So this may not be fair, but I drank this immediately following my tasting of the Westvleteren 12, so my assessment of this beer is admittedly a bit jaded. I will also say that I have had this beer on prior occasions and thought nothing but the best of it.

This bottle of St. Bernardous appeared doomed from the start, aside from being the direct competitor against a truly phenomenal beer, it really didn't start out well. Upon opening the cap the beer foamed excessively, a real gusher. So I'm guessing that a touch of brett likely found it's way into the batch before bottling.

The first sip recommitted this hypothesis to the forefront of my mind, as I tasted what I believe to be the tell tale horse blanket flavor dominating the beer. Mouthfeel was over-bearing, feeling as if the beer was coating your tongue with a thick blanket, then proceeding to foam as the over-carbonated beer released it bubbles into a chain reaction of flavor destruction.

I will look for another example of this beer before committing it permanently to my hall of shame. I hope to be able to revoke all previous criticisms.