Harpoon Leviathan Belgian Quad

Brewed by Harpoon Brewery
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Trappist glass

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The aroma is approaching a liquor with strong alcohol and dark fruit. There is also caramel malt and grassy hops. The appearance is dark amber with a medium head. The taste is like the aroma with an alcohol burn. The palate is smooth. Overall seems about right for the style but to alcoholic tasting for me.

Poured into a chalice from a 12 ounce bottle vintage 2012.

A: Crystal clear but dark garnet body with a thin tan head with poor retention. I’m honestly expecting a more dense and mean looking head.

S: The aroma is really intriguing actually, lots of biscuit/bready malts with some tarty aromas of cherries and mild alcohol coming through. If I had to describe the aroma it would be that it smells fuzzy if that makes sense. I’m greatly enjoying the aroma for some reason though.

T: Sweet malts up front, really not much going on there other than some bready malts, but the mid-taste introduces some spice which hits hard during the finish in combination with the cherry esters that leave my tongue and throat tingling, I enjoy this.

M: Thick and smooth with hints of carbonation stabbing my tongue at times.

O: This is probably considered a mess in the genre, but there’s something about this beer I really like though I can’t put my finger on it. I will probably buy one to age and see how it turns out.

The beer pours a dark reddish-brown color with a tan head. The aroma is full of cherries and plums, as well as some bread and brown sugar. The alcohol is also quite present. The flavor is similar. The beer is very boozy, but the dark fruit, candy sugar and Belgian yeast notes also are strong. The beer is very fruity overall, with a lot of cherries and figs in the flavor. Medium to thick mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Dark reddish brown color. One-finger head dissipates quickly. Medium lasting carbonation. Nose of burnt sugar. Syrupy sweet and bitter; both too extreme for this style. Strong tastes of coffee, licorice and figs overwhelming what spices there may be. All the elements of a quad, but skewed to the wrong intensities; none of the subtleties that would make a good brew.

sugary sweet and bitter with pepper. Nice malt fresh hay component near the finish. Yeasty thick fruit just a bit tropical but still an Abbey spiced ale. Not at all overdone with some alcohol and a lengthy fifnish .

Very good beer. A little too much hops for a quad in my opinion. But the alcohol was masked well. Very enjoyable, I would definitely try this again.

Pours a clear, deep ruby to purple, some light orange around the edges with a thin ring of head that vigorously stirred produces a thicker khaki cap. Nose is quite powerful: dried dark fruits like dates and figs, plums, some apricot, a little light chocolate, spicy yeast with some clove and nutmeg, candi sugar sweetness. Taste is sweet, but rounded with some tart and bitterness. Palate is heavier, sticky but not too thick or syrupy, round and full with low carbonation, a little slick, and finishes long with some alcohol heat. My favorite so far of the Leviathan series. Very nice.

Out of the bottle poured a amber brew with a thick light brown head. Aromas of malt and flora hints. Malt flavors overpowered by hops. The flavors made the mouth feel very much like acid.Hop heads will probably like this.

Bottle. Poured dark brown with a tan head that quickly diminished leaving thin lacing. Aroma had some fruit and caramel. Thin to medium bodied. Initial taste was smooth, but got sticky towards the end and finished dry with noticeable alcohol. Unlike many quads I’ve had, the maltiness faded quickly and there wasn’t much of that yeasty, toasty bready note I’d expected. This also had somewhat of a dry & bitter finish.

Pours the typical dark (but a little red) of most quads. I was hoping for something to approximate a Roche 10, but that’s a bridge to far I think. It’s good: good head and head retention; sweet malt aromas; has a distinct peppery finish.