St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition

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

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.

Pours a cloudy deep dark brown with some reddish-yellow highlights. Aroma is quite sweet, with a strong candy sugar element and molasses, with some raisins, plums and wheat behind that. Taste has a lot of those flavors, with the sugar and molasses hitting first, with some slightly tangy pear, and yeast presence making themselves known. There’s a slight chocolate and vanilla taste midway through sipping, but that’s subdued (more present in the normal edition). Finishes fairly dry and lightly bitter, thanks to yeast and mild hops. Very good, lots of flavors to this. Not QUITE as good as Rochefort 10, but I couldn’t really fault this beer for doing anything wrong. I think I prefer the normal edition for it’s deeper chocolate tones, but this is great, and has a stronger yeast/hops presence.

This rates up there with some of the best beers I’ve ever tried. Pours a light brown, with a strong head, and decent lacing. It has a bit more hop then the standard St. Bernardus Abt 12... which makes me love it even more.

750mL Best Before: See Bottle on the bottle, so I dunno. Pours a clear but nearly opaque orange brown with a four finger rocky light beige head. Aroma of some doughy yeast, light citrusy and spicy peppery hops, dust, candy sugar, maybe some figs. Flavor is still pretty yeasty and spicy and there is a fair amount of warming alcohol, but not getting to the point of being boozy. Still has the powdered sugar, juicy raisins and figs in there as well. Bone dry finish, slightly bitter. Not as full bodied as I’d have though, with some moderate carbonation which I suppose was pretty high about 15 minutes ago. Pretty nice beer--I’d actually like to do a tasting of this and the regular 12 side by side to see if there really is a 0.4 point difference as I had earlier rated.