Southampton Abbot 12

Big 750mL bottle from john adam 2002 on 10/16/07. Pours with a crazy big head filling the entire glass. I took a picture of it, because it was interesting. After drinking the flat remnants, I cleaned my glass thoroughly and tried again. This time the foam only filled 1/3 of the glass, but the foam overflowed a bit. Smell is malty and sweet, almost under attenuated. My fingers are sticky from the overflow. Maybe caramelized bananas, but not the banana I typically associate with Strong Belgians. Kind of like long boil melanoidins. A bit of pear. Very well. Somewhat drinkable.

75 cl bottle. Dark, amber colour with a little, nice head. Aroma of sweet caramel, dried fruit, alcohol, spices, and some nice yeast. Nice sweet tasty flavour of malt, ddried fruit, yeast - ends up more sweet. A very nice one for an American Belgian style beer!

Pours a dark amber brown with off-white head. Pleasant aroma that is fruity and spicy with a nice touch of hops. Extremely quaffable great tasting beer! Spices with hints of apple, pear, berries, raisin, plum candi sugar, caramel and a nice balance of maltiness and hops. ABV very well masked. Excellent!

Poured a ruby brownish color with small head and small lacing. Aroma was grapes and a little nutty. Flavor was of caramel matls candy suar bready some plum but not enough. Good beer not amazing.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy, biegaman, mabel, jerc & mds - courtesy of blankboy. Ruby-orange with a slight haze. Aroma of sweet malt, tobacco leaf, fruit, yeast. Soft body. Flavour is complex, sweet and warming, brown sugar and tart fruit - just awesome!

Crystal clear dark amber color with huge foamy off white head. Aroma is full of lightly toasted caramel, with vanilla and cream, bit of oak, note of tart apple, sweet pear, strawberry, white grape, very faint roastyness. Flavor has fair amount of chewy malts, loads of light caramel, bit of oak and vanilla. Finish is very sweet, fairly cloying in truth. A bit light in color for a true belgian strong ale, in my opinion, and definitely too sweet. I didn’t take a gravity reading, so I’m not sure if it is just underattentuated for a belgain, or if there is just not enought bitterness to balance.

My bottle (750ml) shared with GregClow, biegaman, mabel, jerc & mds -- courtesy of the first annual Festivus. Not sure of the vintage of this one, I’m pretty certain it’s at least a year old, probably more. Pours a hazy orange-copper with an average size lasting foamy off-white head. Nice aroma of caramel malt, fruity and a little sweet. Delicious sweet flavour, also fruity along with caramel malt -- easy to drink and oh so tasty, I love this! Alcohol’s well hidden. Medium bodied, creamy mouthfeel. Simply put: Fucking awesome.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown with a big tan head and noticeable lacing. Sweet smelling aroma of fruitiness, caramel, raisins, candi sugar, and yeast. Flavor is caramel, molasses, dark fruit, raisins, and notes of brown sugar full bodied with a sweet finish.