St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

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

Not quite up to the Abt. 12, but this is incredibly tasty. Pours a deep, deep brown with a huge frothy head. Warm aroma with fruit (banana), bread and candy sweetness. Flavor is caramel, brown sugar, spices, and a bit of a good banana bread. The earthy yeast flavors balance the fruits wonderfully well, creating a deep, complex and very, very good beer.

Pours dark red-brown with about 3 fingers of light, airy head. Odor of cinnamon and raisin strong throughout, with hints of other spices. Plum and raisin sweetness dominates the aftertaste, which starts off smooth, and it all ends with a slight taste of alcohol in the finish. Another interesting beer from St. Bernardus, and one of their stronger ales.

On tap. Deep, sweet aroma. Sweet yet sharp taste that keeps getting sweeter towards the candy sugar aftertaste. Deep black appearance. Makes every other holiday brew jealous!

Bottle. Pours a dark, hazy brown with an extremely large, dense off-white head. Lacing is amazingly strong. Aromas of bananas, raisin, and malts. Mouthfeel is extremely lively, with a creamy middle and then a nice smooth finish. Tastes of bananas, port, and raisins abound. This may be the best Christmas beer in the world!

WOW!! this is definately an ale first and seasonal second. Aroma is of crisp clean malt, at great odds with the colour. It’s quite dark but clear around the edges, it sort of holds ther dark stuff inside itself somehow. head is good on pour, goes down but remains bubbly. GREAT malt taste, it’s not that strong but still manages to be rich, the usual x-mas spices are there I think but you really have to want to taste them, the ale flavour eclipses them, though as I have a few more sips there are starting to show. I think I had this beer too cold for full flavour but unfortunately I can’t decipher the heiroglyphs they call ’farenheight’ to accurately discern that. The smoothness keeps on going after the swallow, bubbles and still that great malt aftertaste, the same as it was in the beginning of the flavour. It really is hard to taste the 10%.

Cloudy and brown like the Charles River in Boston. A thin layer of film floats and waits to be consumed. Aromas of Christrmas indeed, dark brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon stick dried figs and star of anise with a delicious caramel maltiness to tie it all together. Smooth and velvety body, very nice. Fruity and spicy flavors will bring you into the Christmas spirit even on a warm day in Florida. Thank you St. Bernardus for being such a fine brewer!

Pours dark brown with a tan head. Smells very chocolatey with a nice compliment of cherries and winter spices. Tastes roasty with some hints of tartness, lots of chocolate, some raisins and caramel. Mouthfeel is full bodied and the finish on this one reminded me of hot chocolate. Excellent Christmas beer!