St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition

Formerly brewed at St. Bernard Brouwerij
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Watou, Belgium

750 ml brown, Belgian bottle. Came in a big tin can, straight from Belgium. Thanks to a good friend who thought of me. Corked & caged. Loud pop released the cork. Poured out a deep amber color, with some red highlights. It has a huge mocha colored head. Aromas are of bananas, cloves, some esters. Dark dried, rum soaked fruits, and a whiff of dank basement round out the aromas. Flavors are of dried, rum soaked plums & raisins, some banana, sweet malts. Thick mouthfeel, decent body. Finished malty & earthy. Tasty beer overall.

This poured a dark cola color into a tulip glass, with a several inch thick frothy head. Giant bubbles slowly dissipated, leaving a healty covering of foam on top of the beer. Aroma was typical of a Belgian Ale. Strong yeast, fruit, bananas, spices. I liked this version a lot more than the regular Abt 12. Slight alcoholicy, sweet, a bit of an overripe banana aftertaste. As beer warmed, alcohol taste came to the forefront. Very rich and luxurious. This beer does taste like one of the finest around. Mouthfeel was good. Very creamy and smooth. Alcohol was waming and bitter as beer warmed. It is very strong, but the alcohol was quite well hidden. Scarily drinkable!! This was an excellent beer. At $12 a 750 ml bottle, it is pricey compared to other beers, however when compared to a fine bottle of wine, this becomes a real bargain. An excellent choice if you want to show your wine drinking friends how good a beer can be.

Holy moly I didn’t expect this beer to live up to the hype. My pal told me this was as good as any other Quad he’d had but I haven’t ever had any other quad to my knowledge so I guess all quads must be delicious. Annnnyway, poured from the 750 into a snifter. This beer has a pretty big head and it stays around for awhile, the color was like deep walnut brown. Smelled very sweet, tasted way more interesting though. Like bread, sweet dough etc. I don’t agree with the folks saying this tastes of fig and raisin ’cause I didn’t catch any of the dull taste that comes with that description. This is allegedly the top favourite of the main beer guy at Kensington Wine Market in Calgary. I can understand why. Very delicious.

St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition is excellent. Truely one of the best ever made.

Bottle thanks to NYbeer, thanks Steven. Poured a deep ruby brown color with a thick off-white head that stuck around quite well and left some nice lacing. Aroma of Sweet malt with a light spicy caramel with some light fruit (plum, fig, raisin) and some light yeast. Smooth, light caramel maltiness with some light, spicy fruit (mostly plum, some raisin) leads into some yeastiness and a soft hop hit that leaves a nice bitterness on the tongue. Nice smooth, full feel on the palate with a light bitter finish. Good stuff, thanks again Steven.

2008-04-11. Dark brown body with a good sized beige head and lacing. (4+) Sweet aroma of malt has a mild nutty note to it at first. Sweet malty flavour, sweet sugary undertones, muted caramel, just a little bit of alcohol dries it out a bit. (7+) Smooth medium bodied palate. (3+) Not super complex, and did not wow me like I had hoped, but was very drinkable and enjoyable. Bottle courtesy of trade with TheCheeseMan shared with Mabel and DuctTape.

Bouteille de 750 ml partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal chez Glouglouburp. Arôme: Odeur de caramel avec une pointe d’épices. Apparence: La couleur est ambrée opaque. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de caramel avec une pointe de banane et d’épices. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture minérale. Forte effervescence en bouche. Épices en arrière goût. (Rating #1609)

Pours clear mahogany with a big, rocky, off-white pillow for a head. Spiced aroma with a fair amount of nutmeg, cinnamon, maple syrup, cookie dough, raisin, almonds, spun sugar, and yeast. Velvety mouthfeel. Sweet up front with heavier malt, maple syrup, candi sugar, and butterscotch. The beer warms as it develops more spice, banana, and vanilla notes. Finish is long, leaving caramel, hops, and yeast esters behind. It treads the fine line of being rich and sweet without being sickeningly sticky or overly spiced. Excellent beer.