St. Bernardus Abt 12

St. Bernardus Abt 12 (2013)
Year Round Brew.

11.2 fl. oz. / $5.99 USD / 10% ABV

About: "Shortly after the Second World War, the Trappist Monastery St.Sixtus in Westvleteren was looking for somebody to commercialize their beer because they did not want to do that themselves anymore. They gave a license to the cheese factory, and Brewery St.Bernard was founded. The brew master from Westvleteren, Mathieu Szafranski (from Polish origin) became a partner in the brewery and brought along the recipes, the know-how and the St.Sixtus yeast strain. We started selling the Trappist beers under the brand names Trappist Westvleteren, St.Sixtus or even later Sixtus. During a period of 46 years we brewed and commercialized the beers while the monks continued to brew for themselves and for sales to 3 pubs in the neighborhood, amongst which In De Vrede, just next to the monastery. In 1992 the license came to an end and since then we are brewing the same beers, with the same recipes, but under a different brand name: St.Bernardus."

Thoughts: Abt 12 poured a chestnut brown, raspberry color with a huge beige head full of tiny bubbles. As I hold the beer up to the light I see an absolute ton of sediment flake floating like asteroids all throughout space. The head hasn't diminished in about two minutes so far and I don't think it ever will. 

The scent on this one is beautiful. There's intense plum like dark fruits, a sugary sweetness, peppery spices, a little bit of clove, and it smells a little like a rum cake. Just like the other St. Bernardus beers, that gorgeous yeast profile just flows forever through it. To sum up the smell on this one in a single word it would be candy. Swirl the glass and it erupts upward into the nostrils, delivering a minor sting of what's to come.

First sip and it's so rich, incredibly flavorful, and damn smooth. The alcohol immediately warms the insides, but is hidden extremely well inside the mouth. It tastes sweet like brown sugar and leaves a cold tickling haze like a clove cigarette. Tons of spice ravages the tongue and inner cheeks, and a swift kick at the end spirals through the bloodstream drilling into the brain. Man, this stuff is sweet. Those European hops are doing one hell of a job trying to hold it back too. Fruit like flavors bounce all over the place, showing up in random spots kinda like fireworks going off. There's caramel apple, fresh sliced pear covered in cinnamon and black pepper, grape must, ripped open raw fig, and even some nearly spoiled banana. While the sweetness here hits a high peak, spiking high above the spice and bitter departments at one point, all three of those things are blended superbly here.

Mouth feel is soft and fuzzy, and leaves a thick coating on the teeth. After a while the mixture of the alcohol strength, peppery yeast and grassy hops give way to a drying sensation and a grainy yet enjoyable aftertaste. Abt 12 has no doubt earned its spot in the back of my fridge.

St. Bernardus Pater 6 and Prior 8

St. Bernardus Pater 6 (2013)

Year Round Brew.

11.2 fl. oz. / $5.99 / 6.7% ABV

About: "StBernardus Pater 6 is a traditional abbey style dubbel, chestnut in color, very fruity with notes of melon and very fresh banana, finishing with slight bitterness. Delightfully easy to drink. One of the original recipes from the days of license-brewing for the Trappist monks of Westvleteren. This name became a reference. This beer is mostly pointed out with its product name: “a Paterke”."

Thoughts: Pater 6 poured a deep brown with some reddish shades and a very light tan, small silvery head that while wasn't all too thick, but stuck around till the end.

The beer is very malt forward. It's got that familiar St. Bernardus scent to it, subtle spices, Belgian yeast, and this time around a clean watery sensation. While the beer isn't as strong as their others, this one still has a very rich scent to it. Hints of raisins, apple and pear, without any strong fume from alcohol, it remains soft yet continuously vibrant and is slightly peppery.

The taste starts off very robust, with a huge bold taste up front, it's sweet, slightly tart with a prominent yet not all too strong bitterness to it. It's gentle, clean, a little spiced, a little peppery, fruity, and long lingering. The fruity aspect to it is probably what hits the hardest and lasts the shortest, but leaves the biggest impression. It's really ripe tasting. Like soft apples and pears sprinkled with black pepper. Based on the scent, I didn't expect the taste to be this heavy, but it's all there in full effect. The background base is like brown sugar, a little bit of clove, molasses and a hint of caramel.

Mouth feel is light, a little puffy and goes away clean. This is a very nice ale.

