St. Bernardus Abt 12

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

Thanks to Dave for this beer. Pours a dark brown with a beige head that clumps together in lily pad like bits. The aroma is mostly yeasty and dark fruit. The taste is really rich, with a strong raisin and plum element. Also a sweet candy and roasted malt taste. A really creamy easy to drink body and also a good alcohol warmth round it out. A really good beer that could go well with any situation.

poured just like muddy water into my rochefort glass.gave off little head that stuck around until the last drop.the smell gave off sents of rasins,bubblegum,candy and a little earth.the flavor was an outstanding balance of all the flavors from the aroma,along with malts,belgian yeast,and fruits.this is awsome!!! re-rate:im am becomming a huge st. b. fan.this time around i noticed when the head evaporated a huge web was left behind.its very smooth,very complex,and wonderful! re-rate number 2:you really cant get a better looking brew than this.looks stunning right when a 330ml bottle is poured into a trappist glass.

Nice robin-red to brown colour, rather lot of carbonation and a large white head. Deep malty aroma, little yeasty, roasted-bitter, with some chocolat in it, grainy alcohol and ripe fruits. Creamy, full body with a sweet palate and some carbonation. Burned-bitter finish, ending with an overwhelming warm alcoholic taste. Beautifull beer, very nice balanced, top.

Draft @ Monk’s Cafe - I have a couple of bottles that I haven’t had the chance to crack open yet, but I think a draft of this stacks up well. Nice, dark brown color with a light head. Sweet aroma with dark fruit abundance - cherry, plum, grape. Sweet, malty taste makes this one all worth it - on taste alone, it’s one of the best beers I’ve tried. Magnificently smooth & a real treat.

Bottle- At the Alex P. Keaton in London, Ontario. Poured a dark brown body, medium beige head. HUGE sediment visible....almost syrup looking. Nice lacing, and the head seems to form rings in the middle of the body, very distinct. Perfect. Aromas are black licorice, rasins and prunes, saltiness, and some floral spiceyness. Taste is floral, spicy, rasins and prunes , sweet an salty, licorice too. Nice! Finish is alcohol, bitter sour aftertaste too. Great example of the style! Watch out Westy!

Draught at the Maproom during my Great Lakes region brew tour. Wow. This is so black, especially for a quad. The opaque body sports a huge, lively white head. The aroma is rich, sweet, and complex. I detect pear, corriander, alcohol, licorice, cloves. The flavor is delicious. More notes of licorice, pear, pear stems, cloves, mild milk chocolate, raisins, cinnamon. Swirling leaves dense, full lacing on the snifter. Wonderful beer.
[August 9, 2007]
Bottle split with Tronraner and Muenster in a blind tasting among Allagash Four, Rochefort 10, and St. Bernardus 12. I’m very glad I revisited this one with a more analytical approach. I found this one to be the most similar to Westvletern’s quad in the tasting, though it didn’t quite match the intricate nuances of that offering. It does have a similar dry finish and bountiful complexity of its own. Joe selected this one over the Rochefort 10 in the blind and I couldn’t really argue with him. At this level of fine beer craftsmanship, it comes down to personal taste. St. Bernardus 12 has more tartness and floral character along with the notes of cloves, bubblegum, banana, earth, faint citrus, cinnamon, tobacco. This beer is the least expensive and most available out of the three in our tasting, but it can go toe to toe with any other beer in the style.
[August 19, 2008]
Tap into a plastic cup consumed on the streets of Savannah. This is a really nice looking beer, even in its quaint disposable vessel. It’s almost black with a very well formed and tall whitish head. The aroma sports heavy esters with a load of dark fruit and spices. A small sourness and dry spiced flavor hits the palate first then mellows out with sweeter, fruitier character. The alcohol is very well hidden. This is one of the finer examples of the style.

(Bottle at The Rover, Göteborg) Pours dark red to brown. Warm alcohol smell with some wood and belgian yeast. Ripe fruits. Raisins and wet soil. Malt. Pears. Summer rain. Some rum. Pepper. Very sweet and fresh smell. The taste has a bit of chocolate and ripe pears. Toffee. Damp basement. A bit too much of the belgian sweetness. Alcohol. Wet sawdust. Coctail berries. Some gingerbread. Salty.

Poured from fridge into cold tulip glass an foam nearly overflowed glass. Had to spoon it out. Light malt, light hops, and earthy smell. Off white, lasting head with good lacing. Deep reddish brown color. Little bitterness, Moderate sweet finish. Dreamy creamy soft texture. Full body and moderate alchohol. Great Belgian Abbey beer. I bought a case of it at $3.59/bottle. Interesting history.