Christmas Ale
Brouwerij Sint-Bernard (St. Bernardus)

 

*archived review*

330ml bottle poured into a Delirium Noel snifter
Enjoyed as a Christmas nightcap

P- pours a nice-looking deep mahogany w/ a 1-2f khaki head; great retention
n- soft nose of spices and yeast; mild malty sweetness comes out as it opens
t- dark fruits (grapes, raisins) over spiced bready malt; gets bolder and more cohesive as it warms; pleasant
mf- light-med bodied w/ a high carb level; prickly forward, smooth finish; carb interferes with the profile a bit, imo
o- not quite as memorable as I was hoping for and a bit light/over-carbonated for the style, but decent

Review date: 12.25.18
Bottle date: not captured

 

Pours a dark, translucent brown with plenty of beige foam. Smell is bread, raisin and those Belgian esters. Flavor starts strong and quite sweet, raisins and cherries. This is balanced in the middle by a very healthy dose of spices, ginger, cinnamon, allspice or clove, a little alcohol and a little phenol. The alcohol and spices carry through to a warm aftertaste, especially once the beer warms. All of the flavor elements also contribute to nice mouthfeel, the roundness of the malt/fruit balancing the zing of the spices and alcohol. As was previously said, this really does taste like Christmas in a bottle, and a very merry one at that.

The wide disagreement among the reviews either implies significant variation between years or, more likely for a beer with a nominal 5 year shelf life, significant changes over time after bottling. This review reflects a bottle date coded 05-2028, making it middle aged. I plan to put a bottle away for next year to see how it ages.

 

 

 

On tap at Knights Steak House in Ann Arbor, MI. What a treat.
Looks dark brown and clear with a tan head that dissipates into a ring with splotches of foam and some lacing.
Smells like caramel and raisin with a hint of Christmas spices.
Tastes like fruitcake with raisins and dried cherries. There's some cinnamon and ginger on the back end.
Feels medium body and a little foamy.
10 %, no way. This is a very tasty beer.

 

Lovely quad from St. Bernardus. It tastes like Christmas, and the aroma is heavenly.

Poured into a chalice: color amber, head is very light tan with fine bubbles and presents one finger thick, head dissipates to thin top more solid ring along the glass sides.

Smell is bread, aged fruit, light raisin, light spice, belgian yeast phenolics.

Taste is more bread, caramel, light aged fruit with raisin and plum and cherry notes, light spice notes with subtle ginger and light all spice, Belgian yeast phenolics.

Mouthfeel is moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, low bitterness and even low drying even at 10% abv.

Overall a subtly spiced quad that is quite drinkable.

Pours a clear dark amber brown color with scant foam which resolves quickly with minimal lacing, from a 11.2 ounce can into
a Leffe tulip glass. Aroma of raisin, dark bread and booze with similar flavors. Just amazing.

Poured room temp from a 750ml bottle into a 16oz pint glass. Pours a clear deep amber with a 4 finger pinkish head. Plenty of carbonation bubbles. Head lingers for a while and leaves lacing along the glass.
Aroma is fruity esters, banana, apple, some spice, musty cellar.
Taste follows the nose with some musty yeast, bread, buttered biscuit, seasonal spices, apple, some banana in here, malty deliciousness.
Mouthfeel is medium. Pillowy smooth feel to this one. Great balance of sweet fruits and malt at the front and warming booze and some subtle hop flavor on the back.
This is good....really good. Happy holidays!

Poured from a 750 ml bottle with an expiration date of 5/2027, into goblets.

Look: Dark brown, with a huge tan head that receded fairly quickly, and left no foam and only minimal lacing.

Nose: Roasted malt, sweet spices, and fresh stone fruit.

Attack: Follows the nose, but not near as robustly as I would have hoped, nor as I remember from past years.

Finish: Helps out — contributes a little more depth to the flavor, and adds a little bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium, a little too much carbonation.

Overall: A fairly good quad. I’ve enjoyed it with our Christmas dinner — grilled venison loin — in years past, but not as much this year (2025). Either my tastes have changed, and/or this edition itself isn’t as flavorful and is more carbonated.

 

Nice winter warmer with great palate heft and balance, good fruity, raisiny, malty, sweetness flavors and certainly a smooth fooler of a 10%er. A sipper for sure.

 

This beer leaves me wanting more in the way of boldness and rich layers of flavor for 10% ABV. Plum and fruit bread notes are available with some yeasty esters joining in. It is smooth and drinkable with a medium full feel. Subtlety is this beer's main attribute, while not a bad thing in the slightest, I'd prefer other Belgian Christmas ales over this.

2 years old best by 5/26 cellared. Hasn’t lost a step. Still very Belgian. Alcohol very hidden so be careful

An easy through-the-head pour into a goblet released a fat finger of creamy light beige foam with very long retention, it thins but doesn't quit. Hazy dark mahogany brown, muddy reddish brown in bright light.

Bold smell of fresh baked bread (dark wheat, toasted sourdough and a wiff of yeast) and pleasent, warming alcohol. Herbal and earthy hops jump in and balance the booze and bready malt.

Semi-sweet with medium bitterness at first; hop flavor and bitterness rise quickly during the drying middle, sweetness from baked stone fruits, apple and faint banana gives way to roasted nuts (almonds and walnuts) and toasted wheat with lightly roasted grains. The finish is slow and semi-dry with long lingering hop bitterness, an excepable astringent bite joins in.

Medium bodied with plentiful, soft carbonation. Bold malt flavors and abundant hops balance the booze. The warmer it gets the smoother it feels. The dynamic taste process moves fast but the finish allows a chance to savor multiple flavors as they slowly wane. The warming booze has the last say.