La Trappe Quadrupel

Brewed by De Koningshoeven (Bavaria - Netherlands)
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Tilburg, Netherlands

33cl bottle. Pours a deep, hazy brown with orange highlights. The beer pours a thin, tan head that is quite persistent - but leaves no lace on the glass. The aroma is sweet with a decent bit of caramel and toast. There is also a dustiness and peppery spiciness that is augmented by the piercing aroma of alcohol. There are also some fruity ester notes, too. The flavor follows the aroma: peppery and grassy notes at first with a sweet malt character. As the beer ventures back, caramel flavors become quite strong. Ethanol flavors also strengthen and a tate of anise begins to come through. The finish has a combination of earthy and fruity flavors - bittersweet with hops and hints of spicy (mellow peppercorn, anise, coriander) phenols. The mouthfeel is quite light. The carbonation is not particularly high - unexpected for the style. Overall, a tasty brew for sure.

On tap at Ebenezer’s. Aroma and flavor pretty similar, heavy in dried and dark fruit, some mid-range fruit sneaking in as well. Strong mouthfeel supported by the background hops. Sort of an inbetween sibling to the dark, rich Belgian quads and the light, sweet American quads. Enjoyed it tremendously, a worthy beer to stand up to the other Trappists. 8-4-8-4-16/4.0

Rerate 4/16/09. Bottle. Aroma of raisin bread with some spicing that nearly makes it like cinnamon raisin bread, and increasing candi sugar presence noted as it warms. Flavor very sweet as the candi sugar overrides the bready malt and is joined by a bunch of alcohol to create a sugary alcohol concoction. Body is quite thinned out with all the candi sugar, but this doesn’t really help to make it more drinkable. Rather poor. 7-3-6-3-12/3.1

330 mL bottle. Dark amber-brown with a medium-small (but lasting and sticky) beige head. The aroma is strong, fruity (raisins, figs) and sweet, but there’s a little too much alcohol there. The flavour is big, malty, and sweet (dark candi sugar). The alcohol is quite apparent, but fades as the beer warms. Unfortunately, the sweetness increases. Quite a bit of alcohol warmth at the end. Full body, appropriate carbonation. I’d love to see how this one ages.

3/5/08 at Idle Rich Pub in Dallas as Koningshoeven Quad. Pours hazy amber red/brown, small, quickly dissipating white head. Nose is spicy and fruity, apple, pear. Taste is spicy, coriander and anise, malt, caramel, dry, with a touch of hop crispness. Pretty decent.

First impression is that it’s huge, thick mouth, lots of alcohol, lots of dried fruit, almost a Belgian Christmas style. Next the toffee and the sweet malts, then more spice, then more dried fruit, then more alcohol. Wasn’t sure what to do with it; for a great beer, it was surprisingly not something I actually wanted to drink, either by itself or with beef cheeks and frites. Clearly the most interesting draft at RESTO tonight, simply not the most drinkable.

330ml bottle at Biergasthof Schiffner. Pours a deep ruby colour with a fine lacy head. Smells quite funky and definitely of "UHU Alleskleber" and fermented, sour hay. Still funky and a bit gluey in taste , but mixed with all sorts of gooey boiled sweet fruit. Well balaanced. delicious stuff.

1994 bottle...brown, small head. Rich malt and cardboard aroma, but the flavor is amazingly rich with sweet fruits, tasty malts, toffee. Very nicely aged. Far better balanced than a newer Koenings Hoeven Quad which tends to be hot in the alcohol.

This was my first bottle in 10 years. It was as I remember. I had the 750ML corked version. The pour: deep caramel color with a head with large bubbles. (This usually is a result of bottle conditioning.) The bouquet: heavy "Trappist" yeast smell. Very fruity- dates, figs, raisins. The palate: intense, malty, sweet- you can definitely tell this ale is fermented with Belgian candy sugar. The finish: definite alcohol "bite" at the back of the tongue. Aftertaste: nutty, toffeeish. Very good Quad... not the world’s very best, but it’s up there.