Brewer: Brasserie Dubuisson, Pipaix, Belgium
Beer Name: Scaldis Noël, or Bush De Noël
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV: 12.0% (!!)
I met an old friend for dinner and drinks on 12 December at Mr. Dunderbak's. I got there a bit early, and saw that they had a list of seasonal beers on draft. Scaldis Noël was one, so I promptly ordered it, mostly because the name is basically awesome (I admit it! I buy beers based on cool labels or quirky names!). I didn't ask was the ABV was, which I should have thought to do, especially as I only ordered a soft German pretzel to hold me over while waiting for my friend. Needless to say, by the time he arrived, I was halfway through my beer and very nicely buzzed.
I scribbled my notes on the back of a Publix receipt. After much digging through scraps of paper in my room, I've found it:
"The color is a beautiful deep brown, reminiscent of dried cloves. However, there's not much of a head. I don't know if this is because a bit of time has passed inbetween it being poured and served, or if it just doesn't have much of a head to begin with. Either way, I am sort of disappointed in that aspect, but at least it was served in an awesome heavy glass chalice, which is my favorite sort of glass to sip a beer out of. =)
It smells of yummy holiday fruits -- raisins, cherries, apples. And festive spices! Certainly cloves and nutmeg.
It has a deep, rich, bready flavor. I could chew on this beer. It sort of reminds me of the alt bier by Pinkus that I had the other day -- it's got a nice apple undertone, and lives up to its holiday namesake by entertaining my tongue with lots of flavorful seasonal spices like the cloves and nutmeg that I initially smelled.
The Noël has a wonderful warming sensation; it's a perfect brew for the holidays!
This hit me fast; I wonder what the ABV is? I'm a little hesitant to stand up and find out! Haha."
Yeah, no wonder it hit me fast! 12.0% on an empty stomach is a bit much.
This was such an interesting ale; I did a bit of research on it for your reading pleasure!:
It's made at a little Belgian brewery called Brasserie Dubuisson in the French-speaking part of Belgium called Wallonia. This website told me that Scaldis is made in the hamlet of Pipaix, in the Hainaut province of Wallonia. Apparently, the beer is known as Bush De Noël in Belgium and about 40 other European countries, where that name has been trademarked. But the name Bush was unable to be trademarked in various other countries (including America, it would seem; I'd speculate because of the Anheuser Busch company), so it goes by Scaldis Noël instead.
The brew has 281 reviews on Beer Advocate, where it's been given an overall grade of B+, which I find entirely silly. This is an A beer in my book, I loved it! Drinkable, despite its 12% ABV; seasonally tasty but not syrupy; and delightfully warming. =)
