Honestly, I didn’t think it would happen so soon, but here it is — another pretty much perfect brew that is so incredible and tasty that pretty much all I want to say is “Life is Beautiful.” But since I AM feeling a bit chatty, I’ll give it a shot and try to break it down a bit more.
Still Nacht comes from the De Dolle brewery, which is a relatively new (in terms of Belgian Brewers) brewery which was resuscitated by two brothers in Essen, Belgium after a brewery dating back to the early 19th century closed down. They decided to brew some very distinctive and impressive beers, ranging in style from traditional to completely wild. They are now a very well renowned brewery and I’m actually quite surprised that none of the dogs have written them up yet! I have sampled most of their beers at this point, and I believe the Stille Nacht is my favorite, though I’ll have to give them all another shot. I’m going to try to space these reviews out so that I don’t drop 10 LIB posts in a row.
This brew, whose name means “Silent Night” is a Christmas beer which is rated at 12% ABV and the De Dolle website claims that it is “the highest density” of any Belgian Beer. Brewed with a seemingly unreasonable amount of malt and Belgian candy sugar, this brew is extremely strong, while remaining pretty drinkable, all things considered. There is such an enormous complexity to this beer that you should really try to take an hour or so to drink it, as it warms up, it changes so many times that you (almost) don’t realize how hot it’s getting you. There is fruit, booze, and all kinds of other sweet and tart flavors, with only the slightest hint of bitterness. Sure, my American mouth wants MORE HOPS but really, does it belong in a beer like this? This is one of those bottles that distracts me so much from everything around me that I have to restrain myself from buying it too often. Life is Beautiful, indeed.
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It should be noted that unlike most Belgian Christmas beers this one has no spices added, they just use one wacky yeast strain on it. As for the whole “highest density” bit, it’s pretty safe to assume that they are talking about the original or final gravity. Probably OG, which would put it at something ridiculous like a 14 in abbey terms. Hot indeed.
I just had my first bottle of this a few weeks ago and I loved it. I stocked up on De Dolle beers while I was in Chicago last and I think this is my favorite from their repertoire so far.
If you can get your hands on the Oerbier Reserve than you’re in for a treat. Also I understand they do a Reserve version of the Still Nacht as well — which must be pretty intense.
Where did you hear about this Stille Nacht Reserva?
Beer Advocate, it got bottled a couple times.
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