St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

Brewer : St. Bernardus (Belgium)
Style : Belgian Strong Ale
ABV :  10%

So the raining has just started to pour and I need to get out of the house in about half an hour to get some shopping done and go to LHP to partake in my parents Christmas party. This month has been super busy for me. A lot of  traveling and beer drinking. One more trip that I'm really looking forward to is going to California next week for 10 days to spend Christmas with my girlfriends family. Being right on the beach should be a trip and a half, plus all the benefits of having that west coast beer right at my fingertips. Hopefully I can snag a few things off my want list:
1.Alesmith Speedway Stout
2.Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
3.Lost Abbey, many varities
4.Russian River

I've been told that Alesmith is everywhere so I shouldn't have a hard time with that, and I've been able to locate a bar that  has Pliny on tap as well as Sculpin. Let's just pray to the beer gods that those kegs don't get tapped before I get there. 

Enough rambling about vacations and such, on with today's review. 
Last night I broke out a bottle of St.Bernardus Christmas Ale at a Christmas party hosted by some friends. None of my friends there were "beer lovers" like me, but in good spirit and fashion of the Christmas season I figured it was the right setting to share this beer with everyone, plus I always like  to see people's reactions when I bust out a beer that's not the  norm. 
Like many St.Bernardus beers this one was highly dominated by the yeast. Dark and cloudy with a thick head. A lot of fruity characters in the aroma, mostly dried fruits such as apricots and raisins, but it also had some bready qualities as well. The body wasn't over the  top, it didn't exhaust my palate, but it wasn't light either, somewhere right in the  middle. A lot of the flavors were yeasty and fruity, as the aroma suggested, and most everyone seemed to enjoy it.

On a side note: Maybe I can sneak in a guest blogger for next weeks entries. I'm curious to see if my sister Natalie would be up for the challenge.

Grade A