Petrus Winter Ale
I have to admit that the marketing group at Bavik know how to sell a really big bottle of brew in the US. They have this tall red box that contains a champagne type bottle (25.4 oz) filled with their Winter Ale and a large 16 oz glass emblazoned with their logo. A perfect gift for the beer drinker (or at least those whose palate is for something more interesting than Bud or Bud Light).

I bit. I didn’t even look at the $15 plus price tag or blink when it got rung up at Vineyard Wine Market. I wanted that glass. The logo for Petrus has St. Peter (I believe “Petrus” is a form of Peter in many European languages) holding a beer in one hand and a key in the other. The words “The Key To Heaven” frames the top.

On their website for the Petrus brews they claim “In Heaven there’s no beer. So that’s why we drink it here.” There are 7 brews under the Petrus label for Bavik Brewery. This one, they describe as “Caramel-red beer of high fermentation. This Christmas child of the Petrus family is only brewed throughout the month of November. Its soft aroma is the perfect start for cozy holiday season.” At 6.5% alcohol you can enjoy more than a glass.

I opened it on Christmas Day, deciding this would end the 12 (plus 3) Beers of Christmas. I still have a fridge full of Winter brews to try but decided I was missing out on a lot of nice wines the rest of the family were sampling over the Holidays.

This red beer is a light red. You have to pour carefully or an enormous head would pop up. Mr. Mrs Dan-in-Law had a sip. He isn’t much for dark beers and decided to hit a Bell’s Winter White Ale. I had to giggle a bit because this wasn’t that dark of a beer and isn’t over the top.

They describe this as being “high fermentation.” Considering the first taste of this brew reminded me of champagne…. er… sparkling wine I think this might spend some time fermenting in the bottle. When you empty the bottle the brew gets a bit cloudy so I would assume it isn’t filtered too closely.

Mixed reaction to the taste. Not over the top, but not super interesting enough to grab my attention. Nice caramel malty taste but without that extra sparkling at the start I wouldn’t say this is a remarkable beer but it was nice enough to sit and enjoy as I prepared a tomato pie for Christmas dinner (Auntie Carol got me a six of several Christmas Beers but they had sold out of Bell’s Christmas Ale–dammit–so I have some of their Winter Ale).

So, I enjoyed this brew but it didn’t ring my bell.
From: Bavikhove, Belgium
Brewery: Bavik Brewery
Size: 25.4 oz

12 Beers of Christmas (plus 3)

Day 15: Petrus Winter Ale