Jenlain Noël
Jenlain Noël is the Christmas seasonal ale produced by Brasserie Duyck in France, and I received some in my Beer of the Month Club package from the first of the year. It’s brewed in the style of a Bière de Garde and is 6.8% alcohol by volume. Their website says:
Produced with more malt than Jenlain Ambrée (3 different types of malt made from French grown barley and 3 varieties of the most aromatic hops from Alsace), this top fermented, unpasteurized beer, best served at between 6 and 8°C, has a rich amber glow, a denser head and stronger alcohol content (6.8% alcohol by volume).
I rather enjoyed it.
Appearance: Clear amber, a nice brown-orange shade; fizzy light tan head.
Smell: Mellow, spicy farmhouse ale aromas—caramel, sweet candi sugars, a touch of funk.
Taste: Spicy, sweet, and—as weird as it sounds—bubblegum. Very tasty, and the spices complement the sweetness nicely. It’s more of a hop spice than culinary, and a bit earthy.
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied but deceptively light and “airy”; sugary and crisp and pleasant.
Overall: Yummy, unusual, and first class. I bet it’d be amazing on cask.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.22 out of 5 and is in their 62nd percentile.