Since this is the Christmas season, why not do a Christmas Ale for my favorite beer of 2009. I’m going to be honest with you, dear reader, I have had one or two beers this year! Several IPAs and Imperial IPAs, deliciously aged stouts over 9 years old. But having a bold, heavy Christmas Ale in my hand is a new Gile Family tradition with me.

As I write this new review, I have in my hand, a beautiful Christmas ale. This is an ale like no other. This is a Christmas Ale like no other. I present to you – the St Bernardus Christmas Ale:

Name: Christmas Ale

Brewery: St Bernardus

Overall Rating: A

Style: Belgian

ABV: 10%

Appearance: Hazy brown with a bold white head.

Aroma: Yeasts, spicey and a bold esterific in the snooty. Good ‘ol St Bernardus did a wonderful job of hiding that bold 10% ABV from your nostrile.

Flavor: Big, bold spices tickle your tongue as you savor this for a moment before gulping it down. There is a beautiful, sweet taste mixed in with those spices.

Body/Mouthfeel: Full bodied with a bountiful amount of carbonation tickles your tongue as it fights for real estate with the big malts.

Enjoyability: To be unable to enjoy this is like saying you don’t enjoy a space shuttle under the tree on Christmas Day! And who doesn’t want a space shuttle?! Exactly. So the next time you are at your BevMo, Holiday Wine Cellar or a hidden jewel called Liquorama, pick yourself up a St Bernardus Christmas Ale and allow the carbonation to carry the spices across your taste buds!

The following review was done by me, almost a year ago. I had even forgotten I had written the beautiful words. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year! Cheers!

Tags: beermas, Christmas Ale, st bernardus

This entry was posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 1:14 am and is filed under Beer Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.