St. Bernardus Christmas Ale (10%)
Yesterday saw the Santa Claus Parade trip its way through downtown Toronto, delighting children and frustrating drivers, so I guess it’s safe to start reviewing holiday beers now! (With apologies to any Americans for breaking the ‘no Christmas until after Thanksgiving’ rule, but hey, this IS a Canadian site.)
And starting off our holiday selections is a doozy from the venerable Brouwerij St. Bernardus of Watou, Belgium. Rather famously, St. Bernardus was the former brewer of the beers of the Sint-Sixtus Abbey until the brothers decided to take the production of their Westvleteren beers in-house in 1992, so you know the heritage is there. And while the 1990s were an uncertain time for the brewery, things started looking up in 1998 when Hans Depypere took over in 1998 and began the process of restoring the brewery to its former glory.
Today, in the view of many, your humble reviewer included, the St. Bernardus beers rival those of the neighbouring abbey and have the added advantage of being less expensive and much, much more easily obtained. The St. Bernardus Abt 12 is pretty much universally acknowledged as a classic, and neither will any of the rest of the brewery’s portfolio disappoint the discerning drinker. The Christmas Ale is its lone seasonal offering.
Pouring a lovely russet colour with a generous and lasting head, this strong ale offers a suitably festive aroma that is spicy without the use of actual spices. (Credit the spectacular St. Bernardus yeast for much of that!) Notes of chocolate, slightly burnt caramel, raisin, and cherry are joined by allspice, cinnamon stick, and a whiff of anise to create the sort of nose you simply want to take time to properly appreciate.
The flavour is no slouch, either. The palate entry is sweet and caramelly, with a touch of spice cake adding an accent and notes of cherry pie filling and stewed raisins for company. In the middle, this grows more chocolaty than caramelly, with a touch of candied apple joining the fruit parade along with hints of, and I kid you not, gingerbread, the last of which continues through the warming finish.
This is precisely what a Christmas beer should be, namely something well out of the ordinary. With its warming though hardly assertive strength, stellar complexity, and lingering finish, is it a beer designed for quiet contemplation on a cold winter night, perhaps alongside a sliver of flourless chocolate cake. It’s hard to believe that this exemplary brewery could actually outdo their excellent St. Bernardus Abt 12, but with this Christmas Beer they might just have done precisely that.
95 ($4.74/330 ml)