

1 pint 9.4 ounce bottle, best before date 08/08/25, Christmas 2022, malty, bready, spicy, dried cherries, smooth, 8.1% ABV warms but is quite well hidden. This is a true winner, really a wonderful brown ale.

Look: It pours brown with excellent clarity. It has a light brown head with very good head retention.

Smell: It has sweet malty aromas up front with plum and cherry elements. It tends to be a little bit rose like with medium light spices.

Taste: It has a malty sweetness to it up front with plum, raisin, and cherry elements. There is a bit of flower like background note with a bit of spice.

Feel: It has high carbonation with a smooth texture. The alcohols are noticeable, but at a pleasant level. It has a medium body.

Overall, plenty of bold, complex aromas and flavors with plums, raisins and cherries be the feature.

 

Bottle with BB date 08/06/25, let sit out for 10 minutes before opening.

Clear dark reddish-brown, with about 1 1/2 fingers of very fine light tan head. The head is very long-lasting , and maintains surface coverage for the duration, and produces some thin lacing whenever the glass is move.

Smell is a vague mix of dried fruit, and a little bit of biscuity malt aroma. A hint of spiciness when swirled.

Taste is raisin, fig, prune, leather, with a bit of light spice (coriander+pepper+allspice) towards finish.

Feel is medium, lightly-sticky initially, followed by moderate carbonation tingle, finishing (again) lightly sticky, leaving the tongue feeling coated.

Nice one. A classic for a reason. :) Had it before, but appreciating it even more with analysis.

11.2oz bottle into a goblet. Best by 8/6/25.

Looks very good in the glass. Dark reddish brown body with a strong off white head which retains well leaving a sheet of lacing.

Smooth malty aroma with the barest hint of fruit.

On tasting, smooth, malty, dark, strong(ish) so easy to drink, belying the 8.1abv.

Mouth full, finish slightly warming, with a featherlight bitter touch.

Overall, really nice easy drinking though strong winter ale. Happy to have another 3 in reserve.

 

Best before 8-6-25. 11.2oz bottle poured into a tulip.

Pours mahogany with ruby hues; big fluffy and creamy light khaki head that falls slowly leaving great retention and sticky lacing.

The aromas have a subtle blend of malts and yeasts. Some caramel coming through along with some banana. Some toast as well.

The flavors basically follow the nose for the most part. Lots of toast. More caramel and banana. Some bubblegum. Some cocoa and chocolate. Some raisins and dark fruits. Subtle bitterness to go with a subtle sweetness. Yeasts do their thing. Solid malt backbone. Finishes clean. Alcohol is well hidden.

Mouthfeel is nice and what you would expect from a Belgian beer. It's medium to full-bodied with active carbonation. It's sharp, spritzy, smooth, fluffy and slightly creamy.

This is a solid dark Belgian brew. It has everything that you'd expect from the style, more or less. It's not flashy, but the craftsmanship is on point and takes this one to the next level. I like it.

333 ml bottle
Best Before Date: 08/06/25
Glass: chalice/goblet (which is which?)
ABV: 8.1%
Temp: 50.5 F


Look:
Dark but clear mahogany that appears almost chestnut until held to light. A dense and creamy 1-finger high khaki head tops things off. The head fills what is left of the glass after the beer has been poured, and the head stays. And stays. And stays. With hardly any degradation. Lacing is excellent, once room for it has been made.

Aroma:
A captivating note of soft spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, very light cloves, and star anise. There are also notes of dark brown sugar and some dark and/or dried fruits like raisin, currants, prunes, plums, and some figs. Also faint notes of other fruits such as ripe bananas. A nice malty scent is also in there, but underneath everything else and hiding in the background.

Taste:
Bready malts that are deep and somewhat dark. The spices and fruits from the aroma are here, and the spices are amped up a notch. These are joined by some citrus and orange peel and by some notes that are reminiscent of a port wine. There is a moderate but restrained bitterness throughout the sip that balances things out quite well. The sip finishes a bit dry and mildly spicy. And even a very slight touch tart.

Feel:
Crisp but also smooth with a touch of creaminess. The body is medium-light.

Overall:
A very nice BDS Christmas Ale. Solid in all aspects. I think that I just may add this to my Christmas Rotation.

