St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

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

Soft Belgian aroma from the bottle, candied at times, doggy at others. From a tulip glass, I got the distinct aromatic impression of McDonald’s french fries with ketchup. Go figure. Good bottle, label, foggy brown beer with a lot of fizz and a fluffy tan head. Sweet and sour, earthy, astringent. Trailing witchcraft herb aftertaste. The middle was vacant, like a melted, watery chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream bar. The foam is unmercifully metallic. The Saint blew the shift here. MSL, on markdown.

[913-20071205] 750mL (w/ PhillyBeer2112, others). Weird fruity spice aroma has an earthy hint of orange zest alcohol. Dark dark red body with a long-lasting creamy off-white head. Still strange lightly spicy fruit in the flavour with a hint of sweet pencil lead and peppery chocolate. Medium body is lighter on the tongue than you think. Such a strange beer.

Appearance: Pours a brown body with a large, foamy khaki-colored head. Quite effervescent! Smell: A nice mix of pitted fruits with notes of cocoa powder, holiday-minded spices, cracked black pepper, and yeast. Taste: Juicy dark fruits with a hearty dusting of cocoa and tossed with a mix of sugar ’n’ spice. Slight bready yeastiness. Just of earthy bitterness. Semi-dry finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Well carbonated. Warming alcohol presence. Drinkability: A fine holiday sipper (regardless of the 10% ABV) that made for pleasant Christmas Day drinking.

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.

25 oz bottle, winter 2006 vintage, via sunevdj. Pours an orangish amber body under a large fluffy craggy beige head that climbed out of my chalice. Lots of visible carbonation. The entire glass was covered in a complete curtain of lacing, though I’m not sure that’s an accurate word to describe a soild covering. Aroma is typical Belgian Stong Ale, very fruity with lots of yeast influence. Light raisin and plum, a little brown sugar, and some light alcohol. The alcohol influence is a little bit much for the flavor. It doesn’t have the depth and complexity of say the St B 12 that can hide that level of alcohol. Surprisingly thin on flavor even. Just a light brown sugar and fruitiness up front fading to a slightly yeasty alcohol thinned finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and when let to breathe developed a nice soft carbonation. A little thinner than I expected. Save for the alcohol, I think that this had the depth and complexity of flavor that would warrant just calling this a Belgian Ale. Maybe a little cellar time would tone down the alcohol flavor some.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy, mabel, jerc & mds - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Slightly hazy orange-amber with a small off-white head. Mice malt and spice aroma, with some cherry, dark sugar and yeast - yummy! Soft mouthfeel. Flavour of sour fruit, sweet malt, spices (clove, cinnamon), and faint yeast in the moderately bittter finish. Hides that 10% very well. Nice!

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.

Corked bottle. Pours a perfect amber brown with a generous head; reminds me of a root beer float. Aroma is sweet, with hints of cinammon malt and bitter English toffee. Flavor is spicy cinammon diluted with tangy vanilla ice cream. Nice body that lets the beer sit lazily on the tongue. Very approachable despite the high ABV. Definite seasonal repeat.