St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition

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

Amzingly complex yet delcate and lush nose of dark fruit, pralines, toffee, caramel, molasses, brown sugar and treacle. Big rich velvety mouthfeel with ever so slight hop bittering. Dark fruits including plums, black currant and blackberry coat the tongue. Wondeful conditioning and lingering finish cap off an amazing brew.

From C&C 750. Pours dark brown with a foamy off white head. Nose of sweet bread and lucious dark fruits. Flavor follows, soft and well integrated. Big improvement over normal Berny, especially for being as young as it is.

750 ml bottle

I picked two of these up at Steve’s once they came in. One to try now, and another to age for a while. Since I liked it I should probably go back for a a third. At $10.99 it is reasonably priced for something this good. On the whole I think I prefer the regular Abt 12 more but only just. This one is still excellent across the board.

Aroma / Appearance - A dark chocolate colored liquid flowed out of the bottle into my waiting St Bernardus goblet. It was so dark it was almost black. A vanilla colored head lingered over the top, eventually settling to a thin layer. The lacing was so stubborn that even when I was done with the first glass I could see layers, like sediment, at each point. The nose was amazing - dark chocolate, vanilla, licorice, caramel toffee and brown sugar. I was hoping for a little bit more but I could still sit for an hour just enjoying the aromas coming off this.

Flavor / Palate - Creamy butterscotch combined with rich dark chocolate truffles were the first things to hit my eager senses. If this were a chocolate, I could only eat about two before being overwhelmed by the quality. Cherries, caramel, toffee and apples followed in the next few sips. Towards the end I was able to detect raisins and dark malts. The finish was peppery but not overly spicy. It does not seem like 11% ABV at all until you get to the bottom of the bottle, when it hits you. I’ll have to get another regular Abt 12 to compare but I think I like the regular version just a bit better. Both are still excellent and should be sampled.

Murky brown, slight ruby shines through. Tannish head. Nose is spice (ginger), yeast, brown maltiness, caramel, apple, slight alcohol. Also a hint of citrus & hoppy tea. Flavor is caramel, yeast, spices I can’t place (unibroue-esque), malty goodness. Alcohol tingle. Nice creamy body.

Deep hazy brown with white fluffy head. Aroma is of sweet malts mixed with dried fruits. Great mouth feel. Taste is of caramel malts with nice sweet apple and dried fruits. More of a hop bitter finish than the regular St. Bernardus really only difference I can tell.

From a 750 ml bottle and poured into a tulip glass. The body is a very dark brown with some nice garnet colored highlights. The head is a dark khaki color and lasts for a while. The aroma has some new leather, prunes and milk chocolate. There is also a hint of fresh whole grain bread. The taste has some rich toffee and apples. There is also a nice note of milk chocolate and pears in the finish. The mouthfeel is silky smooth with soft carbonation and it’s amazingly light for the abv. Nicely done.

C&C 750. Garnet brown pour with a dark tan head. Sweet, malty nose, brown sugar. Sweet flavor, bready, fruity and malty. Seems to be slightly more flavorful and a softer mouthfeel than the standard 12.

Any first impressions?
-A warming sheet of foam protects the burgundy-tinged darkness.
-Roastiness and potent raisins produce a firm, rich nose, which is somewhat less yeasty than its regular Abt counterpart.
-Chocolate and roastiness mingle with the raisins and prunes in the most elegant manner.
-The fluffy carbonation and muscular maltiness join for a delectably massive yet classy mouthfeel.

What if you dig deeper?
-Roastiness and sweet malts are ably balanced.
-Caramel builds within for the pleasure of maltheads.
-Alcohol warms up the back end, but perfectly mixes with the supporting hops.
-A fascinatingly rich and reverend Abt from St.Bernardus isn’t exactly a surprise, but to meet my high expectations this one had to deliver, and boy did it ever.

Bottles; the one batch?