Saint Landelin Spéciale Noël
Being a fan of French ales, I approach this bottle with high hopes. The beer settles in the glass a dark amber color with 1.5 inches of foam above it. Not a bad look. The aroma is a tad spicy with some pear and raisin. A little grain maly trickles in as well. The faint esters clear the way. The aroma hints at the sweetness to come. This beer is medium bodied on the palate, nothing much more to say. The flavors are similar to the aroma: malt, raisins, and sweet fruit. In totality, a light combination of flavors mingles with some sweetness. The beer finishes with a small amount of bitterness. The sweetness lingers on the palate, and on my lips so it seems. A mild warming is felt down below. This beer did not match my expectations. I was hoping for rich complexities and a fireside friend. I found a fairly one-dimensional conduit of sweet malt.