St. Bernardus Brouwerij Christmas Ale

Christmas Ale

 

St. Bernardus Brouwerij in Watou, West Flanders, Belgium 🇧🇪

  Belgian Style - Quadrupel / Dark Strong Winter
Score
7.64
ABV: 10.0% IBU: 20 Ticks: 358
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale is a dark, seasonal beer, full of wintery character and flavours that we brew every year ready for the festive season. This beer takes on a splendid dark-brown colour that is topped off with a cream-coloured layer of froth. EBC 60.
 

Sign up to add a tick or review

Join Us


     Show


8.5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Аромат очень сладкий и манящий своей глубиной. Чувствуются фрукты и цветочные нотки. Пена с весьма крупными пузырями, цвет очень темный даже для Эля. Вкус сладкий, ощущается карамель,цветочные нотки, немного хмеля а также темные фрукты. Напиток очень сбалансирован. Послевкусие не сильно и не длительное, а мягкое и постепенное. В целом данный экземпляр я считаю эталоном Бельгийского пива. Пробовать всем и каждому.

Tried on 05 Feb 2025 at 06:46


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

330ml bottle, pours light brown with a beige creamy head. Aromas & tastes of dried fruits, berries, nuts, spice, caramel, liquorice, bread, hints of alcohol & toasted malt. Medium body. Warming finish. Excellent & very enjoyable even on a warm evening

Tried from Bottle on 31 Jan 2025 at 04:10


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Large bottle. Spicy and yeasty with brown malt, sugar, touch of red fruit, caramel. Moderate to medium sweet. Refined, well-balanced. Just what you want from a Christmas beer.

Tried from Bottle on 24 Jan 2025 at 13:32


7.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Flasche 0,33l: Schwarz, dunkles Mahagoni, deutliche Trübung, kräftiger stabiler mittelporiger Schaum; sehr süße + sehr würzige Nase, dunkle/eingelegte Früchte, Gewürze, Backpflaumen, Rosinen, etwas Zimt, kräftig Malz, Malzzucker, dunkles Karamell, leichte Hopfennoten, leichte Röstaromen, dunkle Schokolade, Lebkuchen; sehr süßer + sehr würziger Körper, dunkle/eingelegte Früchte, weihnachtliche Gewürze, Vanille, etwas Zimt, Orangenschale, kräftig Malz, Malzzucker, dunkles Karamell, cremig, moderate Kohlensäure, Hefearomen; fruchtig-würziger Nachgang

Tried from Bottle on 19 Jan 2025 at 13:33


7.4
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Looks dark brown in the glass, with murky reddish hints if seen through light. Medium sized, slightly off-white head, good enough retention and lacing. Intense aroma: strong spiciness (cinnamon most prominent, anise also clearly detectable) plus a clear licorice note, with a malty background of brown bread and lighter caramel. A hint of coffee (kinda coffee flavoured candies like), perhaps a light hint of dark fruits. A bit of warming feeling. Taste notes follow the aroma: maltiness a bit more prominent, with a quite assertive brown/dark bread note. Very intense as the smell suggested and also quite clean and well defined, just perhaps not as smooth/soothing as i expected. Well hidden alcohol, a hint of warming feel. Sweetness and bitterness are both pretty assertive and overall in good balance; overall definitely less sweet than your average belgian strong ale. Quite dense in body with average to high, quite assertive carbonation (not exactly coarse like in low quality lagers, but kind of sharp); very good drinkabilty for the abv though as mentioned not exactly soft/soothing. Overall: very intense and quite complex, a lot of spicy/christmassy character; an "in your face" belgian strong, half traditional, half atypical.

Tried from Bottle on 05 Jan 2025 at 21:24


9.2
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

Tried on 03 Jan 2025 at 01:40


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Tap at Lemmy's, Leiden: Dark brown colored brew with an sweet bitter taste, hints of chocolate, cinnamon and some banana.

Tried from Draft on 29 Dec 2024 at 11:32


9

Tried from Bottle on 28 Dec 2024 at 21:23


7.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8

Better aged for 3 years+
Dark brown body.
Overly carbonated as young
Great beer

Tried on 25 Dec 2024 at 22:04


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

330mL bottle with 05-2028 code, drunk 12/11/24. Clear dark auburn. Large, beige head, good retention. Strong phenolic spice in the nose mixed with a touch of alcohol warmth. Brown bread, raisin, plum, cinnamon...fairly balanced, fairly mellow/lagered, I guess. Lighter-bodied on account of the adjunct sugar, no doubt. Spicy, slightly sharp at points, phenols, with strong carbonation and some chewiness to the body despite this. Plum, raisin, light chocolate and more. Pretty good complexity all told with only a touch of alcohol warming. If this is only 1.5 years old, it's quite nicely mellowed for its age.

Tried from Bottle on 12 Dec 2024 at 03:40