Christmasbeer/Winterbeer
It's cold outside, and you're sitting comfortably inside with a warm stove. In your hand you hold a glass of Belgian Christmas beer, which you slowly enjoy, sip by sip. The alcohol heat rushes through your mouth and you experience the ultimate winter feeling.
And then you woke up... Oops, you're still on the website. Perfect! Because here you can score the tastiest Christmas beers, beers that you will enjoy this Christmas.
Christmas beer is not a defined beer style; actually any beer can be a Christmas beer. There are therefore no specific characteristics that this specialty beer must meet. Unlike abbey beer, which refers to the origin of the beer, the meaning of Christmas beer is slightly different. Christmas beer only refers to the period in which we drink this beer. The beer is specially brewed for Christmas and the end of the year, with each brewer creating their own version. And fortunately, because let's be honest: Christmas isn't complete without a Belgian Christmas beer!
When they hear the term "Christmas beer", many people immediately think of a dark and strong beer. But that's not necessarily the case, there are also many blonde Christmas beers.
Christmas beer has no specific characteristics, but there are of course flavors that we often encounter. These beers usually have a slightly higher alcohol percentage (8-10%), which provides extra alcohol warmth. And yes, that is wonderful on cold days. Furthermore, we often recognize flavors that we can appreciate during the winter. Christmas beers often contain a lot of spice, such as cinnamon, licorice or cloves. We also often taste caramel notes and a lot of malt, mainly warm flavors that fit perfectly with winter.
Christmas beers are often also called winter beers or end-of-year beers, which has the same meaning. Both terms refer to the fact that it is not about specific taste characteristics, but about the moment of drinking. These beers are often mentioned in the same breath as Christmas and winter beers.
Because Christmas beer does not have to meet specific characteristics, you sometimes see that the beer is drunk all year round. A beer is then brewed exclusively for Christmas, but if it is so popular, it ends up in the standard range.
