St. Bernardus Prior 8

I first had this been when the LCBO was selling a St. Bernardus assorted gift set at Christmas 2005. This beer was not as impressive as the 12. I recently did a tasting along with the St. Bernardus Pater 6 and Abt12. Definitely a nice beer, but nowhere near as well-balanced as the Abt 12. The beer pours a nice red-brown colour with white head with aromas of figs and spice. Has nice raisin and port flavours, but has a winey sourness that throws off the balance of the beer

Pours dark in the tulip glass. Chunky thick white head with a nose of chocolate and malt. Body is bit lighter than should be for an 8% ABV beer. Drinkable but not memorable.

Finish - Flavor o Sweet - light, moderate, heavy, harsh o Acidic - light, moderate, heavy, harsh o Bitter - light, moderate, heavy, harsh o Acetic (vinegar) o Sour (sour milk) o Salty

Dark brown-red body. Tan on the head. Aroma: malt, milk, raisin, dark fruits. Flavor: malt, yeast, dark fruits. It´s winous and strong. In a sense it has to much co2 in it. It should be more mellow in it´s way of presenting it self.

330ml bottle. Pours a dark reddish brown with a very creamy off-white head. Sweet and dark fruit in the nose with some alcohol. Full-bodied dark fruit and malt flavors, with some vinous characters. Light spice as well.

draft. Chocolatey aroma, hints of roasted malts, caramel and dark fruits. Pours dark brown with a fluffy off white head. Smooth and rich malts, caramel and chocolate, creamy mouthfeel. Easy drinking for 8%.

Bottled 33cl. It pours a dark brown beer with a rather big light beige head which remains nicely - Nice and fluffy too... This ale leaves a nice lacing. The aroma is dissapointing: Rather metallic with some sour apples, seawater and cane sugar. The taste is cloying with hints of licorice. Lots of cane sugar, plums, butterscotch, apples, plums and butter. Somewhat a bit stylish. The taste reveals some surprises. Not overly complex though. Some well hidden alcohol. Full bodied and malty. A whiff of very enjoyable elements just before the finish. (Plums, Christmas pudding). Then, a wonderfully grassy and buttery finish follows. This beer has a very low bitterness, not all that well balanced, yet decently enjoyable.

This is by far my favorite of all the St. Bernardus beers, and quite simply the best dubbel (if that’s what it is) that I have ever tasted. The ABT 12 is almost perfect but just a bit too sweet, the tripel is great but several tripels are greater (say, Westmalle). The Prior 8 in contrast has no bad qualities I have been able to discern and no other beer has it beat in any respect. It is a very substantial, vinous beer. In fact, I have never tasted a beer that was so similar to a wine before. We have here the aroma of prunes, raisins, various fruit, and yeast. Caramel is very pronounced, but what’s remarkable about the Prior 8 is that it manages to be caramel-y without being sweet (here the ABT 12 falls short). We have here plenty of carbonation and appropriate hop bitterness--the hops are definitely more pronounced than in most Belgian dark ales of this strength, and yet the beer is not bitter; it’s just very well balanced. "Dry" is the word, not "bitter". Another respect in which the 8 is superior to any comparable beer I can think of is that it manages to be quite dark and caramel-like without even a hint of roasty/burnt flavor (what some people call "coffee" or "chocolate"). In this respect I find it preferable to the comparable Rochefort (viz. 8, or 10 for that matter).