Saturday 21 December 2013

"La Tourangelle de Noël" - Christmas bière No.2

The second beer we tried was the Brasserie de l'Aurore's 2013 offering...

Brasserie de l'Aurore "La Tourangelle de Noël" 6.5% ABV

The head, as you can see from the above was thick and creamy...
the taste was smooth, burnt notes and bitterly hoppy.

The colour was dark... the beer rich in the mouth.

The nose... on pouring... for me, was almost absent.

Tasting it at cellier temperature it was smokey with a hint of orange...
with a long hop finish.
As it warmed... still smokey... more woodsmoke than burnt, more orangey...

I gave mine a ten second burst in the microwave...
not mulling it, just speeding up the warming process...
this brought out a hint of liquorice in the mouth.

The finish became more biscuity...
that hint of liquorice was there at the end...
and it still had a hop bite that lingered long.

The nose improved...
smokey, orangey and with a clear honey note...
that Pauline had been detecting since the start!

Not a beer to hurry...
it is dry, full flavoured but not overly spicy.
Will be nice to see how it compares with last years...

We had a Grimbergen "Brassin de Noël" afterwards which was notably sweeter, more spicey and somewhat thinner in the mouthfeel despite also being 6.5%ABV.
As we started with the "Brassin" it will be our point of reference for these tastings...

Additionally... we have now sourced the Leffe "Bière de Noël"...
just this year's Pelforth and PigeonNoël to find...
the hunt is still on!

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