St Bernardus ABT 12 330mL

Our Verdict

ABT 12 is the flagship beer for this famous Belgian brewery in Watou and is widely regarded as one of the best beers in the world. And rightly so, as you simply can’t find a more quintessential Belgian dark strong abbey ale… fig, raisin, big dark winter fruits, toffee and caramel, a slight bubblegum yeast character and a long, dry yet deep and smooth bittersweet finish. An absolute classic abbey ale.

It is one of the original recipes from their days of license-brewing Westvleteren for the Trappist monks at Sint Sixtus Abbey. Adhering to the original 1946 recipe, ABT 12 is still brewed using a propagated strain of the original Westvleteren yeast.

Tradition and time are the key elements in play. The character of ABT 12 is given time to develop over two months in cold conditioning before a 2-3 week warm room re-fermentation in the bottle.

While you savour the decadence of this classic abbey ale, don’t forget to check for a wink on the familiar face of that smiling monk-like bald man on the label (but not technically a monk, as he doesn’t have a ‘keppel’ on his head or a closed robe). A cheeky wink can be spotted on the label of every 1000th bottle that rolls off the production line.

Rocky Reed

• Size 330mL
• ABV 10.0%

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