750mL, corked, caged and red-foiled affair. $12.99 from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Rich looking dark brown pour with a creamy, tan head. Some nice, creamy lace and a thin film forms on the surface and around the rim.

A few cocoa notes and some Belgian yeast in the nose, along with a bit of hop presence.

The beer doesn’t deliver many (if any) typical Dark Belgian character. Outside of the look, it gives a slightly odd cocoa note (that I don’t much care for) and is low on the advertised spices. It also doesn’t really come through on the big, plummy dark Belgian fruit either. Some residual sweetness BUT a surprising amount of hop presence. The hops come through is a strange aniseed like manner which I find less than appealing. Dry character that I suppose comes from the cocoa input. Lacks rich, creamy alcoholic and deep fruit character.

Not a bad beer, but it does not do the job as a BSDA, nor does it deliver a typical Christmas spice character. I’m afraid it does not come together all that well either.