Had a few notes on this from multiple, previous tastings, so time to put them together for a formal review.

11.2 oz bottle.

Dubbel color on the pour which of course is not really that attractive a look. Murky brown. Decent head, but of course fades quite quickly. It’s all fine, but it’s not a beautiful beer, even if it’s within style parameters.

Nose is a sweet, spice-based medley. All spice, nutmeg, sweetness.

This really is a unique beer. There’s a lot of holiday spice, sure, but there are other elements too. Licorice is in there definitely, as is a light, spicy, rum-like note for me. It’s very well rounded, and I think this has come together a lot recently. This is a fairly mature bottle with a BB 09/30/24.

The mouthfeel strikes a lovely balance between a full and satisfying beer, but also with surprising drinkability. Alcohol is certainly there, but I would never describe it as punishing in any way – it really seems well integrated. The beer is quite sweet as well, and this seems to increase with warmth.

The finish is still malty, but it lacks a little of the Belgian yeast note that would be nice to truly round out the beer.

Definitely a very “Christmassy” beer, even in August. There’s quite a lot of nutmeg (or something similar) in this, and it could also pass as one of those American, spiced, mulled ciders that they like here. For me, the spice is a little “false”, a touch too artificial for me, but I’ve had a LOT worse.