St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition

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

750 ml bottle. Beer number 1 of my "I got bumped from my flight two days before Christmas and now I’m going to get drunk". Deep brown colour with a thick pillow of pale yellow head. Beautiful malty aroma, herbal hops, mint and sage over a deeply caramelized malt base. Dark whole-wheat bread, dried plums and cherries but also some lighter apple/pear esters as well. Sweet bubble gum, clove/cinnamon and a touch of rye character in the nose as well. A fairly intense spearmint aroma, especially as it warms. The mint along with the alcohol helps create a cooling effect that I seem to recall from the regular Abt 12 as well. Great flavour with plums and cherries mingling throughout the dark toasted malts. Rye-like spiciness, lingering mint/herbal character. Very similar to the regular Abt 12, which isn’t really a bad thing.

Bottle - Rating #2,000. A dark brown color with a nice tan head. Great spices, including cloves and ginger. The dark fruits like raisins and plums come through well on an earthy, semi-sweet malt base. My rating 1,000 was the De Dolle Speciaal Brouwsel 20, so this seems like a fitting compliment for the second milestone. This one rated #1 out of 8 in our annual Christmas gathering (12/22/06).

Big thanks to jasonmech77. Deep amber body with a clingy, foamy white head. Nice malty depth in the aroma, plus a touch of young green squash. Flavor has light tobacco, toffee, and sweet plum highlights, plus some unripe qualities. Oddly green tasting still. Perhaps some extended cellaring will bring out more complexity and round this beer out more.

Bottle purchased at Ledger’s in Berkeley, CA. Sampled side by side with the regular edition. Vintages have got to be within 6 months of each other. This beer was slightly lighter in color than the normal St. B 12. The aroma was also a little more sour and not as sweet or nutty. More carbonated, more sour, more astringent and acidic. More floral. Not as enjoyable as the regular St. B 12 and certainly not worth the extra $8.

Dark pit fruits, bubblegum, brown sugar, floral hops and toasty, biscuity malts in the aroma with some doughlike yeast and occasional suggestions of alcohol. Hazy dark amber-brown coloured body is crowned by a fluffy, off white/cream head that recedes slowly to a lasting cover with some nice lacing on the glass. Nicely blended flavour offers chocolate, plums, raisins, bubblegum, burnt brown sugar, toasty, bready, biscuity malts, some lemony citrus and herbal, floral, haylike notes. Alcohol content is apparent but fits nicely. Full body with velvety thick texture. Strong alcohol warming and lazy carbonation that seems entirely appropriate. Dangerously drinkable considering the ABV. Bottle enjoyed with BeerPrince, frink, CapFlu and Oakes.

Dark brown, with a tan head. Aromas are malt, yeast, dark fruit, and nuts. Flavors are malt, dark fruit, yeast and nuts, with a somewhat dry finish.

From a caged corked 750 ml. bottle with a short blurb on the back, sampled at cellar temperature in a chalice. Poured a dark nutty brown with a fluffy, foamy off-white/pale tan head that settled into a thin sudsy lacing, minimal amount of laced sticking. Aromas of fruity esters, yeasty, a nutty caramel and cocoa, herbal, spicy and whiffs of medicinal alcohol. Good active carbonation and a dry, crisp, carbonated creamy full bodied mouthfeel. Delicious tasting, candied sugary, caramel with a light cocoa, slight nutty grain breadiness, a soft sour citric fruitiness, spicy, herbal hops with a soft bitterness, earthy clove, brief flashes of clear alcohol, warming in the back of the palate, and a dry yeasty, sweet caramel and bready finish with a lingering alcohol flavor. Easy, smooth, dangerously quaffable, you need to remember this is a sipper, a great Belgian ale.

Incredibly dark brown color with a thick, tan head. Strong sugary aroma along with a fair dose of yeast. Dark fruit and malt flavors. Rich, but not crazy over-the-top sweetness like a dopplebock. Can’t even tell it’s alcoholic by the taste. Smooth, lightly bitter finish with some herbal tones.