CLOSING THE HOLIDAY BOOKS WITH DE PROEF

Hey there, been a little quiet around these parts the past two weeks, I acknowledge. Not out there in the real world, let me tell ya. Why, just the other day I had to finally up & admit that I still had a Christmas 2007 beer left on the shelves that I'd never gotten around to trying, and here it is darn near Christmas 2008 (!) and - well - you know the rest. It was from this great "Christmas in Belgium" pack I bought so long ago (and that turned out to be totally worth every penny). So I cracked the cap off of this DE PROEF KERSTMUTSKE ("Christmas Nightcap"), and it was if the spirit of Jiminy Xmas himself was present in the glass. Wow! This Belgian ale has a wonderfully sweet, wine-like taste, exceptionally oaked and dry-tasting, with those great holiday spices you kinda forget about in mid-September. This is a rich, dark ale that's fruity with a slight whiff of sourness. I absolutely dug it, and would probably have to come out and proclaim it the best holiday beer of 2007. Yeah, a little late, but yeah, that good! 9/10.