This is another of our re-introduced classic beers, but one I’m sure everyone will be happy to have in their beer stash over winter.
St Bernardus produce some excellent beers, and this ABT (or to use the American term of quadrupel) is the jewel in their portfolio. It’s most well known for being brewed to the same recipe as the elusive Westvleteren 12 from St Sixtus. For those that don’t know, from 1946 through to 1992 St Bernardus brewed the beers of St Sixtus under license. This beer is more than just a Westvleteren clone, it is basically the same beer bar the fermentation with a different yeast.
Even without that creditworthy fact, this is an awesome beer in its own right. So much so that in a portfolio of excellent beers this beer accounts for over half of the production from the brewery!
The beer pours a dark brown colour and instantly you get big aromas of dark malts and dried dark stone fruits. The taste offers even more – black bread, roasted malts, raisins, plums, molasses, toffee, some spices and a hint of wood smoke. There is also a lovely hop bitterness that lifts the beer mid-palate. A long and complex aftertaste leaves you very satisfied but eager for more.
Did you know? Every 1000th bottle features a special label with a winking monk!