Friday, December 18, 2009

171. Stille Nacht 2008

Our first beer from Brouwerij De Dolle Brouwers in Esen, Belgium. Shaine from South Park Tavern gave us this; we’ve been waiting to try it, and decided that now is the time.

Stille Nacht pours a hazy toffee color with a mousse-y ivory head; the nose is equal parts spicy, estery, and fruity with a bit of residual sweetness. Opening with a sweet, spicy, and estery front, Stille Nacht moves into dark fruit flavors with some oxidized hints that blend nicely with the fruit. There is also some alcohol flavor in the middle that continues into the end, which finishes dry as well as slightly tart & spicy. The body is medium to heavy with bright, lively carbonation that helps round the beer at the end. There is also some alcohol warmth and heat, and a slight viscosity on the palate. A good beer, and very Belgian—it’s got all the good stuff you’d want in a Belgian beer, and then some. We look forward to trying this again.

From the De Dolle website: “Stille Nacht (Silent Night) is a prestige beer from De Dolle Brouwers, brewed for Christmas. It has the highest density of any Belgian beer (27°Pl). It has been boiling for many hours, brewed with pale malt with white candy sugar in the kettle. The Nugget hops give an extra bitterness to balance the extreme sweetness due to the density. The taste triangle is completed with some acidity of the fermentation. It is a very interesting beer to age. We have samples of every bottling we have done so far and aging hasn’t decreased the quality of this beer. Keep some samples at 10°C and mark the year on the cap with an alcohol marker. Cheers!! ”

ABV: 12.0%
OG: 27° P

(12/18/2009)

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