St. Bernardus Abt 12

Brewed by St. Bernardus Brouwerij
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Watou, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass

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750 ml. big 'ole brown Belgian bottle. Corked and caged. Best by date of 08/2008. Very fresh and lively. Cork practically shot out of the bottle when I opened it. Lively carbonation makes for a huge, thick tannish colored, meringue like head. Thick and frothy, it was. Almost like a milkshake. Aromas are of dried fruits, rum soaked raisins, sweet dried dates, some bananas and cloves in the aromas as well. Very fruity tasting. Malts make a surprising start, followed by the dried fruit flavors, and followed up by the slight hop bitterness at the end. No alcohol present in the aromas or flavors, but it is very warming upon impact to your stomach. Very warming indeed. Funny thing about it though, there's no alcohol tastes whatsoever. Bananas and cloves make up the middle of the tastes, and it finishes sweet, but on the dry side. Not cloying, but it does have an immense mouthfeel. This beer trancends the ordinary Belgian ales by leaps and bounds. A great beer, what we call "mag-nasty" in these parts of the country. A "mag-nasty" beer indeed. ...And that's a good thing.

I MUST have had a bad bottle. With how well so many of you rated it, this can't really be this bad. It was undrinkable. The color looked to be a dark brown and it had thick foamy head. The flavor was like... yeuck... nuts I was tasting the second time. I sincerely hope that it was the bottle.

UPDATED: DEC 26, 2007 (Bottled) Very dark, murky, blood-red color with a medium, lasting head. Malty, hoppy, anise, raisins and licorice aroma with grainy alcohol. Very malty, quite barley-wineous, sweetish-fruity, licoricey flavor with plums and some chocolate hints. Alcohol is well hidden, but warming. Long, sweetish, lingering aftertaste. Smooth but slightly bitter, medium to full-bodied, somewhat foamy-carbonated palate. A very nice, quite complex and fruity brew, although somewhat foamy-carbonated, not that full-bodied (for the style), and maybe an inch too alcoholic in the aroma. Definitely delicious overall, though.

Pours a dark earthy brown with a huge fluffy biege head. Aroma is of mild fruit and spice. Nice full and creamy mouthfeel. Dark fruits like plums on the tongue. This was truly a great beer. It was just so smooth and silky. I could drink this beer all day long.

Light spice fruit... A Peacocks tail unfolds in your mouth leaving you in a mild state of awe...

Bottle. Nice aroma. Raisins, sugar, malt, and some spice. Very dominating aroma. Deep dark pour with a lingering head. Wow what a thick flavor. Certainly gets to your palate alright. Spicy, raisins, full bodied. Some malt as well. Overall a really good beer, but maybe a little too heavy. But still mighty tasty!

UPDATED: FEB 10, 2005 BB 2004 bottle. Dull black olive appearance, though much more brown than black, but quite drab. Bottle conditioned. Head is nice and thick, and a light mocha color. Aroma is raisins to the max. Also some sugary malt, brown sugar and some light spice, maybe cinnamon. Alcohol perceptive on the nose, and as I dive in, it’s perceptive on the body as well. Body is full, but not heavily so. More raisins, light, light yeast on the finish, some lightly phenolic candied sugar as well. The sweetness and raisiny/fig flavor seemed a bit too dominant. Mouthfeel was pretty nice, smooth with a tinge of carbonation. I thought Rochefort 10 was much more complex.

On draught January 2005 at Anam Cara Not quite as sweet as I remember, but still a rather sticky, doughy, candy jumbled mess. Some dry notes of spice at the beginning add some balance. My small sample was not enough to change my rating either way.

UPDATED: SEP 2, 2008 Pours a creamy(beautiful) deep brown with thin head. Smells of Belgian yeast, dough, brown sugar. Creamy on the palate with a wonderfully sugary and sweet flavor. The alcohol isn’t even noticeable. The bubbles tingle the throat as it goes down. A mild bitterness entices repeat tastes.

Sweet dark bread soapy aroma. Light brown head that lasts throughout with a creamy, dark brown color.Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter which I like. My favorite belgian beer so far.

Nice deep brown in color, with a good sized rootbeer-like head. When it fades, it laces nicely. I don't get much of a scent... a tiny hint of something, but it's so weak I can't give a good rating here. I don't know if I got a bad bottle or if this is what this beer is supposed to taste like, but it's absolutely awful. Reminds me of eating a banana peel that's been rotting in the trash can for a few days. Finishes with a stronger taste of booze than Ketel One. With the high reviews, I must have a bad one. It's got 4 6 7 notched, though I could only guess what that could possibly mean. It's got a decent mouthfeel, but it sure is hard to keep in my mouth for very long. I'll assume I got a bad one. I've strong beers before that I quite enjoyed... a few with a higher alcohol content. This, whether it's a bad bottle or not, is undrinkable. I'll try it again and rerate if necessary.