330 mL bottle.

Rich, blackish-brown pour with a lovely dense head that lingers and produces some sweet lace.

Nose offers mainly simple malts.

Tastes start with those same malts but with added sweetness. However this never rises too far on the sugary scale. Kept in check by some hop bitterness, and some nice balance. No spices to speak of here, this feels like a relatively high alcohol, English brown ale in some ways, and not a Christmas Belgian Strong Dark. In stylistic terms I guess one can be critical. In drinking terms, it’s hard to knock it.

Mouthfeel is smooth  and satisfying.

More malty brown ale notes without any Christmas element if I’m honest and a dryish finish, in fact a lot drier than one would expect in many respects.

As a special, Christmas beer, this does very little; as a drinkable Belgian Brune it’s fine.