Straffe Hendrik Brugs Quadrupel

Brewed by Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Brugge, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass

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Bottled from Burg Bieren, Ermelo. Tasted side by side with La Trappe Quadrupel and Bush de Noel. Brown colored, medium head. Malty nose, liquorice, some hops. Quite bitter flavor, some liquorice again, later on hops take over, resulting in a bitter finish. Obvious ethanol presence. This quadrupel differs from the others in many ways, e.g. in color, but also the malty liquorice nose and, most obviously, the hopbitter finish. Difference isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but taken together the flavors in this quadrupel seem a lot more imbalanced than in its two competitors. Does it have aging potential? I actually wouldn’t know, let’s wait and see. For the time being, i’ll stick to the world class quadrupels from La Trappe and Bush.

Draft at Beer Art, Thessaloniki, Greece - pours beautiful dark, brown-red with huge tan-white lasting head. Big dark plums, nice esters, and dried fruit notes with a bittering hopped finish. Very good, lacing is gorgeous.

Bottle @ home. Murky brown pour, huge foamy off-white head. Aroma is faint roasty, fruity, and spicy. Flavor is spicy bitter fruits, somewhat roasty, sweet sugar and lingering bitterness. Thick body, lively carbonation.

0.33l bottle from beermerchants.com This one immediately fills the room with a dark-fruity, caramel sweet and malty aroma. The pour is light cloudy and deep raw amber and it has a big and everlasting almost fluffy beige head. Oh, you can really sense the warming stingy alcohol in this one! It’s average to lively carbonated with a rich full-boded texture. Lots of plums and dark ripe fermented fruits, green apples, some cocoa and chocolate paper hints also, before it ends in a heavy warming light sweet finish and aftertaste. At some times the raw boozyness can be a bit disturbing, but you quickly get used to that. A nice heavy quad! 30.04.2012

Dark blond with a white medium head. Very weak aroma. Light fruity, hoppy with a some alcohol shining through. I am slightly disappointed. I had expected more after reading the ratings.

Dark brown color- almost black, with huge thick tan head. Aroma was a strong malty richness with similar flavor. rich dark malty and fruity flavor. complex and flavorful. quite alcoholic, but didn’t have the burn, hidden very well. very very good quad

Un très joli sigle de bouteille. Nearly the design of the Moonlight Brewing Company from California. A bucolic corner of the Sonoma Valley for this one, and the historical medieval city of Bruges for the other one... But the most important is what you will find in your glass !!! About the Straffe Hendrik quadruple, we have two things to say first : 1. A member of the Belgian Family Brewers, and an old story beginning in 1856 with the family Maes (not the one of the pils producer !!), and a first mention of brewing in 1546 !!! 2. One of the rare belgian beers with the name of « quadruple », unusual in our vocabulary. I have also seen that beer qualified as a barley wine. Let us see... First of all, a very high level : 11 % abv. A very dark color, very encouraging... Une mousse beige qui tient sur le liquide pendant la dégustation, mais à un niveau assez bas. Des arômes superbes de grand brassin : prunes mûres, poire, dattes, figues, et une pointe de joli porto vintage. Première bouche magnifique sur les amandes, noisettes, pommes de terre, petite pointe de coriandre et en arrière bouche l’amertume d’un bon houblon. La seconde part sur des notes de cerises noires, de massepain, avec une pointe de cognac fins bois. On est clairement sur le plan d’un barley wine, avec une complexité superbe. La 3ème vient à une sorte d’équilibre mais avec de nouvelles découvertes gustatives, et en gardant une amertume plus importante que des bières brunes fortes d’abbaye, qui sont d’ordinaire plus douces en bouche. La levure est pourtant très douce, mais à mon avis, elle est en petite quantité à la refermentation en bouteille, pour donner la priorité au houblon. Bière originale donc, où on attend la longueur pour poser un diagnostic qui s’annonce chaud... Dans la première partie de la finale, on a des accents de stout bien construit, avec une sorte de charbon de bois qui passe très bien la rampe, et s’accomode des autres goûts comme dans un rêve... Bière donc très structurée, qui révèle un caractère extraordinaire, avec une complexité de très grand niveau. On est au top, on le sait, reste la finale, un très grand moment de tout dégustateur. Cette finale, comme celle de la Cup en Angleterre, est un very very beautiful moment... On va dire pour une bière, plutôt la finale du Superbowl.... Bref, vous choisissez selon vos affinités. Pour ma part, je reste avec la Straffe Hendrik quadruple, qui me fait la meilleure impression, et qui me confirme que nous avons tous les styles de bière en Belgique, dont un barley wine qui fera très bonne figure.. Un conseil : try it, and after that you see a moonlight brewing in the sky...

.33l bottle from ’Only Good Beer’ in Budapest. Terrific, rich leather-copper appearance with thick, blanket head. Hot sweet christmas-y herb nose, coppery alcohol. Body is spritely but also coating sweet alc. Rusty bittering at and, a bit hotter and sweeter than other quads. chocolate, mollasses, stout-fruitiness. Very good

(bottle, 33cl) Slightly hazy, dark and reddish amber colour with a beige medium-sized foamy head. Sweet and slightly sugary toast-malty aroma with present notes of dark berries. Sweet flavour with a present level of roasty bitterness in the background, full bodied with a modest carbonation. Moderately roasted malty taste with berry-fruits, a delicately spicy touch, as well as a whiff of chocolate; sweet and slightly roasty bitter finish with noticeable alcoholic notes. Likeable. 03.IV.12

Kleur van kersenhout met een licht getinte kop. Geur heeft wat fruitigs maar is niet erg sterk. Smaak heeft - als veel quads - wat weg van overrijp fruit. Proef rozijnen, banaan, abrikoos, bruine basterdsuiker en hop. Drinkt ondanks de sterke smaak lekker weg. De alcohol is niet overweldigend aanwezig, maar zit er zeker in en is in de afdronk voelbaar. Aldus Huubs. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

A dark brown beer with a medium and beige head. Aroma is cooked fruity, bananas, some dark fruits, raisins and hint of alcohol. Taste is malty, fruits, raisins, warming alcohol and herbal hoppyness. Full bodied, still quite easy to drink. Strong beer that is nicely balanced, there are nothing very special but still tastefull.