St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

750ml bottle. Aroma is softly sweet, malty, fruity and lightly spicy, with notes of red grape, apple, berry, orange zest, dark bread, milky chocolate, raisin, cinnamon, allspice and clove, with a faint leafy, herbal, floral hop character underneath. Deep, translucent mahogany color with a thick, lasting, foamy head and matching lace. Flavor is spicy and mildly bitter to start, some faint pepper and licorice, turning sweeter and maltier, even a touch of roastiness noted before the spicy, warming, dark fruit finish, with lingering touches of spice cake, doughy yeast and rum-soaked raisin. Creamy, effervescent mouthfeel with a decidedly full body. An indulgent creation, and one to be savored.

Dark brown color with a huge long lasting tan head. Aroma of yeast, spices and dark fruits. Flavor of spices, dark malts, yeast and dark fruits.

Pours dark brown with a huge frothy light tan head that hangs around forever and leaves plenty of sticky lacing. Delicious, fruity malty aroma and flavor. Nice warming effect. More complex than my amateur tastes can truly appreciate. Another great St. Bernardus brew!

Hazy dark reddish brown with a large light brown foaming head. Beautiful Belgian abbey brown. Nose of port wine, dark fruit, and winter spices. Taste like nose, of spice, dried fruits, caramel, bread and yeast. Creamy big mouthfeel. I would like this better with a little less alcohol, but it’s a big, lovely winter ale.

Bright fruity aroma with some hints of banana. Enormous frothy head and deep dark reddish brown color. Flavor is oak, cherries, roasted malt. Flavor improves greatly upon warming and becomes more complex. Good strong carbonation and rich creamy palate. Have consumed many over the 2008 xmas season and this is one of the best Christmas beers. Outstanding.

Pours brown in color with a huge off-white head. The head was at least 2 inches and took several minutes to fall to a froth. Smell is belgian yeast and some dark fruit, figs. I’m not really getting a lot of christmas spice or taste in this. The mouthfeel is full and creamy, very nice. A decent beer, but I couldn’t help but to get something metallic out of the taste.

NorCal December ’07 - Probably my third favorite Christmas beers of the night, behind Scaldis and Gouden Carolus. Still, that’s pretty damn good company to be in. The aroma on this beer was dark fruit, really figgy, ginger, brown sugar, cloves and molasses. Appearance was mahogany in color with a nice Belgianesque head. Moutheel was smooth and velvety. Flavor was earthy, spicy, sweet malts, and just a touch of vanilla. Excellent beer.

This dark brown ale poured with a fluffy tan head. It tastes very malty and candied, like Pater with spices. It’s very carbonated with a perceptible hoppiness.