Door #9

I guess you can't have an Advent Beer Calendar without a Belgian beer, unless you are specifically not doing Belgian beers.  When people think of Christmas ales, those are the breweries that tend to come to mind.  It's not really at the top of my list, but I guess I'll accept it.  Sometimes you find a surprisingly good one, and we need to keep trying things in life anyway.  Dupont's Saison is something different for me.

It doesn't look bad, a nice mellow yellow and fluffy head.  But, oh man, there's a farty smell coming off it.  It didn't make any weird noises when I opened the bottle and it isn't expired, but this gives me pause.  If I hold my nose the flavor is that typical Belgian, less sour in the aftertaste in fact, with an edge of fruity sweetness around the mildly bitter core.  It has a fairly thick sensation to it too, although it's not especially cloudy.  There's kind of a smokey burned off quality to the aftertaste, not very unlike Schlenkerla.  I should investigate whether this brewery also makes rauchbiers or the like.

(Oops, forgot to get a picture of the beer in the glass.  

The sulfur fumes must have overwhelmed me.)

Long weekend over, was I as productive as I had hoped?  Of course not.  Got a lot of rest though, so lots of energy for the short week.

a taste of honey

Friends and relatives occasionally have messages and opinions about mead, and while this isn't exactly the same thing, it's enough for the very tiny bit of remotely possible viking I could possibly have in my genetic background.

I thought it was a man with a mask at first

The beer has just a touch of honey in the aroma and in the color.  It looks like many craft beers, with a cloudy, unscrubbed look, but the color is even and appetizing.  The head is white and fluffy but not overabundant.  The taste is also sweet and honeyed, but with an undercurrent of bitter.  It does get a little stickier over time, but it's never overpowering.  I don't think it's a good beer for snacks, especially ones that have a strong taste of their own.  Perhaps some very mild cheese would work.

Ain't I sweet?