On the seventh day of Christmas...

Brasserie Des Geants brought to me: an 11.2 oz. bottle of Noel Des Geants, termed an herbed/spiced beer by the folks at Beer Advocate and tipping the scales at 8.50% abv.

I've been in a celebratory mood all day. Last night Penn State women's volleyball team extended its winning streak to an unthinkable 102 matches and in the process hoisted its third consecutive national championship -- this after falling behind Texas 2-0. Then the Steelers rallied, faded, and rallied again to keep their slim playoff hopes alive this afternoon with a last second touchdown pass from Big Ben to 60 Minutes' anchor-cum-Steelers' wideout Mike Wallace. Phew, what a win... too bad it brings their record to 7-7, again still a long shot for the last AFC Wildcard slot.

Where were we? Right, celebration. Somehow I need to tie all this sports talk back to beer, which brings me to today's brew, Noel Des Geants. When I think Belgians, I think occasions. Sure I like to incorporate them into the usual rotation every now and again, though I'm inclined to support small(ish) breweries and buy American. But when there's something to celebrate, the aura surrounding these historic breweries (Brasserie Des Geants is housed in a castle dating to the 13th century) draws me in their direction. Today fits the bill. Not only are we toasting the ladies of Penn State and the Steelers, but we're marking the start of the second half of the journey through the land of Christmas beer.

Pours a cloudy caramel amber, bordering on brown, with a finger of fluffy white head with really solid retention. Lots of spice on the nose, heavy on the cloves, with a good dose of red fruit and some molasses lingering in the background. Quite sweet to start, in a cinnamon cookie sort of way. The spices definitely play nicely with the underlying malts kissed with caramel sweetness. A touch of fruit creeps up in the mid palate, followed by a warming feel from the alcohol. Finish is a tad bitter, but not overwhelmingly so. In my mind, a quintessential winter seasonal. This has a good bit going on, but for the level of alcohol, is scarily drinkable. Complex, but easy and enjoyable enough to drink -- what more can one ask for in a beer?

Well, this was the most expensive of the 12 pack, so I could nitpick and say I want this stuff at Natty prices. But I won't.

Note: Seven beers down, and five to go. Nothing has jumped out at me as a real 'wow' beer, but I haven't been terribly, terribly shocked or disappointed, either. I think this exercise is revealing a lot about the breadth of beers available on the winter seasonal spectrum.