St. Bernardus Abt 12

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

Serve in Trappist glass

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Dark bread,fruit, caramel and spicey nose. Burgundy colour, with a very large, toffee coloured, meringue like head. Most lace I've witnessed. Butterscotch, caramel toffee, hint of chocolate, treacle, and raisins are all in the flavour! Complex, smooth, creamy, even the foam is creamy and rich, alcohol lends a soft, dry burn. An extremely fine rendition of the style!

UPDATED: MAY 25, 2005 Lasting beige head. Dark brown body. Sweet and dough in the aroma. Thick and creamy body. Taste is sweet, slightly spicy, rum, liquorice. Finish is a little bitter-sweet. The high ABV gives a pleasent warmth but is otherwise well hidden. Nice.

Muddy brown colour with a slightly tan head which is about 1 inch tall in my goblet. Slightly yeastie aroma with a very faint sweet smell as well. Trillions of small bubbles rising on the side of the glass the way a good belgie should. The first taste is great, very complex and very malty. Definate chocolate and malt undertones with some fruit and yeast flavours hitting in the very back of my palate. This is less malty than the Westy 8 and Rochefort 10 (which I prefer) and I would say is more complex because it isn't overriden by malt. I would rank this one lower than Westy 12 (still the best beer ever in my book) but higher than both Rochefort 10 and Westy 8. A great beer for a great price. Definately try to get your hands on this beer if you don't want to spend the money on those earlier named beers or if you've tried all three of them.

UPDATED: JUL 2, 2004 Thick, redish pour, with a bubbly, creamy tan head. Aroma of yeast and dough, with a slight wine scent. First taste is delightfully spiced. Flavors ot malt, fruit, chocolate, and bread dance on your tongue. Oh man. This is one fabulous Belgian Quad ale. I know that Westvleteren 12 gets higher marks from most people, but this beer is such a great price in comparison. This is definately a favorite of mine. I'm vey impressed. Purists may ignore it because it isn't a "real" Trappist ale, but it definately up there with the best. I'd certainly rank it up a notch above Chimay Bleu. It has at least the complexity of Rochefort, and the alcohol taste is better masked. It's especially important to note that this beer costs HALF of the price of Rochefort 10. I LOVE this beer. This beer really is the little brother of Westvleteren Abt 12. There is some good information about this beer on:
http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-0014 /> Evidently, the brewery in Watou produced similar beers for St. Sixtus in Westvleteren, for commercial distribution, until the monastery upgraded their brewery in the early 1990s. So, while it's not an "official" Trappist beer, it certainly stands up just as well to the best of the best.

Pours a dark reddish-brown with a very thick beige head. Thin lacing. Aroma is pleasantly fruity, with some malt, spice and alcohol as well. Medium-bodied and sweet, with flavors of malt, licorice, cherry and raisins. Flavor became more rich and easier to drink as it warmed. Pretty good Belgian.

Pours out a dark chocolate color, with lots of bubbles. A strong spicy aroma. First sip you can taste a banana and clove taste...then get a fruity sweet taste. So many tastes and flavors which makes this very complex. The smooth creamy taste seems to make you not even taste the alcohol.

Pours a dark brown, with some ruby tinges in it. Head is large, big-bubbled tan, slowly diminishes to some decent lacing. Body has lots of carbonation, and lots of yeasty bits swirling around in it. Aroma is huge, yeasty, vinous, fruity, grapes, raisin, some doughiness, and hints of honey. Flavor is equally huge and complex, lots of fruitiness and sweetness, and changes over time as the brew comes up to room temp. Very full bodied, massively complex flavors and aromas. Very similar to the Westy 12, but seemed to have more lively and lasting carbonation.

Smells like a wine and has a slightly fruity (also reminds me of a wine). Nice color and head. A rather interesting beer. But then again, I haven't tried too many Belgians yet.

Smells heavenly. Looks dark brown, but there's a hint of red in the color as well. I taste at least 4 different flavors in the taste.

Dark brown, smooth creamy head that diminishes into a thin blanket. . . Spicy, banana, clove aroma - hints of alcohol. Great malt complexity - starts fairly sweet candy, then moves into a spicy herbal treat. Good woody finish with plenty of nuts. Well done, but I liked the triple better.