For Christmas my Granddad gave me 6 beer mugs and 20 different bottles of european beer. As I make my way through them I will be reviewing each one, so if you’re into beer then watch this space! This is the first of those reviews.
Beer name: Kerstbie
Origin: Loker, Belgium
Brewer: Brouwerij de Bie
Alc. Vol: 8.0%
The moment I opened up the bottle I knew this was a strong beer. Sometimes you can crack open a bottle and get nothing, but the Kerstbie was bursting with flavour and smelt sweet and spicy. As I poured it into a glass I could hear it fizzing, which is always a good sign!
I have to admit my first sip was a little overwhelming. I have a somewhat blocked nose at the moment and I wasn’t really expecting it to taste so strong. But once I’d gotten used to the strength (after all this is european beer, at a modest 8% vol) I was able to thoroughly enjoy it. The Kerstbie is to most ales as a pudding wine is to most whites, much sweeter than normal and considerably stronger in flavour. Indeed it wouldn’t be out of place alongside a nice steamed pudding, perfect for those cold winter months.
If I were to have another Kerstbie in the future I would definately not be drinking it on it’s own again. I would probably choose it to go with a fairly sweet meal or to drink just after a meal. It’s flavour was as mentioned rather overwhelming, and needs something else alongside it.
In the right context this is an excellent beer, unfortunately I rarely drink beer in that context so for me this gets a fairly average 3/5
Rating: 