St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

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

Big bottle at Stone Brewery.Thin white head on top of murky brown. Good yeasty fruity smell. Fair bit of carbonation on the palate. Tastes of sweet malt, dried plum, and fig. Not real robust and full as the 12.

From bottle at Zeno’s. Light spicy aroma. Horse blanket and light spicy hoppiness. A mild sour tang. Dark copper-amberclear with foamy lacing light-tan head. Medium waery body with medium carbonation. Starts with dull sweetness, good malt and a touch of hoppiness. Floral spicy note, with light toffee sweetnes and a bit of dry nutty bitter in the finish. Mild fruity finish and cherry woody after.

Bottle. Dark amber colour with a beautiful off-white head. Aroma and flavour of spice, dark fruits, caramel, hops and malt.

Deep amber, very nice head, very attractive. Aroma is bready with some dark fruits, undefined spice in the background, and a touch of alcohol. Flavor is malty sweet with plum fruit, ginger, cinnamon, and a hint of clove. Christmas focused without overwhelming the beer itself. Finish has a note of vanilla. Not bad. Not crazy about the spicing, but not bad.

Dark mahogany pour, big almond head. Aroma is fruity with holiday spices as well with spicy belgian yeast. Flavor is much the same, fruity malts, some caramel, a touch of chocolate but lots of holiday type spices from the yeast. Very complex and hard to describe but the yeast is the flavor, fruity, malty, some chocolate and roasted notes but lots of dark fruits and caramel.

Bottle (2007). Head is initially average sized, frothy/fizzy, light brown, mostly lasting. Body is dark amber-brown, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (cookie, toasted grain), lightly yeasty (cobwebs, basement), with notes of clove, sassafras, cinnamon, anise, candy sugar. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Crosses the line between soda (root beer) and beer, but kind of enjoyable nonetheless. Relies too heavily on spices for its aroma, but it’s a pleasant enough combo of stuff. Mouthfeel leaves a lot to be desired; watery and thin for its size, and the flavor is clearly getting quite a lot of sweetness from sugar rather than malt. A simple, guilty pleasure for casual holiday sipping, but "sugar and spice" doesn’t equate to a well-crafted beer.

Dark brown, thick creamy tan head. Soft fruity aromas of ripe plum and cherry that sit on spiced vanilla brown sugar tones. Dried fruit flavor is well balanced by yeasty sugary caramel notes and hints of rounding hop bitterness. Medium to full bodied, moderate carbonation, spiced dark fruit finish. A nice winter warmer without a doubt. Thanks for sharing, Brian!

750mL, 10%ABV. Dark haze, medium brown, Fizzy head. Aroma of yeast, malts, some cherry essence. Flavor is malt. Hollow mouthfeel. Empty body. Odd. Fizzy texture on the palate. Hints of dark fruits in the finish. Yeasty flavors left on the palate.