St. Bernardus Prior 8

Brewed by St. Bernard Brouwerij
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Watou, Belgium

Bottle. Caramel pour with nice lacing and a medium tan head. Aroma of brown sugar and caramel. Taste of malt with sugar and spice. Great finish.

Aroma is sweet with a Belgian yeast scent and roasted caramel. Color is a hazy orange brown with light carbonation and a thin but tight head. Taste is fruity and sweet. Starting with a full/medium body it that goes down with a fizzy feel. Finish comes in with a sweet malt taste that is followed by a fruity Belgian yeast and a hint of dried fruit then ends with just a tiny bitterness. After taste goes a little spicy then, an alcohol feel comes though. This is a very good Belgian brew. This is the third beer I have had from this brewery and I love them all.

Bottle purchased at beverages for less in Santee. I love this style more and more with each sample. Awesome dough like flavors and some plum too. Very good.

33cl. bottle: Dark chestnut brown with red highlights. A long lasting, rich, creamy light tan head sits proudly on top. Immediately upon opening the bottle your nose detects sugar (of the dark syrup variety), some roasted malt, and some wood. Not exactly a "wood-aged" character but something musty, woody, with a touch of green. A touch of alcohol back there someplace and possibly also a pinch of licorice. On the tongue you first notice cookie dough. This moves into sugar and some dark, but not quite roasted, malts. A touch of raisin and low plum adds a nice fruit touch. Throughout the entire taste is some green-wood that adds astringency which helps the hops balance the sweetness. Dark sugars, alcohol and green-wood take you through the finish. Always a hit.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Stockholm) Dark brown colour with huge, frothy, beige head. Malty nose with notes of dark fruit, caramel, plums, chocolate and pomegranate. Malty taste with caramel, marzipan, dark fruit, prunes, chocolate and a slightly spicy finish. Sweet, clean and fresh. Slowly creeping up on you as a very nice beer.

Shared bottle with Timfoolery from Monument Liq. Poured a brown color and had a deep sweet malty smell. Tastes of dark fruit, ie raisins and dates, but just does not live up to the best Trappist brews. But all in all a great beer.

Bottle from Monument Liq in Concord. This one looked great upon pour, as it exhibited large head and a deep, unfiltered brown color. It tasted like muddled dark fruit, typical of a Trappist Belgian Strong, and the palate lacked control of the alcohol and strong flavors. It was ok for the genre.

I tasted this beer before I got my account with ratebeer, so I can’t really remember all the flavors.