St. Bernardus Prior 8 (2013)

Year Round Brew

11.2 fl. oz. / $5.99 USD / 8% ABV

About: "St.Bernardus Prior 8 is a traditional abbey ale brewed in the classic "Dubbel" style of Belgium's Best Abbey Ales. It has a ruby to purple color, smooth, creamy richness of texture that is almost oily, and a malt-fruit complexity reminiscent of coconut. It finds the perfect balance between sweet, bitter and malty tastes. One of the original recipes from the days of license-brewing for the Trappist monks of Westvleteren."

Thoughts: Prior 8 poured a dark reddish-purple grape like color with a thick light tan head on top.

First whiff and I got some booze off of this one. It's strong and up front, but just underneath is that crisp apple and pear juice just like the Pater 6. This one doesn't seem to be as malt or yeast forward as the others. It's mainly just that fruity tone, peppery spices and a bit of alcohol.

This one starts off with a huge blast of raisin and tart cherry accompanied by forceful booze. Immediately after the swallow a gentle sting kicks in, like that of drinking a cherry flavored brandy. Only this beer has a lot of toasty dark bread, pine nuts, fiery wood and a lot of black pepper. While the yeast has imparted what seems to be the least amount of flavor in the brew, I'm finding this one to be the hoppiest out of all their beers I've tried. The tinge of alcohol really brings out the earthy and piney qualities, as well as a little bit of that oily dank. There's a good balance but something about this one seems a bit off to me. It's hard to pinpoint what it is exactly but it left a little bit of grunge on the back of my tongue and the aftertaste a little sour as well.

Mouth feel is slightly bubbly, it's smooth though oily and isn't as clean as I would have liked. This one smells a lot crisper than it actually is, but there's nothing wrong with that I suppose. I'll most likely try this one again sometime later just to see how it tastes the second time around. As it stands, this one is a beast.

St. Bernardus Wit and Tripel

St. Bernardus Wit - Pierre Celis Signature Selection (2013)
Collaboration Brew (Year Round).

11.2 fl. oz. / $5.99 USD / 5.5% ABV

About: "St. Bernardus Wit is a traditional Belgian white beer developed and brewed in collaboration with the legendary Master Brewer Pierre Celis. This ale is very pale (whitish-yellow color) and quite hazy. The head is white and dense. In aroma, it has a wheaty, apple-like, tartness; herbal-spicy notes with coriander and orange fruitiness and honey-ish sweetness. Very refreshing: perfect thirst quencher!"

Thoughts: St. Bernardus Wit poured a very cloudy yellow, almost lemonade or margarita colored. The head was stark white but very small, not something I would have expected from a wit. Upon inspection there's a ton of carbonation rising and the beer glows in the light.

The scent is wheat up front, even when popping the cap off the bottle it immediately hit me. I guess you could say that the Wit is strong with this one. There's that beautiful yeast which imparts a delicate aroma here. It's soft, slightly citrusty, crisp smelling and overall pleasant.

The beer starts off pretty sweet with a solid malt background that doesn't go overboard. All that gentle peppery spice flows in and the Belgian yeast slowly builds to a boil, then it kicks off with a huge smooch of all three things before falling back into a totally relaxing aftertaste. Yeah, this stuff is awesome. So flavorful. It's got a thorough yet gentle spice. There's a hint of lemon, but it's like lemon candy, only the perfect amount of it that's not heavy sour or strong, but just real soothing and enjoyable.

The mouth feel is a little dry, crisp and nice. I've had my fair share of wheat beers, and over time have come to enjoy them more for what they are. It was a hard earned appreciation for the style, sure, but that being said this tastes absolutely delectable! Old Chico from Sierra Nevada is something I've been dying to try again actually. When a wheat beer is done perfect, it certainly shines above the rest, and this beer here is the standard that all wheat beers should be held.

St. Bernardus Tripel (2013)
Year Round Brew.

11.2 fl. oz. / $5.99  / 8% ABV

About: "St.Bernardus Tripel is a traditional abbey ale brewed in the classic "Triple" style of Belgium's best Abbey Ales. This high fermentation beer has a pale amber color and a flowery, fruity taste with a harmonious balance between sweet and sour (8% alcohol content). It has a thick and vivid froth and strikes by its balanced taste with a delicate bitterness. Wonderfully drinkable and surprisingly light."

