St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition

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

bottle: pours a dark ruby brown colour with a very large off white head. aroma is sweet malts, vanilla, fruits mostly fresh plum, spices. flavour is nice and smooth with sweet malts, fresh fruits upfront and nice spice, yeast and caramel malts in the finish. this beer is overwhelmingly smooth for 11%.

Bottle (750ml) shared at ’Biegaman’s Summer Gathering’ -- courtesy of tupalev. Pours a cloudy dark orange-brown with a large lasting foamy beige head. Aroma of sweet malt, yeast, spices, some dark fruit and brown sugar. Flavour of dry yeast and caramel malt, dark fruit, a little sugary, some faint spices and a bitter alcohol finish. Medium to full bodied. Basically a bigger version of the St. Bernardus Abt 12 -- very good!

There seems to be a flavor of a very ripe strawberry here along with vanilla plums, berries, yeasty bitter fruits, some slightly leathery chocolate malts, and evident alcohol. It retains some of the yeasty carbonated qualities of Abbot 12 but is not as dry, has more fruit flavors, and does not have the balance that beer has. But it is definitely heavier and more interesting IMHO.

Beautiful chestnut colored beer, lasting beige head; Big pleasant balanced nose with lots of great aromas with sweet chestnut cream sticking out; Big soft carbonation in big soft body that is a bit to sweet; Lots of powerful aromas in finish, again lots of chestnut, very sweet and slightly bitter. Not as elegant and balanced as the "normal" version.

Pours deep amber into a trappist glass. Fluffy medium head with excellent retention leaves no lacing as it recedes to skim surface. Dark rum and pit fruit aromas. Dry and spicy caramel with a lasting buttered rum raisin finish. Taste is more like a Belgian dark than the regular Abt 12.

Clouded Brown with Big Sandy Sudsy Head. Malt and Dry Spices, Yeast Aroma. Very Carbonated. Sweet Malt, Dry Bread Notes, Raisins, Dried Fruit...Yeasty. Dry Spiced Yeast Aftertaste. Smooth for the Alcohol. Peppery Spice Stays With You. More Carbonation Then I Would Like but a Solid Belgian.

Abt. 12 is one of my favoruite beers. I should A/B the regular version sometime with the Special Edition while I have a chance. I recall some vanilla, raisins, spices, lots of sweet fig, and a dark malty character. St. Bernardus is just plain awesome.

Har this with Easter diner. Clody brown with fluffy beige head. Aroma of yeast and dark fruits. The taste was the same with sweet flavors throughtout. Figs and grape are also detected. Alcoholic finish.