This is another of our re-introduced classic beers, but one I’m sure everyone will be happy to have in their beer stash over winter.
St Bernardus produce some excellent beers, and this ABT (or to use the American term of quadrupel) is the jewel in their portfolio. It’s most well known for being brewed to the same recipe as the elusive Westvleteren 12 from St Sixtus. For those that don’t know, from 1946 through to 1992 St Bernardus brewed the beers of St Sixtus under license. This beer is more than just a Westvleteren clone, it is basically the same beer bar the fermentation with a different yeast.
Even without that creditworthy fact, this is an awesome beer in its own right. So much so that in a portfolio of excellent beers this beer accounts for over half of the production from the brewery!
The beer pours a dark brown colour and instantly you get big aromas of dark malts and dried dark stone fruits. The taste offers even more – black bread, roasted malts, raisins, plums, molasses, toffee, some spices and a hint of wood smoke. There is also a lovely hop bitterness that lifts the beer mid-palate. A long and complex aftertaste leaves you very satisfied but eager for more.
Did you know? Every 1000th bottle features a special label with a winking monk!
A big Belgian Quad aged in red wine barrels, then transferred to Sauternes white wine barrels for a further year
A bold, strong dark ale edging toward a quadrupel style beer
by L’Abbaye Notre-Dame de Scourmont
The classic strong dark Trappist ale from the Chimay Trappist Monastery
An interesting Belgian Quad that has a little bit of imperial stout about it
A Boreft Festival beer from last year, this is a Belgian style quadruple with South American Tonka Beans
De Molen's 'Beautiful & Ruthless' is part quadruple part imperial stout
A delicious bourbon barrel aged quadrupel, made for De Molens Boreft Festival
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
The winter seasonal from Emelisse is an ABT/quadrupel. Each year they add a different ingredient - for 2015 they've added English liquorice
The quadrupel/ABT beer from the newest Trappist Monastery from Austria.
The new addition to the Gulden Draak label - a rich and boozy quadruple
A beer dedicated to the original brewmaster, the Gulden Draak Quadrupel has been aged in whiskey barrels
An award winning quad that kick-started the commercial brewing careers of two twin brothers
Formerly known as 'Kasteel Winter', this quadruple stands alone from the traditional Belgian Christmas beers relying on Belgian chocolate and coffee, rather than herbs and spices
The crown in the Kasteel beer range is their Cuvee du Chateau
An oaked Belgian quadrupel from Brasserie des Legends
A rich and boozy quadrupel, featuring Alvinne's Morpheus house yeast
by Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven
The top of the tree from Dutch Trappist Monastery La Trappe
A big-hitting Belgian quadrupel is the introduction to this Belgian brewing collective
by Brasserie Artisinale Millevertus
A big, rich and smooth Belgian quadrupel style, just the thing for a cool night by the fireplace
More like a traditional quadrupel than the Pannepot; brewed for the Dutch market.
One of the best Belgian beers you'll ever taste - so much flavour it's impossible to describe.
A Belgian quadruped brewed with Costa Rican coffee beans
Voted Belgium's 'Best Hobby Beer 2011', no in full-blown production
The grandfather of Trappist strong dark ales - does it get any better than this?
A bigBelgian Quad from one of Belgium's old family breweries - what's not to like!
The newest addition to the beer portfolio from the only active brewery still inside the city walls of Bruges.
The sister-beer to Pannepot, this quadrupel was first made for the Danish market
A dark blond quadrupel that has been aged in both St Emilion wine barrels and Kentucky Bourbon barrels
A delicious dark quadruple aged for three years in Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrels
A big Belgian quadruped aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for two years
A big mouthful of flavour with this fiery quadruple, brewed in the La Trappe Monastery by one of Belgium's leading female brewers.
by Brasserie du l'Abbeye du Val-Dieu
A big, tasty quadrupel from the Val-Dieu abbey brewery
A delicious Belgian quadruped, aged in oak barrels with the addition of some port wine
by Trappistenbrouwerij De Kievit
Th second beer from the second Dutch Trappist Monastery is a rich Belgian quad of 10%
The most recent creation from St Bernardus, it is everything a dark Christmas ale should be.
The Pater 6 from St Bernardus is in the Belgian dubbel style
A premium dubbel style beer, packed full of deep rich flavours and aromas.
A Belgian witbier originally made in 2012 as a one-off special, revived in 2020
An Abbey Ale in the classic Trappist tripel style - a perfect balance between bitter and sweet.
This traditional Witbier has been developed in cooperation with Master Brewer Pierre Celis, the Godfather of Hoegaarden.
The 'second' tripel from the St Bernardus brewery is less well known, but still delicious
