St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

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

Bottle - 750mL corked and caged. Pours a dark brown. Bubbly tan head is reduced quickly to spotty lacing. The aroma is very rich and decadent. Dark fruits, soft caramel, light floral notes, soft spice, and yeast. The nose on this is almost mouth-watering. The first sip has some upfront bitterness that smooths out into more caramel, dark fruits, sweet malts, dusty yeast, spices and soft brown sugar notes. The body on this is very bubbly and light-medium to medium. The alcohol is nowhere to be found. Finishes with more yeast and spice notes encircled by candyish notes, sweet malts, and soft caramel. Very tasty!

Bottle (thanks rlgk & larsniclas) Dark red colour, with a creamy head. Aroma of citrus,yeasty,caramel flowers and a bit sournes in the end(?) Flavor has almost the same, medium to full body long fruity finish.

750mL bottle, courtesy of Brian. Thanks! Pours a murky, ruby-tinged color; fluffy, light-tan head with excellent retention and lacing. Plenty of cloves and spice and esters in the aroma. Sharp carbonation upfront; chewy esters and brown sugar and dried fruits; very light spice presence; reasonably similar to the 12, with spices and less body. Lengthy, esters and brown sugar in the finish.

Best By 09/08/2012, Sampled December 2007
Served only lightly chilled, the beer is clearly well carbonated as even a reasonably careful pour produces a billowing, slightly over-flowing, initially seven-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head of foam that slowly recedes while leaving a delicate lacing pattern on the sides of my 30cl Tripel Karmeliet tulip. the beer sits in my glass a burnt, amber tinged, very dark brown color, but shows a brilliantly clear, dark ruby hue when held up to the light. In passing inspection of the nose, aromas of dark fruit and spices mix quite equally. A deeper draught of the nose reveals aromas of raisins, figs, concentrated plum, brown sugar, sweet cola, clove, touches of allspice, a hint of molasses, dark chocolate, light ginger or maybe really galangal and even some cardamom like notes. The aroma ends up being a bit more focused on the dark, caramelized fruit notes with just a backdrop of spice character that leaves no doubt that this is a Belgian yeast strain.

The carbonation provides a prickly, lightening effect to what is really a medium full beer. It does not drink as heavy as the 10% alcohol might suggest, but is certainly has that Belgian lightness that is in many of the better made strong beers from their. The beer is definitely sweet, which accentuates the quite noticeable dark fruit character; caramelized plums, figs, raisins and even some apple flavors are individually noticeable. The beer finishes with a mix of spiciness and warming alcohol that is a touch pepper-like, with some spicy ginger, toasty brandy & rum, and some turpene driven phenolic clove / cardamom notes. Bread like malt notes reminiscent of toasted bread, hints of browned-whole-grain bread, touches of rye, caramelized-dark German bread, biscuit malt and roasted / broiled / concentrated figs.

The second pour has just as voluminous a head as the first, and the beer, a little more chilled now, tastes even a bit lighter than it did initially. The ample carbonation focuses the flavors more on the peppery spice notes, while softening the rich fruitiness that is there after it has mellowed. This is certainly a contemplative brew; I could wish for a bit more malt complexity in the flavor (at times the alcohol and spiciness can be a little too much), but the nose really is quite intriguing. While I certainly enjoy the lightness / heft of this brew as is, it seems to be missing a bit of richness that could add a bit more balance (these are not necessarily opposing characters though as some richness could be added without making this beer feel heavier).

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ

Bottle; poured a dark, muddy brown with a large off white head. Aroma of dark fruit, spice, citrus, alcohol and brown sugar, and bubble gum. Combination of some assertive flavors (dark fruit, brown sugar and yeast) and some subtle flavors (yeast, alcohol, spice, citrus/melon). Some could find it overly sweet, but I thought it was well done. Flavor was seemingly better with each sip. Delicious beer; top notch winter seasonal.

Bottle.70cl. Sweet and spicy aroma, fine head, malty and alcohol taste a bit sweet, lots of dark fruits.

Bottle: pours a dark redish brown with a long lasting foamy white head, aroma of sweet cherries and maybe some other dark fruit, taste is sweet and dry, my first thought is a less heavy feeling version of the regular St. Bernanrdus, However, I just drank a Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition so perhaps this rating isn’t as unbiased as I would like. Good stuff regardless of my drunken state.

Bottle from Kingdom Liquor, FL. Poured hazy brown color with a large fizzy brown head that was mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma was as complex heavy spicy nutmeg and yeast. Medium body with a creamy texture. Heavy spice bittersweet flavor with a heavy bittersweet finish with medium alcohol bite. Good brew.