St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

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

1/01/2009: St. Bernardus Christmas Ale... Aroma: Spicy and yeasty with a touch of card candi sugar and candied citrus. Appearance: Cloudy, opaque, brown color; large, airy foam head that is rocky and beige in color; spotty, but dense lacing. Flavor: Malty in the front, sweet, spicy, and stong; airy finish; dry woodiness; very melded flavor profile so it’s difficult to pick things out; strong fruitiness that include plum and prune. Palate: Medium to medium-full body, highly carbonated, tingly, but smooths out when warmer. Overall: On the sweeter side; very flavorful and solid Abbey Ale, but difficult to describe.

75 cl corked and caged bottle (10 ALC./VOL.) from The Anderson’s General Store in Maumee, Ohio. Rating #374 for this beer.

Lightist pour with a small off white head. Aroma is largely spicy- clove coriander and some toasty caramel, grapefruit and biscuit. Flavor is surprisingly hoppy: grapefruit lemon and orange with toasty malts in the back. Palate is smooth, medium bodied and clean. Perhaps a bit thin, but very enjoyable.

Pours a soupy brown with a small light head. Aroma is of banana, spice (clove), sweet pastry bread. A mild aroma, but what does escape is very nice. Flavor is again of banana, lots of candy sugar, white cane sugar, just a little spicy. The flavor also reminds me of Circus Peanuts candy. Full mouthfeel, nice carbonation. Overall, very good.

draft at redlight redlight

normally a big fan of the st. bernardus stuff. fruity nose, creamy mouth feel (did i just say that?)... it’s not bad. definitely not my favorite of their stuff. raisin plum and the like... i wouldn’t say impressive necessarily... but okay.

Christmas in July. Down here it is as cold as it is probably going to be. Open the doors of the apartment and let the cool infiltrate so I can get into the mood for this beer. And a very good beer indeed. Fine fruity notes with robust malt background. Not as pudding like as I could have expected but I am not really au fait with the Belgian attitude towards desserts such as these. As always though, a fine BSA.

Bottle, John’s Grocery, Iowa City. Rustic brown pour, dingy beige head that settles surprisingly quickly. Spicy cognac aroma, grape skin, fresh cut walnut, inky raisins. Brown sugar sweetness, dates, blackberry, quite a large dose of rum heat. Fairly dry menthol laden finish, but after all the sweetness up front the overall experience is still pretty sugary. A pleasant but rather young tasting beer. Another couple years and this might come together into something brilliant, but as sampled...has a ways to go.

Bottle bought in a warehouse in the suburbs of Brugge. Deep brown pour with a large thick tan head on top. Dark fruity aroma. Caramel, dark fruit, malt, plum, Christmas pudding taste. Had this last week but also had 2 bottles last Christmas. Lovely seasonal Belgian heavyweight, I wish had some more left.

"Dark brown to Ruby red when held up to light a tall 4” cap floats on top and reduces to a thick skiff after a while. Aroma is smooth with mild spice notes some dark fruit, honey, and mellow roasted malts. Taste is very flowery with notes of rubbing alcohol. Tasty cloves give way to a hidden bitterness in the finish. Flavour has lots in common with fig Newton’s, can you even buy those anymore? Wow lots of chunks plopped into my glass during that last pour. Some cherry is showing up along with some metallic tastes. Dam why are these bottles so big my brain just exploded all over the basement. Simple enjoyable bla bla bla………"