Brew Blast: Christmas Ale

I picked this up a few weeks ago and put it under the tree for myself to save for Christmas night (I figured I'd need a stiff brew after the day with family ;)

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

This is a Belgian Abbey Ale, the St. Bernardus brewery started in 1946 and according to the label is made using artesian water pumped from a depth of 500 feet (fancy!).  The bottles can be aged up to 15 years, so if I had a cellar, I'd give it a shot, although I doubt I could wait that long to drink it.

This ale is very dark with a sweet fruityness.  The head is very thick and creamy as you can surmise from the picture.  I quite enjoyed it, but it took me a good while to polish off the bottle alone.  It's a hearty drink and considering the bottle is 1 pint, 9.4oz, there's a lot to enjoy, not to mention it's a whopping 10% alcohol.  I think $15 was a fair price for that much yum.