Christmas beers and ales sampling

A couple of days ago we had a small gathering to sample some of the beers and ales for this Christmas. We had a good time and there where a number of tasty beers. 13 to be precise (Magnus took notes, so I'm not fully responsible...):

1. Stone Old Guardian (USA, 11,26%, 70 cl) Full, some bitterness - Nice!


2. Saint Landelin (France, 6,8%, 75 cl) sweet, artificial flat tase, everybody poured this one in the drain!


3. Samuel Adams Winter lager (USA, 5,6 %, 35,5 cl) good likable taste, most everything in it, not that full taste, goes good with the food. A favorite!


4. N'Ice Chouffe (Belgium, 10%, 75 cl) Nice full taste, typical Belgian, maybe a bit of sweetness. Long after-taste.


5. Token Julefröjd (Sweden, 4,9 %, 50 cl) Strong taste of coffee, sour, no bitterness at all! Is this really beer - disappointment! This brewery usually does much much better.


6. Jämtlands Julöl (Sweden, 6,5 %, 50 cl) Ok, we're back in business! Precisely right on bitterness and sweeness, well balanced, goes very well with the food on the table. Very nice!


7. Gouden Carolous Chritmas (Belguim, 10,5 5, 33 cl) Ohhh! this one is really good! Precise balance in bitterneess, sweetness, dryness, etc. Full, nice taste, long full after-taste. Maybe the best ale tonight?


8. Nøgne Ø God jul (Norway, 8,5%, 50 cl) Some notes of coffee, a litle bit of bitterness, quite good. We like it.


9. Dugges Rudolf Ren Ale (Sweden, 7%, 50 cl) Chemical, acrid taste. What is this.?.. no, it is no favorite of ours.


10. Corsendonk Christmas Ale (Belguim, 8,5 %, 25 cl) Nice, not so full as Gouden Caroulus or Chouffe, but as it is slightly "thinner" it probably goes well will the stuff on the Christmans table. Why the weird size (25 cl) of the bottle??


11. Gulden Draak Vintage (Belguim, 7,5 %, 33 cl) The chock of the evening. Gulden Drrak is a favorite, i.e. the regular Gulden Draak. What this is we don't know. Magnus Baught it while in Belguim. Well, it wont be purchased again, it has a sour acrid vinegar tone, really a disappointment.


12. Regal Christmas (Belguim, 8,1 %, 33 cl) Nice full taste, a tone of spice. Very very nice!


13. Gordon Xmas (Belguim, 8,8%, 33 cl) Almost as the previous, slightly different tone, long after-taste.

Ok, how did we rate them? The order after some discussion, we came to the following conclusion:

1. Gouden Carolous Christmas


2. Regal Chrsitmas


3. >Gordon Xmas


4. Jämtlands Julöl


5. N'Ice Chouffe


6. Stone Old Guardian


7. Nøgne Ø God Jul


8. Samuel Adams Winter Lager


9. Corsendonk Christmas Ale

After that there where really none we liked. So we did not grade them... Further, there are of course several good ones we haven't tried yet, e.g. Nils Oscar Julöl and Kalas Julöl, Wisby Julöl, Anchor Christmas Ale, etc.