Biere De Noel
Matchless Brewing

really interesting beer with a pretty label, picked this up at the brewery last month and just cracked it for christmas eve. its a kind of hybrid between a saison and a belgian strong dark, a little funk and tartness to the fermentation profile but on the grain side seems to be built kind of like a dubbel, a real neat style fusion, drinkable like a saison too. the bottle gushes everywhere when i open it, whatever wild elements are in here have barely been contained by the cap and were eager to get out, all over my kitchen counter and floor, no controlling it, but when i finally get some beer in the glass its a hazy light chestnut brown color with a head of whipped and packed bubbles that hold the texture they gushed out in well above the rim of my glass, some sediment in the bottom is now all mixed in, not so pretty but i dont really mind. light smoke, dry cocoa, wet tobacco, and citric tartness are present in the nose and taste, unique both on the grain side and in the ferment, some clove and licorice spice makes it seem festive, but its also a little disjointed, i think disrupted some in the trauma of opening it, i like what i taste and appreciate the effort, but the level of refinement overall is well below what i know these guys to be capable of, and i was left just a little underwhelmed, mostly due to my extremely high expectations. easily the most interesting beer in my holiday beer lineup this year and it retains its effervescence nicely, but overall not among the best in the matchless library in my opinion. cool style fusion through, will try this again next year if i can find one!