St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

Brewed by St. Bernard Brouwerij
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Watou, Belgium

Pours a dark brown with a huge white head. Aroma is subtle dark fruit, raisin, malty, spicy Flavor is of roasted malt, raisins, dates, dark candi sugar, caramel. Finish is lingering, complex sweetness with a slight warming as it comes to room temp. Awesome beer. Very nice with the closing of the Olympic games this evening.

FOOMF! The pour on this festive brew from St. Bernardus immediately explodes into a mushroom cloud of tasty foam. After a considerable wait, this hemisphere of bubbles slowly erodes into a huge, volcanic crater, allowing a more passable attempt at drinking the feer without getting foam on my eyebrows. The aroma is slightly spicy, exhibiting a sturdy whiff of black pepper, cinnamon and the more rounded white pepper, with a squeeze of both lemon and lime lending a Caribbean air. The whole of the aroma is extremely creamy, and though the scents are prickly, they’re delicious all the same, though I hardly see how this makes for much of a Christmas beer. The flavor has that same certain Belgian woodiness to it, which can only be wrought delicious by skilled artists, and indeed the workers at St. Bernardus are very skilled. Most of the wood and dry flavors encountered in the beginning flake off towards the end though, replaced by a boisterous alcohol flavor. Piercing notes of sharp wood flavors remain through the taste, though, and makes for an appropriately passive and pensive beer for drinking next to a holiday fire.

bottle courtesy of homer321: pours a clean dark brown with a small tan head. aroma is awesome with fantastic cherry adn sark fruits, bright caramel, jsut fantastic araoma. flavour is a tingly bright malt wth some to the cherry comes through nice adn the dark fuits are good but not overpowering.

Beautiful amber-brown in colour with a lingering beige head and excellent lacing. The aroma was of sweet toffee, some alcohol, yeast, plums and spice. The flavour was plummy, toffee covered fruits, light sweetness, some alcohol and smooth throughout. Creamy mouthfeel, medium body, medium/high carbonation. Finishes long, sweet with a light and lingering alcohol warmth.

An excellent winter beer, the alcohol never overpowered this, good balance.

750ml bottle obtained in a trade with Beerlando, thanks Bryan.
Opened on February 18, 2008
Best before August 7, 2012.

A dark brown beer with aroma of roasted malt, caramel and candis. The flavor is also of caramel, but also alcohol and a bitternes from the hops and a spicy aftertaste.

Has a dark brown color with a beige colored head. Aromas of fruit, spice, baked bread, and caramel are present. Flavor is full bodied with spices and fruit along with a strong malty background of chocolate, caramel, and bread.

Rich amber/brown, huge fluffy tan head. Nose is a slightly spicy raisin malt, rich oakey cherries, fruitcake. Lingering roasted/burnt fruit finish. Flavor is toffee, raisin, fruitcake spice. The alcohol isn’t overpowering but helps to dry it out. Toffee, light cork, oxidization, fruit in the finish.

75cl bottle from World of Beer (Westchase). Rated on 3/25/08. Pours a dark brownish-red with a thick, frothy tan head. Aroma is cinnamon, nutmeg, malt and sweet molasses. Flavor is sweet with notes of caramel, roasted malt, candy sugar, and bread. Lively carbonation and medium to full-body. Well-balanced generally but the alcohol comes through more as it warms.