St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition

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

Bottle tasted 8/2/07.

Pours a deep and lovely brown with a modest head; I get a big fruity aroma, lots of plums and dates, along with ample dark caramel and spice. The flavors is rich and full, just the right amount of sweet dried fruit atop spicy yeast notes, some chocolate, brandy. Alcohol is quite subdued on the tongue, though one can feel it through the sinuses, the body is rich but not at all sticky.

Very, very nice. I think with a couple of years the flavors are going to really meld together beautifully, and I’m glad to have a few more bottles waiting in the cellar.

Rating #3600: I picked this one up for myself for Christmas, but I guess I’m getting too old to have any patience with aging. Nice looking ale, a clear brown body highlighted in ruby with a modest yet sustained ecru head. This has quite a fruity nose - plums, dark cherries, raisins, dates - and has toffee, chocolate, and faint floral scents. The alcohol really isn’t apparent until it enters the bloodstream. Medium-to-light bodied, a light brown spicing and some aniseed join into the flavor along with a mild floral bitterness. A very pleasant sipping beer, mayhaps a bit too warming for July, but quite enjoyable nonetheless.

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The pour reveals a clear brown color with a thin offwhite head. Excellent aroma and flavor of malt, chocolate, licorice, raisins, plums, the malt is round and rich. The body is medium with a liquorous texture and gentle carbonation. World class.

I loved the tin container this came in, a collectable item. Pours with an opaque ruby red color with an initially large off-white head, fairly even. Aroma is crisp, fresh rain water, not usually assosiated with a Quad, a sweet yeast comes out, straw and some spices, but no alcohol. Taste is mildly sweet but the hops really come out with some slow tasting, strong Belgium influence obviously but it ties in nicely with the crisp aroma. Finish is mildly off for me, faintly metallic but overall an outstanding beer.

Bottled. Touch fuller with a bigger body than the Abt 12. Aroma is quite fruity and spicy. Beige head chestnut brown color.

Pours a deep copper brown with a huge just off white head. A lighter belgian yeast then other quads. The light spice/lemon hops and candi suger malt are very balanced. Not as intense/complex as rochefort, but very smooth.

Very deep burgundy brown color with great head. Very strong sour yeasty aroma. Flavor is quite sour and a bit hoppier than the regular Abt 12. Not as good as the regular.

I love this beer. Deep mahogany color, with a thick off-white colored head. Aroma is malt, candi sugar, dried dark fruits, caramel...The flavor is amazingly complex, seems as if the extra time in the bottle has changed this monster of a beer. Very pronounced marshmallow flavor and even mouth feel, with a very apparent licorice, yes SoLan, Good and Plenty. Awesome beer.