St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition

750 ml bottle. Pours deep brown in colour with a decent head. Shows a little bit cloudy. Aroma is sweet, even some raisin showing through. Flavour is intense, leaning toward sweet, but nicely balanced. Not highly carbonated. A treat to try!

750 ml. Deep amber with reddish highlights. Large, fizzy off-white body that slowly diminishes to a thin layer of bubbles. The aroma is fruity with raisin and plum. Notes of candy, sugar, dates, clove and moldiness/mustiness. The flavor is heavily sweet and lightly bitter. It finishes moderately to heavily sweet, moderately bitter and lightly acidic. Tastes of overripe fruit, cotton candy, vanilla, raisins along with the warming of alcohol and leaving a slight sensation of mold. Excellent mouthfeel with a full body, velvety texture, lively carbonation. Classic quad, though a little chewier and richer than Westy and, at the same time, not as complex and much sweeter. A little more bitterness would have helped the balance, but still tasty.

750ml bottle: Brown pour with ruby highlights. The aroma is sweet and fruity - a nice mix of brown sugar and banana. Raisin, burnt caramel, cherry, cane sugar all add to the complex nose. Big, sweet body. Lots of candy sugar sweetness along with a healthy dose of caramel sweetness equals a really sweet experience. The complex yeast adds nice depth and some Golding influence helps counteract the sugar, but it wins in the end.

Finally opening one of these after at least 2 yrs of cellaring. Half a bottle down, no supper... feeling wobbly! Dark brown with ample murkiness after the sediment dump. Each pout has produced a very large foamy light brown cap that leaves endless lacing and good retention. Nice aroma, exactly what I expected here: raisin, plum, ample soft spices (cloves mainly), candy, dates, brown sugar, salt, yum! And the taste... very very good! In no particular order: caramel, brown sugar / molasses, obvious sweetness, nutmeg, raisins, light smoke?, touch of alcohol that is no distraction, tasty! Somehow I drank 750ml of 11% beer in under an hour and neglected to review it until the final glass full. Mouth feel is very smooth, ample bubbly carbonation early on, light bitterness after drinking the sludge. Looks like I will need a re-review when I open one of the other ones that are still sitting after all this time. Excellent brew, next time I will put it up against a St. Bern 12 ABT of the same vintage to compare.

Bottle, thx to henrikb. It pours a cute amber to copper body with microfloaties and a creamy beige head. Cellar, dried fruits, sugars and spices blend nicely in the aroma. It’s sweet, smooth and warming in the mouth, full-bodied and nicely carbonated. There’s flavors of white sugar, dried fruits, some alcohol and caramel sweetness, with a nice bitterness in the finish. Just really lovely. 090724

Bottle.Pours dark brown with an almost beige head.Aroma of caramel,spice,bread/grains, some alcohol and a kinda earthy sent.Flavor is caramel, a bit fruity,sweet,some spice with a bitter finish.Full bodied and oh so nice.

Thought I rated this one already? Oh well, found my notes. I prefer the regular 12. Tasted very similar but a bit too much alcohol heat/bite.

750ml bottle 8/12/09 (Shared with BeerandBlues2 & RSRIZZO)-Pours a hazy amber with a small off white head. Aroma of roasted malt, grains, yeast, and slight alcohol. Taste of malt, yeast, and caramel. This medium bodied brew is well balanced and tasty.