Brøckhouse Juleøl

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Dark reddish brown with a creamy white foam. Deep fruity and slightly vinous aroma of dried cherries, figs, raisin, toffee and alcohol. Warming but still well-balanced flavour of cherries, blackberries, spices and dried apricot. Undertones of wood and paint. Long warming and fruity aftertaste.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

not! considering that I'm Danish myself and therefore wildly biased because of the last decade's increase in Danish micro breweries this christmas beer really is near the top of my all-time list- deep, deep red color, sweet and malty aroma with some fruits added, the head is almost permanent ;) and the taste is as smooth and warm as I'd dare to expect - very soft and broad in the mouth and only at the very end the alcohol is felt

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Bottled 2004, 500 ml swingtop bottle (Thanks, JensenTaster!). ABV was 8.3%. Murky dark brown colour, very good & lingering tan head. Lovely aroma of dark malts, dark chocolate, Christmas spices, caramel and candy sugar, hints of cherries. Flavour is very rich & malty with some alcoholic warmth, spices and dark chocolate are present. Plenty of hops (maybe a tad too much?? - or maybe not) in the finish balances the sweetness nicely. This is good. This is very good. Maybe not quite as exquisite flavour as Nøgne Ø God Jul (at least it’s a bit different) - but very, very good.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 6

2004 Edition:
A 500mL swing-top bottle, dated 290706, that a buddy of mine received in trade (for a Stone Double Bastard) from some Danes he met while in Germany last Fall. To be honest, I think they got the better end of the deal...! ;)

But actually, this isn't bad. After all, how many other Danish Ales have you had that were worth trying? Exactly...

Definately clocks in at 8.3%ABV, make no mistake there. Warming, almost Sherry-like at times. The lack of any real body in the mouthfeel definatly acentuates this comparison. I would have liked to have seen a bit more weigh in the backend of this, to give some sort of balance.

Speaking of balance, it's only in the flavor profile that this beer starts to come into it's own. Fairly balanced mix of malt and hops (Northern Brewer and East Kent Goldings, per the website), that give this beer a fair amount of life in the flavor profile.

But while this looks interesting (a ruddy red/amber), and does have some interesting things going on the aroma and taste departments, the thinness of the body and the overall "heat" of the beer cuts down the drinkability over the long haul.

Probably a beer that the locals save for special occasions (Christmas, New Years, whatever), but in my mind, they could do better with bigger, badder, and just-plain better with more interesting offerings from far-and-wide.

Cheers to Big Ed for hooking up me and the rest of the Foamies with this sample.

FYI:
Here's the beer's write-up and ingredient list quoted from the website. It's in Danish, but I think most folks will still be able to figure out the gist of it. Cheers.
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Juleøl, 8,4%
Brøckhouse juleøl har det hele. Brygget med en belgisk overgær og med hele fem forskellige malte og sukre: Pilsnermalt, hvedemalt, aromamalt, chokolademalt og rørsukker. Smagen er dyb, varm og fyldig, med en tydeligt chokoladesmag. En ægte klosterøl med duft af julens faste ingredienser som figner, dadler, nelliker og abrikos. Der er brugt bitter humle: Nothern Brewer og aromahumle East Kent Goldings. Brøckhouse Julebryg er lagret i tre måneder og kan sagtens gemmes i op til ti år. En øl der passer perfekt til den fede danske julemad. Serveres med 10-12 grader.
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//TB