St. Bernardus Prior 8

Brewed by St. Bernard Brouwerij
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Watou, Belgium

The aroma of this beer is amazing. Strong flavorful aromas of banana, apple, and cookie with a little earthy undertone of aged wood. The appearance was very good as well with a creamy/frothy white head and a fair amount of lacing. Large particles were apparent in this pour and the color was amber and orange. Unfortunately, the flavor didn’t live up to the aroma and was heavily acidic with a lightly sweet finish. Texture was dry with an astringent and heavily alcoholic finish. I let this beer warm for a bit hoping more of the aroma would come out in the flavor. The carbonation leveled out somewhat as expected and more creaminess did come out in the flavor but overall was still very astringent and bland. I wish this beer tasted as great as it smelled!

July 2006 - Beautiful dark brown, huge head, nice lacing. Spicy aroma. Creamy fruity flavor…like a dark fruit creamsicle. Thick mouthfeel and PERFECT level of carbonation. Really nice. The monk is STILL smiling! =)

Bottle. A very brown pour with an al ost white head. A very brown sugar aroma that even smells sweet. A flavor of burnt molasses and a hint of a very pleasant bitter. Mouthfeel is solid carbonation is about what you would expect. Maybe just a hint of fizz to it. Solid beer without surprises.

Bottle. Cloudy brown with a foamy off-white head and floaties (yes!). Subtle pear, touch of light raisin and light bread/toffee in the nose. Flavor has notes of cola, brown sugar, raisin, plum, chocolate, pear/apple, sweet caramel, herbal/earthy hops. Pleasant sweetness, just enough hops for balancing purposes. Medium, airy (very drinkable) body with lively, yet very soft small-bubble carbonation. Good.

Poured from an 11.2 oz bottle into a Duvel tulip. The glass gives this beer’s exemplary and ample head plenty of room to stretch out to an impressive three fluffy fingers. The fine carbonation leaves lacing that cakes the glass as the head rescinds itself. The beer is an opaque dark brown that could be used to paint a UPS van. The smell erupts with sweet doughy malts and dark fruits, classic dubbel aroma, very enticing. Breadiness juxtaposed with fig, raisin, and plum esters caresses the tongue. A hint of spiciness, caramel, and candi sugar make this a sweet beer while a pinch of hop flavor and alcohol warmth fight for balance. The mouthfeel is creamy, smooth, and medium-bodied, and the carbonation is perfect. Excellent drinkability.

Bottle. No head, just some see-thru bubbles at the top. Dark brown, almost black. Sour, winey aroma, dried fruit & cherries. Wow, biting carbonation right away. Recall too much carbonation in the 6 too, whereas the 12 was nearly perfect. Not sure what’s going on, but it’s nearly impossible to get past the carbonation issue here, except for a weird bitterness right at the end. Arrgh!

Pour a dark brown and tan head. Solid carbonation and aroma lightly sweet and yeasty. Sweet bread aroma. Fantastic on first taste- very well balanced and not as much ’spice’ as i expected. Medium bodied but very nicely balanced with the carbonation to almost dissipate in the mouth. ’Weightlessness’ by another reviewer summed it up very well. Smooth and fantastic! At the end it was almost too smooth and not enough bite...

Brown in color this poured a fine thick head that slowly dissipated. It was darker than the 6 but the head also dissipated quicker. The nose was filled with chocolate covered bananas, raisen, cherry, burnt caramel, dates. In the mouth it was medium-bodied with a denisity to it that was kept light from all the very fine bubbles. While overall similar to the Pater 6, this clearly had a denser midpalate with more powerful flavors. There is still sense of weightlessness to the palate the belies its dark flavors. Overall, this was similar to the Pater 6 with more power and flavor concentration along with slightly darker fruits.