Brewed By: St. Bernard Brouwerij in Watou, Belgium
Purchased: Single 11.2oz bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL ; 2011
Style/ABV: Quadrupel, 10.5%
St. Bernadus is a brewery based out of Watou, Belgium. The brewery has a rich history that began at the Catsberg Abbey. The Catsberg Abbey moved from Northern France to Watou, Belgium due to anti-clericism in France at the time. Once in Belgium, the Catsberg Abbey became known as the "Refuge Notre Dame de St. Bernard." The Abbey funded itself by producing and selling cheese.
In 1934, France dropped its anti-clerical policies, and the Abbey community moved back to France, leaving behind an empty factory. Evarist Deconinck took over the factory, and commercialized and developed his own cheese. He built a new factory for the cheese at the Trappistenweg in Watou, and the original building was transformed into a private facility.
After the end of World War II, the Trappist Monastery St. Sixtus stopped commercializing their beer; they decided to only brew their beer for their own consumption, for sales at the gates of the Monastary, and for a handful of taverns associated with the monastery. However, they agreed to lease out their beers for 30 years to Evarist Deconick who could commercialize and sell the beer. A new brewery was thrown up next to the cheese factory, and Deconinck began brewing Sixtus beers with the help of the Masterbrewer of Westvleteren.
In 1992 the 30-year agreement between St. Sixtus and Deconinck came to an end. Due to changes in the law, Deconinck would be unable to continue brewing beer branded Sixtus. However, he could continue to use the same recipe and brew the beer under a different name. Hence, the beers brewed at Trappistenweg in Watou are now branded "St. Bernardus," because authentic Trappist beers MUST be brewed inside the walls of a Trappist Monastery. And that is that folks.
Tonight's beer, the St. Bernardus Abt 12, is a dark, smooth, and fruity beer. In fact, this beer is Belgian Quadrupel, and one of the most recognized Quadrupels available.
The pour reveals a dark beer. In low light you could mistake this beer as being dark brown or dark purple. In bright light this is actually a reddish beer. The beer has a decent amount of rising carbonation, and there is some yeast sediment floating around. This is unfiltered, and the middle is hazy and dark. I was able to coax out about 2-fingers of tan, root beer colored head. There is dynamite lacing on this, and head retention is solid for such a high-ABV beer.
The aroma on this is big malts, spicy phenols like pepper and clove, sweet malts, candied dark fruits, slight powder or dust, hints of red wine, big grapes, and big cherry and sour cherry. There is a touch of booze and ripe fruits on the nose as well, with some pulls towards lighter fruits.
The taste is huge! And full-bodied. You pick up huge clove, big fat malts that are sweet and sugary; hints of caramel or brown sugar. There is a grape/wine/cherry component that kicks in during the middle. And you get huge, dank, overripe fruits on the back end with huge booziness. This is also very smooth. I'm picking up some pepper, brown sugar, candied dark fruits, yeasty notes, and some big boozy cake notes.
Damn. This is a huge beer. This is somehow surprisingly drinkable and balanced for a beer with a huge mouthfeel. This has huge palate depth, and huge complexity. This drinks super smooth, finishes a touch dry, and is really boozy and warming on the back end. I should add that head retention is stupendous and there is a ton of lacing on my glass. The front of the palate is giant clove, malts, and sugars; this gives way to that juicy dark fruit middle; the back end is giant overripe fruits, lingering candy notes, boozy cake; this finishes boozy and dry.
St. Bernadus is a brewery based out of Watou, Belgium. The brewery has a rich history that began at the Catsberg Abbey. The Catsberg Abbey moved from Northern France to Watou, Belgium due to anti-clericism in France at the time. Once in Belgium, the Catsberg Abbey became known as the "Refuge Notre Dame de St. Bernard." The Abbey funded itself by producing and selling cheese.
In 1934, France dropped its anti-clerical policies, and the Abbey community moved back to France, leaving behind an empty factory. Evarist Deconinck took over the factory, and commercialized and developed his own cheese. He built a new factory for the cheese at the Trappistenweg in Watou, and the original building was transformed into a private facility.
After the end of World War II, the Trappist Monastery St. Sixtus stopped commercializing their beer; they decided to only brew their beer for their own consumption, for sales at the gates of the Monastary, and for a handful of taverns associated with the monastery. However, they agreed to lease out their beers for 30 years to Evarist Deconick who could commercialize and sell the beer. A new brewery was thrown up next to the cheese factory, and Deconinck began brewing Sixtus beers with the help of the Masterbrewer of Westvleteren.
In 1992 the 30-year agreement between St. Sixtus and Deconinck came to an end. Due to changes in the law, Deconinck would be unable to continue brewing beer branded Sixtus. However, he could continue to use the same recipe and brew the beer under a different name. Hence, the beers brewed at Trappistenweg in Watou are now branded "St. Bernardus," because authentic Trappist beers MUST be brewed inside the walls of a Trappist Monastery. And that is that folks.
Tonight's beer, the St. Bernardus Abt 12, is a dark, smooth, and fruity beer. In fact, this beer is Belgian Quadrupel, and one of the most recognized Quadrupels available.
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| St. Bernardus Abt 12 |
The pour reveals a dark beer. In low light you could mistake this beer as being dark brown or dark purple. In bright light this is actually a reddish beer. The beer has a decent amount of rising carbonation, and there is some yeast sediment floating around. This is unfiltered, and the middle is hazy and dark. I was able to coax out about 2-fingers of tan, root beer colored head. There is dynamite lacing on this, and head retention is solid for such a high-ABV beer.
The aroma on this is big malts, spicy phenols like pepper and clove, sweet malts, candied dark fruits, slight powder or dust, hints of red wine, big grapes, and big cherry and sour cherry. There is a touch of booze and ripe fruits on the nose as well, with some pulls towards lighter fruits.
The taste is huge! And full-bodied. You pick up huge clove, big fat malts that are sweet and sugary; hints of caramel or brown sugar. There is a grape/wine/cherry component that kicks in during the middle. And you get huge, dank, overripe fruits on the back end with huge booziness. This is also very smooth. I'm picking up some pepper, brown sugar, candied dark fruits, yeasty notes, and some big boozy cake notes.
Damn. This is a huge beer. This is somehow surprisingly drinkable and balanced for a beer with a huge mouthfeel. This has huge palate depth, and huge complexity. This drinks super smooth, finishes a touch dry, and is really boozy and warming on the back end. I should add that head retention is stupendous and there is a ton of lacing on my glass. The front of the palate is giant clove, malts, and sugars; this gives way to that juicy dark fruit middle; the back end is giant overripe fruits, lingering candy notes, boozy cake; this finishes boozy and dry.
Rating: Divine Brew
Score: 97%
I love Belgian beer, and I have had the privilege of trying a number of Belgian brews over the past few months. This is just an absolutely phenomenal beer. This beer has the big flavors you would expect from a Chimay beer, but it has that balance and refined quality you get in something like a Corsendonk. This is really a well-made beer with amazing drinkability, huge complexity, and big bold flavors. And it warms you up pretty nicely at 10.5%.
It is nice when I have nothing to complain about. I can recommend the beer - and believe me, I recommend this beer - and move on. So until next time, cheers.
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