We're counting down to Christmas with 12 beers that resonate with the feel of the holiday. Some beers were nice; some beers were naughty. This is The 12 Beers of Christmas. Enjoy!

Brouwerij Slaapmutske in Melle, Belgium

So here we are at our final beer of Christmas. We wanted to make today’s review something special. We wanted to get a very fancy, very tasteful, very unique beer for our final day. Sadly, it turns out there’s a lot to do outside of blogging and writing about beers when December 25 starts to get close, so we had to settle for a beer from a brewery that we can’t even spell without copy-and-paste. Despite the fact that we can’t spell the Kerstmutske Christmas Nightcap name correctly, or even begin to get the Brouwerij Slaapmutske Brewery name right, the KCN brew was a nice, slow, and reserved finish to what has been a wonderful, tasty, and unexpected 12 Beers of Christmas.

The bottle says this is a Christmas nightcap of a beer. Now whether they’re referring to an actual nightcap, or the fact that this is a nightcap, or a play on both is unclear. However, with the flavors we encountered, this beer isn’t a night-ender, but is a smooth and enjoyable Belgian ale. The beer had a nice roasted applesauce, hazlenutty chocolate look to it, and the smell tickled the nose with the sweeter, boozy fruit scent we’re so accustomed to with these Christmas brews. The flavor was a little sharper and cleaner than some of the other Belgians we sampled, with a knife of burnt malty goodness cutting into the taste buds. The final notes hinted at some muted coffee moments, and further sips revealed a nice and light vanilla undertone. Nothing was dull or rough, just a smooth and silent take on a Belgian ale.

We’ve had a lot of fun going through these beers over the past week and a half. No, we didn’t love all that we came in contact with, but I really do encourage everyone to try something like The 12 Beers of Christmas on their own. We got a chance to try some beers outside our comfort zone and to learn about some breweries we never could have found before. We hope that your Christmas will be filled with great brews and warm memories. Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas. We hope Santa leaves some great beers underneath your tree.