Corsendonk Christmas Ale
I bought my last damn Christmas gift today. I’m done. If I forgot someone then they will have to wait til next year. Each year I spend about a week ‘s worth of sleepless nights worrying about how we are going to pay for Christmas. This year was no different. But I think we will squeak by and still have enough to pay the mortgage. We just finished a feast of $5 pizza from Little Ceasar’s and some “mad hatter salad” which is a like cole slaw Ramen noodles but without the mayonnaise So, as we sit down to play a game of Euchre I pulled out … or rather, the Beer Elf brought me a Belgian Ale.

This is one of my top three of the 12 Brews of Christmas. Nice one to end the 12 days. Nice Christmasy label. This is a fine Belgian Dark Ale. The label says it fermented in the bottle. I was surprised to see that because although extremely dark there didn’t seem to be any sediment on the bottle, which I have found in many fermented in the bottle brews.
Nice dark malts with no bitterness to speak of. Chocolatey flavors that taper off and doesn’t leave an aftertaste. Nice and smooth. Really creamy head. Maybe some dark plum type fruit taste in there but not obnoxious. I wish this brew was a bit cheaper. If it was I would drink this on a regular basis during Christmas. Most of the local shops (Vineyard, Wine World and Toast) all carry it as single bottles or in a 4-pack.

Mrs. Dan liked it saying it was much better than the brew the night before (which she likened to a cross between tree bark and elf piss).

So this was a nice way to end the 12 days. But alas, what to do with the other Winter Ales that I couldn’t resist when looking for 12 Christmas Ales. I think 12 days are not enough. Stick around. I’m going to stretch this one out for a few more days. Up next? Bell’s White Winter Ale. Then on Christmas Eve I’ll have the Michelob Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale. On Christmas Day I have a Champagne bottle of Petrus Winter Ale that came with its own glass. Who knows This might last through the weekend as well.
From: Belgium
Brewery: Corsendonk
Cost: $4 plus per bottle

12 Beers of Christmas (plus 3)

Day 12: Corsendonk Christmas Ale