St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

Why can not Christmas be all year long. Beautiful cloudy brown like mud. Aroma more like wine than beer. Flavor sweet with some sourness in there and an alcohol burn. Wonderful stuff.

Bottle given to me by my folks for Christmas. A nice gift. Pours a hazy shade of brownish red with a fantastic head and some sticky lacing. The aroma is of fruit cake, dark fruits, alcohol, candy sugar. Flavors of sweet over ripe fruit, dark sweet bread, sugar, candy, Belgian yeast, spice. Just a ton of shit going on. Some booziness in the finish that lingers on the palate. Sweet, spicy, yeasty, warming. Lots of carbonation, sticky dry finish. Good stuff.

No better way to spend a Christmas evening than sipping on a St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. 750mL bottle poured into a goblet. Pours a deep, murky brown with ruby hints around the edges. The head is a full three fingers and shows no sign of receding, leaving tons of lacing down the glass. The nose doesnt surprise too much, though there arent lots of spice presence that I may have expected from a Christmas ale. The main aromas are the Belgian yeast and candi sugar that form the base with hints of dark fruits and bread as well. The taste is also mainly that of a dark Belgian with tons of sweet malts, Belgian yeast and candi sugar. However, I definitely get more spices than the aroma would suggest as well as raisins and plums. There is a slight bitterness in the aftertaste along with some alcohol burn that warms me up a bit. The mouthfeel is creamy but with tons of carbonation that helps coat the palate with the sticky sugar sweetness that dominates. The finish is just a tad dry. Ive always been a big fan of St. Bernardus, so I was expecting a great beer and it delivered. One of the best holiday beers Ive had recently. Highly recommended!

shared 750 ml bottle. pours a brilliant deep red with a quarter inch off white head. some cinnamon and spice in the aroma. very nice over the palate... big full body up front with some yeast, spices, plum and raisins. soft on the sides and a nice strong finish. a bit of alcohol at the end as well as bigger notes of the dark fruits. this is a really nice Holiday beer...

Fort George BrewPub has a keg of this wonderful beer. They served it with the main course at their Collaboration Dinner featuring Belgian beers and seafood courses created by guest chefs. The executive chef for the local school district food service created a ling cod stuffed with fresh razor clams served with sauteed chard and croquette potatoes. The Christmas Ale balance well with this main course. This is a really special malty, high gravity beer that matched well with the rich razor clams.

Pours beautifully with a reddish mahoghany color and a large tan head that sticks forever with nice lacing. Can it look better? Aroma begins with cinnemon, apricot, cloves and follows up as the beer warms with toffee, cocoa, and a little bit of berry. Tastes slightly drier than expected with some cocoa and toffee, toast, chocolate, lots of pear and apricot, mild cinnemon spice and small amount of heat. FInishes, spicy and warming with the taste of almonds and christmas bread on the throat. Medium to full bodied, highly carbonated, and very creamy. Well made for sure, just not as awesome as the Abt 12.

750 ml bottle **Summary** - I had high hopes for this after previous experiences with St Bernardus. In the end it was disappointing; I would love to pick up one to age to see if that improves things down the road. ** Aroma / Appearance** - A billowing head rushes down to fill the glass. After a few minutes it sinks to a chestnut brown color with clear lacing. Chocolate, malt, bready, and a little boozy it is sweet and dense. **Flavor / Palate** - Carbonated and chocolately the experience was different than I expected. Warm and mellow it comes across as a little stronger than it should be in my opinion. For the volume it should have more flavor. It is above average but somehow just lacking that something special.

Bomber. Pours a dark brown with dark ruby streaks. Aroma is malt, candi sugar, cinnamon, and dark fruit - plum, fig, cherry). Flavor is thick and complex with dark fruit up front with malt, candi sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and Belgian yeast detectable as well. The alcohol burn is very slight, not as much as you would think for a beer this strong. I loved it, another masterpiece from these guys.