Brewer: St. Bernardus
Style: Dubbel
ABV: 8.0%
IBU:
Serving Type: 33cL bottle poured into a St. Bernardus chalice
Murky and brown like the 6, maybe a little lighter. The head pours off-white and maintains at a little under a finger. Ok lacing. Nice Belgian aroma, with plum and raisin. Puts me in the mind of jam spread over just barely toasted bread.
Flavor fills the whole mouth with just a sip. Taste is a lot of raisin and maybe a hint of cherry. There's also a pleasent brown sugar sweetness. Not at all bitter. A noticeable alcohol warmth. Very creamy mouthfeel paired with a prickly carbonation.
Nice overall, though I think my preference so far is for the 6. There's just not much here to balance the sweetness, and it can almost border on cloying.
My score: 3/5
Beer Advocate: 92/100
Rate Beer: 96/100
Pintley: 4/5
Brewer: St. Bernardus
Style: Dubbel
ABV: 6.7%
IBU:
Serving Type: 33cL bottle poured into a St. Bernardus chalice
The Pater 6 pours a murky brown to amber if you squint at it just right, with a finger of ivory head of fine bubbles. Settles down to a thin but persistent film. Lots of Belgian yeast on the nose. Behind that is all subtleties, but I can find dry fruit and some honey-like sweetness. There's also an ever so slight hint of alcohol, surprising at 6.7%.
The taste comes in quite sweet, but well-balanced, not cloying at all. A complex blend of fruit and spice notes, including byt not limited to fig, raisin, and clove. Bitterness comes afterward, cutting through the sweet but without any definitive hop character. The body is very medium (is that a thing?) and fairly high in carbonation. Tingles the whole mouth with just a sip. And again, a slight warmth of alcohol, even at less than 7% ABV.
All around a great beer. Many will disagree with me, but for the style this is probably about as close to "sessionable" as you're going to get, in spite of my comments about alcohol. Would be an excellent bridge to some of the stronger Trappist brews. All of the trappings are there, but not in quite the same volume as the Abt 12 or a Rochefort 10.
My score: 4/5
Beer Advocate: 92/100
Rate Beer: 96/100
Pintley: 3.9/5