Thoughts: St. Bernardus Tripel poured a dense pear looking yellow color with a thick frothy white head. Only a small bit of visible light is seen through this total cloudy haze of a beer.

Well this one smells a little different than their others, though not all too much. Perhaps it's because I've just had the Pater 6 and Wit, but this one is definitely showing a bit more strength in the nose. Belgian yeast, spicy notes, a sweet lure of booze and soft warm bready malts come flowing through. In the background there's the hint of a tart fruitiness, like cherries.

First gulp and I can tell you right away that this is a marvelous tasting brew. It reminds me of Mad Elf a little bit actually. It's got a huge flavor to it, despite being only an 8% and not a 10-12%, the taste of this thing is absolutely massive. It's toasty, peppery and sweet. It's also so slightly tart it's hardly noticeable, and a there's nary a hint of bitterness. This beer is strong, sweet, refreshing and has a soft haze after each swallow. It doesn't seem all that complex, but that doesn't matter since overall this one is a beauty.

The mouthfeel on the Tripel is super smooth. It goes away pretty clean but that taste lingers inside the mouth for days. The aftertaste is wonderful, and left me feeling fine.

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale - Belgian Abbey Ale (2011)
Brewed and Bottled by Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV in Watou, Belgium. Western Europe.
Winter Seasonal (Limited Release)
25.4 fl. oz. / $11.99 USD / 10% ABV

12 fl. oz. / $ 6.45 USD / 10% ABV (2013)

About: "St. Berneardus Christmas Ale is the youngest descendant in the illustrious family of delicious Abbey Ales brewed since 1946. This specialty ale is characterized by its deep dark color with a creamy, thick head, and full, almost velvety mouthful with a fruity nose. These exceptional quality ales are brewed by using only the finest malts, local grown hops, yeast and Artesian water pumped from a depth of 500 feet."

Second Thoughts: One of my very first Christmas ales and one that I've really fallen in love with with each time I drink it. Pours a dark reddish brown with a thick luxurious head full of foamy bubbles. The scent is incredible as always.

Poured this into my goblet. The smell is just beautiful. Nicely spiced and that base beer underneath is stupendous. A real treasure. The taste is out of this fucking world. It just explodes into a galaxy of flavors and all of them are amazing. Dark fruits, plums, sweet haze of booze, luscious malt bill, beautiful spice that tingles on the tongue.

A crazy mouth feel that just pops everywhere. The head hits with the liquid and gets between the gums and tingle away. It's smooth and soft. Nice.

This is one of my favorite beers of all time.

Thoughts: Uncorked this bad boy and there was a lot of smoke. It poured a very dark, almost bloody looking amber with a creamy, puffy head that foamed like mad. It's got a very unique color that I haven't seen much. A strange hue. Not really brown and not really nearly purple, but interesting nonetheless.

Alcohol, malt and hops hit the nose first as this one is still cold. I breathe in harder and get a whiff of cinnamon and spice. Smells really sweet, but there's a lingering hop in there that's being naughty! As it warms the nose stays its ground. Defiant one, aren't we!?

Malty, little attack of the hops. Spices are nice and full flavored. It's a bit peppery. Picking up dark fruits, almost like ripped open plums in blackberry juice... Dashes of nutmeg and freshly ground cinnamon. There's an undertone of grapes or wine, but it doesn't distract. The clove here, is probably the deciding factor in a brew like this. This clove is blended to perfection within the contents of the brew's entirety. It comes off sweet, mild and smokey but doesn't leave any languishing harshness. It falls back appropriately and lets the other spices, malt and hops just circle around and twirl. Very nice.

Pretty damn creamy. Heavy froth in the mouth. Thick. This is some serious drinking.

Aftertaste is bready. I really like this beer. Don't love it necessarily, as for a Christmas brew that tinge of extra-strong awkward hop comes through a bit much, but damn is it still good. A Hell of a lot better than most of the rest I've tried. So far this is ranking about 2'nd place out of the holiday feasting.

Ah, this is bottle conditioned. I just poured the rest of it into my mug. Not that I can see anything in there as it's hazy as a snowy Christmas morning. Another thing I like about this one is that this brew doesn't fuck around. The booze is hard, and these are some hard times. So therefore, I thank you St. Bernardus. You've made the moment in time a little more tolerable. Until next time.