St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

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

Pours dark brown with a tan head. Smells very chocolatey with a nice compliment of cherries and winter spices. Tastes roasty with some hints of tartness, lots of chocolate, some raisins and caramel. Mouthfeel is full bodied and the finish on this one reminded me of hot chocolate. Excellent Christmas beer!

Bottle. Hazy dark amber colour with large creamy off-white mostly lasting head. Sweet bitter flavor. Oily palate.

Poured, this looks like a goblet of cola except that it has a tall tan head, which doesn’t last very long. Who cares? Smells great, with scents of dark cherries and grapes, toffee, rose petals, dried fruit, and warm brown spices. It’s moderately carbonated yet very smooth feeling in the mouth. The flavor is reflective of the nose with a touch of the strong alcohol content creeping in midway and a light floral bitterness that appears near the finish. Very satisfying and warming.

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Happy New Year to me. Caged and corked, this pours with the lively appeal of a tower of congregating foam that hangs around like those relatives that came for the holidays but now they won’t leave. The aroma is a bit tame, but has a glimmer of raisin and sugar. The flavor is complicated, simmering with warm fruits like grapes and more grapes, a swirl of yeast and a slice of pear. Quite flavorful. Where’s the Chrismtas ham? (#3263, 1/1/2008)

Deep burgundy-brown hue covered by a fully lasting light beige head. Good looks, fed by very heavy carbonation. Intensely yeasty nose, we’re talking a spicy, lightly sour, highly bready yeastiness with fair, warming and fitting alcohol. Interesting pear nuances and the usual St.Bernardus grapey notes. Well-textured malts, not too thick, but the carbonation is hugely expansive, to the point of seemingly stealing a bit from the flavour development. Efficient and satisfying Christmas beer, but I’d rather have a less intensely yeasty product. Yeast+minerality just seemed to take the show by sheer force while the texture of the malts hinted at the fact that some subdued complexity must have been hiding in there, it just was hard to find it.

Consumed on New Year’s Eve 2007. Darker brown color versus the Abt 12. Yeasty bread, vanilla, orange, pear, and some cinnamon spice. A very nice complex beer. It starts out spicy, then fruity (I detect grape), and finishes with a nice bite. Very nice beer.

Bottle--I was thinking a dark, deep red color, but I’ll go with the other reviewers that call it mahogany. Nice foamy head with a bready aroma with a base of malts. Nice mixture of malts, sweetness and cinnamon that jump around depending on the sip. Some of the alcohol taste jumps up and dips down along the carbonation. Yum, was just perfect for our Christmas dinner.

Pours deep mahogany with fluffy tan head. Mose is rich with caramel and dried fruit. Flavor is complex and sweet from malt and raisin. Smooth aftertast and all around great beer.