 

 

Super great Beguin Christmas Ale ! This one will be hard to beat. I bought a 4 pack for $9.99 ! High ABV, great taste, super reasonable price ! My new favorite ! BTW, I poured it into my mouth and didn't take the time to smell or feel it ! If you have that much time, God Bless !

 

Brouwerij Corsendonk "Corsendonk Christmas Ale"
25.4 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, corked and caged. Lot: 94211 "Best before date: 08/08/25 T1 14:52"
$8.99 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: A dark brown body with deep ruby highlights is capped by a massive head of rocky khaki colored foam. Soft spice greets you in the nose over a dark-sugar maltiness. The flavor delivers a maltiness that includes notes of sweetish bread that's similar to Panettone, almost burnt sugar, light golden caramel, and a dusting of cocoa powder. A fruitiness that's like dried orange peel and dark skinned fruits that are both dried and not dried livens it (fig, plum, black raisin, etc.), and a wider spiciness that includes subtle notes of star anise and cinnamon balances it along with a moderate bitterness. It finishes dry with lingering dark sugar, orange, leafy hops, a delicate bitterness, and spice. In the mouth it's medium-light in body with a gentle zestiness on the tongue before it warms to become smooth. The head held up very well and the lacing was quite good but I can't exactly recall as now I've poured a second glass and it's right back to where it began with a thumb's width of rocky foam topping it. I thought that perhaps the yeast would change the flavor a bit, as it usually does, but I didn't find any. Let me check but I though the label read "bruin bier op gist", and so it does. They even put it on there in French, "biere brune sur lie" but all I see is a brown beer, no yeast. If I hold the bottle up to the light and look down the neck into the bottom there's nothing. That's fine by me I'm just surprised as I very much remember even the small bottles having had yeast in the past. Whatever. In the end this is a classic that I continually go back to. It also helps that it's quite readily available and inexpensive! Ha!
Review #8,412

Mahogany in color, off-white tannish head that really stuck around - nice. Scents of fresh baked bread and ginger snaps. Getting favors of fig, prunes, cinnamon, clove, citrus. Maybe port wine. Some molasses aftertaste on the palate. ABV sneaks up on you, but warms the palate. Really nice beer for a cold December day. Not sure if I’ll search this one again each Christmas season, but definitely scratch my itch for a good Belgian beer this weekend.

 

I found this pretty good but didn't really notice the parts that would make this "Christmas" but as a plain Belgian Dark Strong it was pretty good. I think I need to revisit this one

 

 

 

 

Not Christmas, but I wish it was….
L: Big, foamy, even head. Looks fantastic.
S: On the sweet side. Light, caramel malt, bread dough, dark fruit, almost some wine? And a hint of hops.
T: Similar to the nose. Dark, sweet fruits upfront, then brown sugar and bready malt. There’s something citrusy in there to that adds a little…. pizaz. A hint of hoppy spice on the finish. Quite nice.
F: Smooth and crisp.
O: Very, very enjoyable. The candied dark fruits and citrus notes are a great combo. A treat.

Poured from 11.2 oz bottle into Chimay goblet.

L - Deep amber/red pour, pale creamy head, thinning quickly.

S - Brown bread, nuttiness, banana bread type esters.

T - Irish soda bread, light molasses, black coffee bitterness on the back.

F - Fine, sharp carbonation.

Well balanced and incredibly drinkable for a Christmas ale.

 

 

91,5

 

De color rojizo, con un dedo espumoso de retención media. De cuerpo medio, con textura oleosa y ligera carbonatación. Aroma a caramelo y pan. En boca destaca el caramelo a la par de frutos rojos.

My all time favorite malty beer

 

 

Thanks Tracy for this Christmas present!

A: deep murky brown in cookie with a tan head.

S: dark bread, and raisin and a berry or wine aroma.

T: bread and caramel, with stone fruit and wine with a touch of spice in the finish.

M: medium in body with effervescent carbonation and a semi dry finish.

O: overall, just a lovely beer.

Light carbonation with about a medium body. Has a little bit of a slick feel to it
Aroma is malt, molasses, dark fruit,brown sugar,and fruit cake and I mean that in a good way.
Taste is mildly sweet but far from cloying. Plenty of dark fruit,malt,molasses, and what seems like a little dark chocolate.
This is way beyond average falling into world class for me