St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

33cl bottle from Sip, Tallinn. Pours slightly hazy dark amber with a lasting, off-white head. Malty and fruity aroma with Belgian yeast, hints of bananas, caramel and mild spices. Medium sweet with classic Belgian flavours and a light bitterness. Well integrated alcohol. Pleasant winter warmer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

750ml bottle
Appearance: Pours a dark brown with a large creamy white head and lots of lacing left in the glass
Aroma: Belgian yeast, fruits and banana’s
Taste: Yeast, bread, alcohol and fruits with a slightly spicy/bitter finish
A very good beer that I will sip on for awhile tonight and let it warm me up.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Poured on tap at the Oldsmar Tap House. Pours deep dark semi opaque brown with crescent moon shaped off white head. The mild aroma has spices, brown sugar, cherries and apples. It is a little too light to really pick out all the aromatics, at least for me. The taste has an initial pulse of varied winter spices quickly followed by sweet malts and a touch of molasses. By midway the dark fruitiness over powers the other notes with prunes, red apples, a hint of cherry and apricot. It ends with lingering fruit sweetness, cinnamon and malt.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle: I feel honored off the bat as the first none person from Denmark to rate this thanks to Kerstbierfestival! It pored a hazy dark brown with a creamy off white head, The aroma was fruity and complex spice. It finished similar with fruit and a dry tangy spice/alcohol zip.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

This beer is always around for sale during the season and I won’t compliant. Got a four pack this. I haven’t had a real Belgian in a while so it’s a real treat. Excellent foam with perfect lacing. Dark, reddish brown color. A strong beer that presents no difficulty in attempts to finish it. Alcohol is very warming and drying in the finish to contrast the sweet, dark fruit and bready start. Full body with a lightly fizzy carbonated texture. Try it if you haven’t!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

750ml bottle. Pours a huge bubbly beige head and has a cloudy murky brownish appearance. Very thick, sticky lacing. Aromas of yeast, spices, toasty malts, dark fruits. Flavours of dried type fruits (raisins, plums) has hints of molasses, yeast, barley malts. Good balance of sweetness and bitterness. Smooth and slick mouthfeel. Alcohol is nicely hidden, cannot tell this is a 10% abv beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Pours clean deep amber colour with a hauge frothy light-beige head, good retention and foamy lacing. Belgian Ale yeast smell with spices, hops and some hints of dark fruits. The taste has some sourness from the cherries, mild spices and the Belgian Ale yeast. Some dark notes lingers. Goes down quite easy and all very well-balanced.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Good stuff as usual from St. Bernardus. Small persistent head over a dark mahogany body. Fruity, dark malt and spice aroma. A multitude of flavours all come together to make this an excellent Christmas brew. A tad sweet but after a few Guinness this will give me quite a buzz.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

750ml bottle
10.0% ABV
King/Spadina LCBO Outlet (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
November 20, 2014
The 2014 Birthday beer. The beer pours a murky reddish brown with a huge generous rocky light tan coloured head that lasts. The aroma yeast, dark fruits, fresh baked bread, roasted malt, and spices. The mouthfeel was full-bodied with above average carbonation. The flavour was dark malt, plums, nutmeg, yeast, and roasted malt. Another great beer from my favourite brewer!

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 8

Bottle shared w/ Tim. Dark ruby brown off-white lacing foam. Sweet caramel aroma and taste, bit too sweet. But may be I should not drink a Christmas beer in August. (Efteling 201408)