St. Bernardus Christmas Ale (pack of 4) (33cl, 10%)

A bottle-conditioned Belgian abbey quadrupel brewed in Watou, Belgium, by St. Bernardus Brewery, whose roots stretch back to 1946. The brewery retained its proprietary yeast strain after its licensing agreement with Westvleteren ended in 1992. Christmas Ale is top-fermented and bottle-conditioned in the abbey tradition and shares DNA with St. Bernardus Abt 12 while introducing a spiced, darker character for winter. The nose has sweet caramel, raisin, fig, cinnamon, clove, anise, fresh bread and bittersweet chocolate. The palate is rich with apricot and banana sweetness, then marzipan, licorice, molasses, peppery spice, fire-roasted chestnut, creamy caramel and restrained hop bitterness, with a creamy, deceptively light to medium body. The finish is long, bittersweet and drying, with dried fruit, dark chocolate, aniseed and gradual warmth.