Southampton Abbot 12

Had this one at the RB Pittsburgh tasting. Very thick on the pour, had some floaties. Smells of booze and fruit...perhaps a bit too much booze. Still manages to be refreshing, which is unusual for a quad. Good!

She poured with no head or discernable foam. A few scattered bubbles can be seen lazily floating across her glassy surface which refracts rich mahogany wood with hints of deep garnet highlights. Swirling the contents in my glass has no effect on her head, but it does release a pungently thick cloud of super-sweet maple syrup with a side offering of molasses. Aunt Jemima anyone? As I try to work my way past the basin of maple syrup, some dark, pitted fruits can be found gasping for air: dates, figs, and prunes. Dark breads are drenched in maple syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg along with, interestingly enough, a dry herbal finish which brings to mind rosemary and thyme. I’m a bit leery as I dive into her depths and am met by an awaiting sea of maple syrup and molasses, thick, super-sweet, and instantly mouth-coating to the point of being overly cloying. She is far too sweet for my tastes and really too sweet for the style. Did I get a bad bottling? Supping onward, as I tread through all the maple, I occasionally stumble across some raisin bread, prunes, and dates. There is no discernable carbonation which furthers my concern that I am tasting a bad bottling. The faint esters of spice and herbs which were in her nose are nowhere apparent in her palate. As I choke down the last of my Southampton Abt 12 I am left highly disappointed and wishing for some St. Bernardus Abt 12 to make things right again.

After speaking with my good friend Eric, I am seriously considering the bottle I tasted to be a fluke. The only way I will be able to find out for sure is to hunt down another bottle of the Abt 12 from Southampton and give her another tasting. If there is no difference though, then I will stand by my lackluster and smothered impression of this fancily packaged bottle of maple syrup. Pancakes anyone? (am on lookout for a new bottle to taste and compare)

750. Pours a brown body with a tan head. Very rich and chewy with dark etoh latent fruit. A raisin, chewy caramel with a fruity apple caramel body. Finishes warm and full. Awesome.

9/10/2008: Southampton Abbot 12 doesn’t have much aroma but is somewhat candy-like. It pours a transparent pecan color with a n airy beige head. The visible carbonation level is mild to moderate. The beer tastes slightly corked. It is sweet up front with good caramel and fruit in the flavor. This beer is high in alcohol, but that is well-blended with the other flavors. It finished slightly dry and has a bubbly champagne mouthfeel.

750 mL bottle (Alc 9.9% by Vol.) from moejuck. Thank you! Rating #335 for this beer.

2006 750ml bottle. Aroma of aged dark malt laced in thick alcohol. Mellow carbonation. Thick, rich raisin malt taste. Sweet and thick, quite true to style. Deep dark fruit tastes. An excellent sipper.

Bottle. Pours slight hazy brown coloured with a creamy light brown head. Aromas of dried fruit, caramel, molasses sugar and licorice. Very sweet and warming flavour with notes of raisins, sugar, caramel and a little vanilla. Overall too sweet and too sticky.

Bottle@ Track 84, Warwick, RI. Pretty sweet and caramelly. Very nice, but miles away from the best Belgian versions of this style. Some caramel, banana esters, toffee, alcohol, and some brandy notes. Actually a bit cloying towards the end

Hazy amber with a small off-white head. Aroma of bready malt, prunes, licorice and brown sugar. Really sweet flavoour, sugar and caramel notes, with a toouch of prunes. The sweetness is soon very cloying.