Beers for Christmas

Posted by Jim on Dec 1st, 2012
2012
Dec 1

Nissa gave me a Christmas present a little early this year: a six month membership in Bier Cellar‘s beer of the month club. I’m really excited to get a bunch of interesting and mostly unknown (to me) beers each month. We are skipping the madness of Zwanze Day at Novare in favor of time with our kids, but while they are napping, we’re opening the first bottle obtained through the club membership.

To Øl Snowball Saison Ale (brewed at De Proef in Belgium)

4.1/5
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A chilly 750ml bottle is poured into an Oxbow tulip glass.

The beer has a golden copper color and is very clear. The head is initially large (it fills about half the glass), but has settled to about 3/4 of an inch in height. It has a light tan color and is made up of small bubbles. Lot so of spiderwork lacing has been left clinging to the glass as the head settles.

Snowball has a really great aroma. It is funky without coming across as sour. There is a touch f sweetness. It reminds me of powdered sugar instead of the Belgian candi sugar often used in saisons. The dry hopping imparts a grassy aroma. It reminds me of late winter, as spring is struggling to bring some green back into a grey world.

The beer tastes very good. The bitterness is fairly pronounced. It adds a spiciness that I am really enjoying. It replaces the pepper flavors that you sometimes find in saisons. The brett is noticeable, but the beer doesn’t taste too funky. It’s mild enough to impart a farmhouse feel to the flavor.

The beer has a fuller body than some other saisons I’ve had. A high number of carbonation bubbles in each mouthful give it a foamy feel. My lips are a little sticky, but it’s not distracting. The coat inside my mouth is light, but it allows some of the grassy hops to linger.

I like this beer a lot. I am intruiged by how far brewers can take the saison style. Ther eis also somethign fun about drinking a Christmas beer brewed by Danes at one of Belgium’s more famous breweries. If you get a chance, I’d recommend you try this beer.