Free State The Quad

Brewed by Free State Brewing Company
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Lawrence, Kansas USA

Serve in Trappist glass

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On draft at the brewpub. Aroma of strong banana and clovey esters, sweet with tropical fruit, dark dried fruit (date, raisin), brown sugar, and hints of toasted malt. Mostly clear deep, dark amber color, head is fine, creamy and lasting, very nice looking in the glass. Flavor is full of dark sweetness, fruitiness, rich malts and estery yeast throughout, some mild alcoholic heat and peppery bitterness noted at the finish. Lingering clove spice character with very light herbal tinges. Active, warming mouthfeel, light degree of acidity, body seems fairly enormous. Extremely fruity overall, and while fairly refined, not going to pass as Belgian in origin.

It poured a brown color with a small tan head. The aroma was of some sweet caramels with a banana smell, some earth and nuts. The flavor was malty with some sweet caramels, chocolate covered bananas, bubble gum, cloves, and a hint of roast in the finish. A very good Quadrupel.

The aroma has fruit notes throughout. It pours a clear copper with a very thin lacing at the top of the glass. It has the richness of a true quad but is slightly lacking in flavor explosion. The 10% is very well hidden but i think my problem is that I’ve had the st bernardus 12 & hold all quads up to it’s standard.

Opaque mahogany with almost no head. Raisin cherry and brown sugar aroma and taste with some molasses toffee and candy notes to the finish.

Draft in Lawrence. Nice clear copper color with a small white ring. Faint sweet aroma but not much else. More candi sugar in the flavor that blocks other tastes. Fine but a little non-standard for a quad.

(Draught) Pours a lightly hazy deep amber body with a medium beige head. Aroma of raisins, earth, some banana, and grass. Flavor of dates, earth, peat, clove, leather, brown sugar, and raisins.

Draft at the brewpub. Poured a hazy deep medium brown color with a tan head. Smelled of clove, dark fruits, and molasses. Medium to full bodied and slightly sweet. Spicy with moderate carbonation and a warming alcohol effect. The flavors were similar to the nose with the addition of woody bark. So so.

Shakers at the brewpub (odd glass choice). Pours a translucent mahogany with a thin beige skin. The nose is quite vinous and a bit boozy with notes of red grapes, dark fruity and lightly roasty malt. Medium-bodied and slick with fine tongue-tickling carbonation at the finish. Sweet and malty with a solid Belgian yeast character that is missing on the nose. Raisin, brown sugar, red grapes, white peppery phenols, and a bit of candy sugar. There’s a lot more going on here than the nose would indicate. This is a nice beer, but it’s not really a top tier quad. Side note: serving this in 14 oz pours is a dangerous prospect.

UPDATED: DEC 4, 2010 Re-rate: next winter, next batch and nothing has changed. Still full of estery and fruit quad.

Shaker @ the brewpub (I cannot believe it was served in a shaker). This beer follows the pattern of all the other FS Belgian styles brews I have had - not well executed. This was a very FRUITY quad, I mean the fruitiest yeast aspects I have ever come across. This does not go all that well with the sweet malt backbone (think brown sugar and yada yada). Its decent stuff and actually not heavy, even a a bit watery in texture too offset the sweetness. However, its not what I look for in a quad, particularly one that is named "the Quad." It did come with a thick foamy atop a dark brown body, which made it appealing enough.

On tap at Free State. Pours a cloudy, brown colored body with an orange tint. Thin, creamy, beige head that leaves a moderate lacing. Aroma is medium sweet caramels with a yeasty, overripe banana smell. The clove spiciness is there along with some earth and nuts. I also get a little bit of an estery fruit. Flavor is a little more bold than the aroma and along the same lines. Malty with medium sweet caramels, overripe chocolate covered bananas, yeasty fruit esters, bubble gum, clove spicing, and just a touch of roast in the finish. Somewhat dry with a sweeter aftertaste that lingers for a moderate duration. Smooth, medium body. Overall, a solid quad. Not the most complex, but well put together.