‘Zinnebir’ is Brussels slang meaning ‘little bastards’, and is a term applied to the young men living in the poor quarter of Brussels who have parents who speak different languages (ie. one speaks Flemish while the other speaks French).
But don’t fret – there is no malicious intent in the use of the term, rather recognition by the brewers who are absolute Brussels natives, and who appreciate every aspect of Brussels life and tradition.
So it comes as no surprise that X-Mas Zinnebir is a little different to the normal Belgian Christmas seasonal offering. Rather than being a high gravity, rich boozy offering, this beer has a lighter mouthfeel and is much drier.
There is a pervading earthiness, even woodiness, to the flavour. As with all De La Senne beers, they’ve not been shy on the hops. Dark fruit and chocolate peek through at times, and there is even a little smokiness that seems to come and go.
It is a different take on a traditional Belgian Christmas beer, but one that after the first couple of sips will keep intriguing your palette all the way to the end of the glass.
A rich and boozy Christmas beer to 'add lustre' to your festive celebrations
The 2016 annual vintage Christmas beer from Brasserie Dubuisson
by Brouwerij Corsendonk (at Brasserie Du Bocq)
To help celebrate Christmas in July we have this festive treat from Corsendonk
by Brouwerij Corsendonk (at Brasserie Du Bocq)
The Christmas ale from this well-regarded abbey label
A wonderful winter seasonal offering from the Delirium label - one we look forward to each year
by Brasserie d'Achouffe (Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat)
The winter seasonal offering from the Chouffe Brewery - a dark beer brewed with thyme and bitter orange
A decidedly different and very interesting Kerstbier
A lovely spiced fruit cup of Christmas pudding in a 10% strong dark ale
The Struise Tsjeeses is their blond-amber Christmas seasonal beer, with this 2014 vintage being aged in Bourbon barrels
Tongerlo's Christmas beer is a little different to most of the Belgian Kerstbiers
Struise's winter seasonal offering - a 10% strong blond spiced ale
A dark seasonal offering, capturing all the rich flavours of the festive season.
The 2014 vintage of De La Senne's commemorative brew - a ripper Belgian Pale Ale
De La Senne's once-a-year birthday celebratory pale ale, this time using an experimental hop from Slovenia
A Black IPA from Brasserie De La Senne - lots of roasted malts and earthy hop flavours
A Belgian ale 100% fermented with a Brussels Brettanomyces yeast, conditioned for 4 months in the bottle before release
A dry-hopped Strong Golden Ale from De La Sense
This is a mixed fermentation ale aged in oak barrels for one year
This beer is known as the most bitter Tripel style beer in all of Belgium!
A collaborative Saison featuring rye, spelt and wheat malts, dry-hopped with a Ukranian hop called Zachrava
The first beer in the trilogy of collaborations to celebrate 20 years of Zinnebir
An attempt at recreating a traditional 19th-Century saison, heavily hopped and mixed with lambic then barrel aged
An historical style spelt saison, dry-hopped and refermented with Brettanomyces
The second beer in the 'Zinnebir' celebration/collaboration series
A malty blond ale with a pleasant peppery bite from only the second brewery in Brussels
