Brouwverij St. Bernardus
Described on the label as a Dubbel; classified as a Quadrupel on Beeradvocate
10.5% ABV
IBUs?
OG?
750 ml bottle poured into a big snifter, in stages of course, at little below room temperature. The beer was allowed to warm up in the bottle and in the glass over the course of the review.
Appearance 5/5
Deep garnet colored, moderately clear, with a big murky brown head; excellent head retention and fantastic lacing.
Aroma 3.5/5
Yeasty to the extent that other aromatics get pushed to the background. There is a good amount of toasty-bready malt character, fruit and esters, and malty and alcoholic sweetness but all of these are unfortunately dominated by the strong yeasty smell.
Taste 3.5/5
Aromatic sweet, with all the character from the smell coming in, and some hop bitterness and the tiniest bit of tannins towards the end. The taste is not bad and certainly above average, but it is dominated by what I assume was strong yeastiness.
Mouthfeel 5/5
Medium body and medium carbonation: feels right.
Drinkability & Other 4/5
A good beer for sure but the strong presence of a character that's not to my liking surely affects my ratings. Stylistically I don't see the need for this strong yeast flavor. It's hard for me to appreciate why this beer commands the respect it commands or how is it, what some people say, "practically same" as Westvleteren 12. I have had the top rated Quadrupels/BSDAs side by side in a tasting that included this beer and I failed to see its charm then, and I fail to see it now. In my opinion it's not close to Westvletern 12 in character and nowhere close to Westvleteren 12 or Rochefort 10 in merit.
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