St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition

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

750ml caged and corked bottle from The Lighthouse in Manchester. Pours a translucent copper-amber color with chunks of yeast floating around and a good inch of off-white head. Smells malty, citrussy, and nutty. Tastes chocolatey, fruity/citrussy, malty, and nutty. Lively carbonation and surprisingly light-to-medium body make this a surprisingly drinkable beer for the style and complexity. A tasty drinkable quad, and one of the better ones I’ve had. I’ll definitely be getting another one to see how it ages, should I find it again.

A Mes rate: bottle thanks to Vivi.
Vivi gave me this hugely appreciated freebie when Sim and I were having dinner one night. I have hung onto it until Duff’s birthday came along. Seemed like a good time to open it.Anyway the beer... Cloudy dark amber with a thin but solid white head and lots of Belgian lace. Much lighter in colour than the regular Abt 12. The addition of the pale malts really make a difference. The complex malts are completely obvious in the aroma backed up with spice, yeast, sweet bread and some delicate hops giving lovely balance. Beautiful light caramel sweetness too. Flavour has everything that the nose has but is let down a little by a very slight metallic note. Stunning bread, cake and Christmas spice elsewhere however. Lovely bitterness in the finish where the Challenger, Goldings and Poperinge all come through at once followed by a malt extravaganza. Awesome finish in fact. Beautiful palate. Really really good. (Although that Westy McBogan Duff with tell you it’s a 2.4)

Pours a dark brown with a thin tan foamy head. Aroma of malt,yeast fruit, and alcohol. Taste of malt plum raisan and nutty. This is one of my favorite Trappists!

Pours a dark brown with red highlights. Medium sized tan head. Sweet aroma of raisins and plums. Ripe fruit and yeasty in flavor with some alcohol notes.

I wish I drank this with a regular Abt 12 to compare. This one pours a cloudy dark red with a very thick tan head. I was apparently careless with the pour because there is a bunch of yeast in suspension and at the bottom. The smell is pretty sweet and malty and has raisins, yeast, and other dark fruits in it. The flavor is very malty and spicy. I get some black pepper in there and the raisins are there too. I don’t get any of the hops that should be in there. This has lower drinkability because it is too sweet to drink too much of. I don’t think I would drink this again.

Bottle at ultimate glasgow tasting. Aroma gives peachy, yeasty, candy sugar, fruity, almonds, nutty, wheat. Taste is similar, noteably wheaty yeasty character, but balanced and drinkable.

Bottle at Toms Ultimate Glasgow Tasting ... Deep brown ... very malty yeasty nose ... deep fruit malt tones with some almond and again some yeasty toes. good deptha nd character.

Side by side with Westy 12... perhaps not the best idea to show this beer off! Rich clear brown red with a dense creamy smooth tan head. Creamy round malt. Heavy on the bready aspects. Light spice. Small dark fruit. Lightweight compared to Westy 12! No big dark malt presense, more of a suggestion, but it works. Full creamy body. Lght on the tongue and yet creamy, like the Westy. Creamy light. Sweet alcohol, fruit, malt. alcohol builds into the flavor makign this lighter and fruitier. A bit creamy. Slightly acidic apple. Slight hint of spice. This is a nice beer, no doubt.