The Brewery

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The Beer

This beer is based on the Bush de Noël, a warming Christmas beer introduced by Dubuisson in 1991, which was intended to lighten up the long, dark nights of winter. Such Christmas beers tend to be malty, top-fermented beers with a hefty alcohol content. They are often dark, but can be amber-coloured. Many also involve the addition of herbs, but this is not the case for the Bush de Noël.

What makes the Bush de Noël Premium (Scaldis de Noël Premium) stand out as a winter warmer is its exceptional strength, thanks to its refermentation process. The large 75 cl bottles are placed in a heated room for 3 weeks, ensuring a more effective in-bottle ferment that eats up a little more of the Bush de Noël's sugars. That nudges the alcohol content up to a powerful peak of 13% ABV.

It also brings out a richer flavour profile from the already full-flavoured Bush de Noël. Although it is beer is produced in limited volumes, the Bush de Noël Premium is widely seen as being at the pinnacle of wintry seasonal beers.

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Alcohol

13.0% ABV

Fermentation

The Bush de Noël Premium is a 100% filtered, high fermentation beer that will re-ferment for three weeks in the warm room.

Ingredients

Water drawn from the brewery's well, candi-sugar, barley malt, hops and the brewery’s own yeast.

Colour & Transparency

The Bush de Noël Premium owes its coppery red colour to the use of roast caramel malts.

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Serving Temperature

10 – 12 °C / 50 - 56.6 °F

Serving Glass

Bush de Noël Premium is served in the Bush chalice, produced by hand by artisans, and adorned with the characteristic crackled (craquelé) glassy finish.

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Character, Tastes & Aromas

Despite its potency, Bush de Noël Premium delivers a nicely-rounded character, partly through an attentive blending of roast caramel malts. The hops also appear carefully balanced and dosed, so the beer develops their subtle aroma, alongside its richly fruity taste. Altogether it makes for a bountiful, but pleasingly consistent, drinking experience.

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Culinary

A strong Christmas beer like the Bush de Noël Premium makes an obvious pairing with chocolate. In that case, the best choice is a slightly-bitter dark chocolate, which can bring its own distinctive taste to the palate – definitely needed to stand up to this beer. Also a perfect combination when used with desserts using melted chocolate.

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Keeping and Storage

A minimum of 24 months and a maximum of 36 months.

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Availability

Bottle ✔       On Tap ✖

Bush de Noël Premium is only available in large bottles (75 cl).

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Other Brasserie Dubuisson Beers

Bush Blonde
Following on from the amber ale of Bush Ambrée, and the darker seasonal brew of the Bush de Noël, the Bush Blonde (Scaldis) formed a natural complement, when first introduced to the Bush range back in 1998. That year was the 65th ...

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Surfine
Surfine is a hidden gem that shone out when the extensive back catalogue of the Dubuisson Brewery was explored. A search through the brewery’s archives brought to light a brand that many thought had vanished forever. The Surfine ...

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Pêche Mel’ Bush
As the name suggests, Pêche Mel' Bush (Pêche Mel Scaldis) is a marriage between Bush Ambrée, perhaps the strongest of Belgian beers, and ripe peach juice. Allegedly it was students who came up with the concept (and the name): they ...

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Bush Ambrée
This is a venerable brew, which has recently marked its 80th anniversary. 1933 was the year that the Bush Ambrée (Scaldis Ambrée) was first introduced, under the name of Bush Beer. It is one of the oldest speciality beers in Belg ...

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Bush Blonde Triple
To mark the 75 year anniversary of the Bush beer brand, Dubuisson introduced the Bush Blonde Triple (Scaldis Triple) in 2008. This re-fermented Bush Blonde is available in large bottles (75 cl) that are rather gorgeously decorated ...