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St. Bernardus - Tripel

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Holiday Spirits

Still looking for a good beer to share with your family this weekend? We have some suggestions.

If you want something classic, pick up a big bottle of St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. It’s a holiday version of the classic Abt 12 quadrupel. A little spice adds a gingery heat to the beer, which complements the usual fruitcake notes of fig and dry cherries. There’s a nutty sweetness mid-palate, but a very dry, sharp finish.

If you’re looking for something a little more adventurous, you can pick up a bottle of Santa’s Private Reserve from Rogue Brewing. It’s been completely remade for 2017 – which is why they sent us a free sample. What was once a basic red ale has been transformed into a strong Belgian dark ale with added cherries and raspberries. Upfront, I got a strong chemical smell, a hallmark of bad fruit, but tank god it dissipated as the beer breathed. The fruit here is the star. Sour dark cherries and bright red raspberries add a tart contrast to the dark, roasted flavors, bringing to mind a fruity stout more than a Belgian ale.

For a more sedate crowd, there’s Sandy Paws from Heater Allen, a Baltic porter-ish lager. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau won’t actually let them use the term Baltic Porter on the label, but that’s what it is. It’s robust with a deep roasted flavor from tons of toasted malt. But the body is unbelievably clean. Every sip finishes like a refreshing sip of mountain spring water.

If you want to get a little rowdy, try Santa’s Woody from Laurelwood. Both the name and the beer itself strain the limits of good taste. This is an intense bourbon barrel aged barley wine. The alcohol announces itself on the nose – burning the nostrils. The flavor is all salted caramels eaten off a stave of whiskey soaked wood. You can taste the sweet oak, the char, the booze. It’s bold, but lacks polish, which might be exactly what you want.

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale (St. Bernardus)

Brewery : St. Bernardus / Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV Beer : St. Bernardus Christmas Ale Style : Quadrupel / Quad Variance : None

9 / 10

Merry Fucking Christmas! Well at least for me it is because Tavour sent me 3 beers in a package for the holiday and if it wasn’t for the fact that they don’t have a white beard, I would mistaken them for that jolly fuck Santa in a second because this is just what I wanted! St. Bernardus has always tickled my taste buds with it’s fantastic brews and delicious flavors and this beer stays right in line with that even if it is trying to take advantage of me with it’s 10% ABV. You can never trust those frisky monks! A nice fruity raisin and dark fruit flavor starts this off with a nice mixture of musty and sweet before some champagne and grape must mixes in before ending with a fruity plum and candied sugar flavor. Being a drummer, I usually just stick to working out my quads but in this case I’m way more into drinking them and this beer is just the thing I needed. Real quick, is it me or is Patriot’s Day coming out just a little too soon? I mean, even the 9/11 movie with Nicholas Cage took 5 years to come out but these guys decided to cut things short and only take 4 years which I feel like is just a little too soon. Oh well, back to the beer. This is a fantastic brew to add to your holiday traditions and even though by the time you read this it will probably be warming up outside, pick this up anyways and drink it down because it rules. Regardless of your level of drinking this is a perfect first or 100th beer so snag yourself a bottle or ask Santa for it and enjoy!

Written by: Steve B.