St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

I’m pretty sure my nose is working, but I really did not get much aroma out of this at all. I had to almost stick my nose in the beer to get anything out of it. I will say it looks great in a chalice though. Deep amber with a hue of red and nice lacy khaki head. The flavor on it is similar to the other St. Bernardus ales. Sweet, dark brown sugar flavors with an alcohol/metallic finish. Surprisingly light mouth feel with high carbonation for a 10% beer. Definitely enjoyable and a good one to try... but not a favorite.

Thanks to Redlight for getting this on draft. The black-amber pour almost comes off as a deep, dark, purple color with a good amount of carbonation. Smells super bready and malty with some winter spices. Going down, it is smooth and not too strong at all. The spice components are actually more in the background, with notes of nutmeg, allspice and some black licorice. Tasty brew, as you would expect.

750ml bottle, amazing head, Very fruity aroma, strong clove chocolate and grape flavor, too alcoholic.

Draft at monks in Philly. Aroma is chocalate with nutmeg. Dark color with nice caramel head...better than expected. Pretty carbonated, good beer. Slightly lees than its the St. B. abt.

750ml Bottle: Aroma of malts, lots of spices, dark fruits, cinnamon, nutmeg, yeast, birch beer, and brown sugar. Poured medium-brown/slight amber in color with a huge, foamy, rocky, khaki head that lasted throughout. Hazy. Very sparkling. Good lacing. Flavor is lightly sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of yeast, spices, birch beer, malts, dark fruits, light cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, light bitter hops, light cola, slight caramel, slight alcohol, and raisins. Medium to full body. Effervescent, chalky texture. Lively carbonation. Sweet, yeasty, semi-dry finish with a hint of tar. A nice Christmas brew.

750 mL bottle from Whole Foods Charlottesville, VA. Pours a deep, dark reddish brown. with a large head, nice retention and wisps of lacing. Slightly tart fruity notes in the aroma with some earthy and bready notes. Fruity taste of berries and cherries with some brown sugar and spice. Full bodied and quite smooth with active carbonation. Very nice.

750 ml bottle. Pours a rusty muddy brown with a thick creamy beige head. Spicy aroma of nutmeg, dates, raisins, brown sugar, caramel and bread dough. Taste of nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar, dates, caramel, and raisins. Very good but not as good as the original.

Popped the cork and was greeted with an almost mythical styled mist emitting from the open mouth of the bomber. Poured a hardcore ruby brown/black with a massive bobbing foamy crown. Smell was predominately that of marshmellow and spiced melon; with a little bit of toasted caramel in there. Flavour is quite delicate and fairly complex here...sometimes differing from sip to sip and certainly changing with temperature adjustment, etc. Some things that I noticed: coffee, toffee, taste of autumn leaves and snow (i mean that in a good way), gumdrops, apples, licorice, pepper, jasmine, Earl Grey tea, and even a slight bite of bitter honey. Not much of a finish..and to tell you the truth, this could have benefitted from a bit more body--but overall...supremely drinkable and worthy of your next festive time--you lousy stinking drunkard!