De La Senne Brewery in Brussels, Belgium

So we’ve encountered some good ones, and we’ve run across some bad ones over the first week of The 12 Beers of Christmas, and today’s De La Senne X-Mas Zinnebir is a brew that hovers around the top end of the beers we’ve tasted thus far. Certainly one of the more cryptic labels we’ve seen, the X-Mas Zinnebir caught our eye right away (seriously, what the hell are we looking at?). Plus, Belgium certainly has the Christmas beer market on lockdown, and have produced some varied beers that are hard to find coming out of American craft breweries. The name “Zinnebir” loosely translates to “little bastards” in Belgian, and has previously been a term used to describe stray dogs and now often refers to children with mixed-language speaking parents. All right, so maybe little bastards and Christmas aren’t exactly connected, but we thought we’d give Zinnebir a go anyway.

De La Senne X-Mas Zinnebir poured much like you’d expect a barley wine to: a crisp, amber-red color with a little head. The smell made the hints of a barley wine even more pronounced, with a slight fruity smell, maybe apple, showing through. When we went in for the taste, the sweet scent trickled lightly into a softer and more pillowy hop-sweetness. The subtle apple flavor was hanging around again but only for a brief time. The X-Mas Zinnebir had some alcoholic weight to it, but nothing more than you’d expect out of a standard Belgian-style ale. I was surprised to find some much hop flavor and subtle sweetness out of a beer that felt so thin. The purity and crispness of the hops was also something worth mentioning, almost in the same realm as something from Bayern Brewing Company. If you like the flavors and taste of a barley wine but don’t want to be run over to the Alcoholic Express, this would be a very good match. Enjoying this one with some light, flavorful desserts would be a good choice.

A name like “little bastard” might be a touch too strong for this rather tame and kind brew. It’s definitely a sipping beer, but only because enjoying the subtle flavors and uncovering the fruity flourishes make this a beer worth savoring. It might not scream Christmas, but it also doesn’t scream racial and cultural tensions in the homes of Belgium, nor does it attack you like a stray dog. Maybe we’re missing some more back story on this one but for the time being, we’ll just sit back on a calm night and enjoy this delightful concoction.