St. Bernardus Day (August 20, 2022)

Here's what the $18 close-out gift pack contained.


I couldn't wait for today's tasting so I drank the Abt 12 yesterday.


Today's selection was the Pater 6 Dubbel for the lower abv (6.7%) I enjoyed both beers but I'm not a fan of Belgian yeast characteristics, and both beers were slightly more carbonated than what I like. But the experience was worth it and I'll have no problems drinking the other two.

 

No, it’s one of their standards. The bartender even said “Which?’ When I asked for St. Bernardus. I had to point.

 

I think this is the first time I am seeing these bottle caps. @Beer-Panda in the Netherlands has them too.

 

I bought an 8 due to a spur of the moment decision and had it 2 days ago. I am normally not drawn to St Bernardus beers, but man did I end up really appreciating it when I had it.

 

Must be a very recent change. The bottom pic in my post #61 above shows the old style.

 

Back when they were brewing the beers as the Westvleteren beers, the monk on the label looked like the below. Once they stopped brewing for Westvleteren, they had to change his wardrobe to make him look less like a monk.



They say every 1000th bottle of Abt 12 has him winking:

 

@JZH1000 - Why would you think they'd be different?
(BTW, I suspect that the Christmas beer might have less yeast for secondary fermentation in the canned version.)

 

Darn. I wish I saw this before I had a couple other beers in me or I would have driven out to buy some ABT 12.

 

My first st Bernardus beer. I also picked up the wit but won’t be getting into that one this is it for me.

 

Had the Tripel which was very Duvelish to me. High carbonation and yeast forward ( I have been on a Duvel kick this week with IPA, Triple six and regular). The 12 got better as it warmed up. I think that I messed up by putting it in the fridge with the Tripel. Just poured the Christmas. It will be worth the revisit come winter.
I know that these "Days" are a marketing gimmick, but I find them to be fun.

 

Had this earlier, not sure if I can add anything that hasn’t already been stated, but I really enjoyed it. Thanks for the reason to drink it @FBarber

 

Guess I'll be the first one for the optional selfie. Cheers everyone from me and my dog! I am comparing 2010 and 2019 bottles of Abt 12. More notes to follow...

 

In the spirit of a Great Idea - it’s been great sipping these World Class beers with you! Cheeeeers!

 

Great! Just #$@%&*# great! Now I have something (else) to obsess about when visiting a bottle shop.

 

St. Bernardus Tripel - Tripel #7 - BOF #118
ABV: 8.0%
IBU: 30

Down a few paragraphs below is my review of this same bottle-date beer during the Tripel online tasting back in March. I'll just note any differences from then to today, with another 5 month's age on it in my cellar.

Well, in ranking, it's still the #7 Tripel, but has dropped on the BOF list to #118.

I did a very, VERY gentle pour so the head was not as large, but otherwise the appearance is the same.

Also, the aroma seems to be the same... excellent.

The flavors are the same, but I detect a bit of sharpness that either was not there before or I just did not make note of it. It is prominent enough, though, that I believe it to be a true difference. It is not exactly a bitterness; it is, though, a sharpness that makes it not as smooth as it was 5 months ago.

I won't bother with a formal rating this time, but this is an excellent, quite enjoyable tripel.

I have two more remaining of this vintage, so perhaps I'll bring up another next February (assuming we do another Cellaruary).

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St. Bernardus Tripel - March 2022 Tasting - Tripel #7 - BOF #113
ABV: 8.0%
IBU: 30

Dated 05-03-23 (assume European practice, 05 March 2023), leading to an assumed bottling date of 05 March 2021. Maybe 05 March 2020.

Murky golden orange, heavily carbonated. Tall white head from a VERY gentle pour with ridiculous retention (I took 5 photos, over a couple minute span, as as I examine the photos, the bottom of the head has not moved up one whit). The head forms a volcanic cone top as it does start to visibly recede after another several minutes. Heavy stringy lacing are left behind as I take a sip.

The aroma is dominated by fruity smells, a mixture of ripe (or even a bit overripe) apricots and bananas. Wafts of peppery cloves.

The taste is, as predicted by the aroma, fruity and spicy. Underlying is a base of cracker. There is a bit of an earthy funk. No alcohol presence at all in either the flavor or any feel. Fruit flavors are a mix of the apricot and banana detected in the aroma along with peach, pepper and clove. Very dry, but still smooth with no bitterness.

As indicated above, the feel is smooth, but with sparkling carbonation. Moderate to heavy body.

Back to the look, I'm half-way through at this point, so a good 30-45 minutes in as I linger a bit, and what remains of the head is a tall, thick island surrounded by a foamy cap with continuous lacing down the back side of the glass.

Overall, a tripel deserving of it's BA ranking. By the end of this tasting, I will have tasted the #2, #3, #4, #7, #16 tripels, so I'll have my own ranking. But, as of now, this beer, at #7 on BA, may be underrated to my palate. I've upped my rating from 3 years ago about a tenth of a point to a 4.43 ~+4.5% rDev (but I didn't record the date stamp on the bottle for the 2019 review, so...)

After comment: even the empty glass looks great with the gobs of nice looking lacing.

L: 4.75 | S: 4.25 | T: 4.5 | F: 4.25 | O: 4.5 | Rating: 4.43