Boulevard Smokestack Series - Bourbon Barrel Quad

Brewed by Boulevard Brewing Company
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Kansas City, Missouri USA

Serve in Trappist glass

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Very good. Very malty with some caramel and tofee tones and an intense aftertaste. Great color and nice tapestry, too. I enjoyed this one and if you like barely wines (this isn’t as sweet as many barely wines though), you should like this.

2010 bottle. Murky brown; medium foamy khaki head. Aroma - fruit, perfume. Flavor - boozy; rum/bourbon; wood; kick of fruit, cherry, raisin. A bit overcarbonated.

This is my 1000th rating. Truth be told, I suck at this rating thing. There have been 100s that I have forgotten to rate, or have been too drunk to remember, or was just too lazy to write a rating for. Unless I get a massive hair up my ass, this will likely be my last rating. At any rate, this beer ruled. It was sweet and funky and delicious. Go out on top, I say. Cheers.

Bottle I’ve been holding on to for a little bit. Pours a murky brown with a tan head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is a little pungent and tart. The flavor is a smooth malt with some caramel and toffee. The finish is tart again and a little sour. Earlier in the drink I was getting a bit more vanilla in the flavor. As it warms and I get further down the bottle the cherries come out a little more. Yes they are pretty present despite what the description tells you. There is a decent sweetness to this. This is a pretty entertaining drink on its own but if you put this up against some of the quad kings this would be towards the bottom of the list. On its own though I am rating this pretty high due to the complexity and confluence of flavors that come together pretty nicely.

Poured from a 750ml bottle, shared by someone who i don’t currently remember... Eh, this one was a bit funky on the nose after it poured a reddish color with a foamy white head. Was told it’s not really supposed to be tart, so, assume infected. Otherwise a relatively drinkable brew but I don’t think what was expected.

Pours a gorgeous thick tan with sediment. Off white head. Smells like smoldering wood and brandy. A bit of dried fruit. Lots of smoke and a touch of sour cherry on the tongue. Thick and full mouthfeel. Some vanilla on the tongue. Needs more sweetness or tartness to balance the big brandy and smoke flavours. Otherwise, a really awesome brew.

not sure of the vintage but it’s bottle 537/11248. tasted 11/25/11. reddish brown pour with a small off white head. aroma and flavor are smokey, cherry, caramel, black pepper and vanilla. soft mellow carbonation on a med-full body. 7/3/7/3/15

In short: A moderately bourdonny, heavily caramelized and slightly fruity strong ale. Very good big beer that is actually quite easy to drink
How: Bottle 750ml, corked and caged. Consumed when probably around 1 year of age. Hard to tell because I don’t remember who sent it to me. Thanks… someone.
The look: Cloudy rust-color body topped by a medium beige head dissipating to almost nothing
In long: Nose shows a lot of bourbon barrels over a sweet malt backbone. In mouth the bourbon is a bit more discreet than in the aroma. The malts are rich and creamy with plenty of luscious caramel along with some raisins and a toasted pie crust sweetness. Basically it tastes like a raisin pie dipped in caramel. Unlike typical Belgian Quads that usually push the fruitiness forward, with this BBQ it was the other way around with the caramel dominating the fruitiness. This made for a simpler Quad. However there was an oak barrel presence that added a nice woody dryness/astringency to the beer and made it quite easy to drink. Alcohol rather well hidden. Drinking a full bottle was all too easy, and we’re talking about a near 12% beer here. Carbonation was relatively relaxed, far from the liveliness I expect from a true Belgian Abt but that is probably due to the barrel aging. Very nice integration of the bourbon barrels here. And pretty clever of Boulevard to include a subliminal BBQ message in the beer name to attract coveted demographic of fat Americans, because some of these Americans are getting so fat that statistically one out of four American weigh as much as the other three combined.

750 ml bottle corked and caged, poured a dark red color with aromas of bourbon, vanilla, caramel and a feint hint of cherries. Flavor is similar to the aroma, and blended nicely, one of my favorite barrel aged beers to date, nice and real enjoyable, doesn’t have the hotness that the aroma suggested it would.

Aroma: caramel, bourbon, cherries, pleasant sweetness, vanilla. Pours a slightly haze dark amber color, off-white head dissipates to a ring, very little lacing. Flavor: bourbon is up front, caramel and dark sugars, warming alcohol, vanilla, some tart cherries. Medium-full body, medium carbonation. Nice brew.

Tart cherries and a balanced bourbon flavor dominate up front, underneath there is more of what you’d expect from a quad - candi sugar, belgian yeast, and a big booziness. Hints of vanilla linger in the finish. Beautifully complex, this beer is a real joy to sip. It seems like the flavors that are present wouldn’t work too well together but for some reason it comes together nicely.