New Glarus Unplugged Belgian Quadruple

Formerly brewed at New Glarus Brewing Company
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
New Glarus, Wisconsin USA

Aroma of malt and cheese with cherries and oak. Light amber color with a quickly dissipating head. Taste is rich oak, dried fruit and cherries. Fruity malt flavors. Sweet with a bitter finish. Some vanilla and bourbon accents. Palate is thicker than it appears, creamy with mild carbonation and a slightly alcoholic presence. Sweetish rich finish. Rich and tasty overall.

Orange, amber colour with a white head. Malty, fruity aroma with notes of spices, alcohol and vanilla. Caramel, fruit and alcohol sweet flavor. Spicy, alcohol sweet finish.

Bottle into stem glass. Purchased at Discount, Milwaukee. Sparse, sticky lacing left by a moderately lasting eggshell head over a very clear, copper beer (lighter in color than I would expect from a quad). Smell is surprising too; I swear I can smell Rodenbach-esque sour cherry, with apple and ginger. Medium full in the mouth, coating the tongue. No one flavor really sets the tone, stays smooth and understated. The alcohol is noticable only in the effect, not in the mouth: after just a few sips on an empty stomach, I can feel my face flush. The coating lasts well into the finish. Light fruit flavors and syrupy grains, none of the breadiness I would expect from a quad. There is some bourbon-flavored cherry on the tip of the tongue in the finish, otherwise the flavors are cidery, nutmeg, allspice, some yeasty fuzzy things going on, and some light confectioner’s sugar on the top. The impression is definitely Belgian, but not at all abbey; it’s more like a belgian strong with cherries, something De Dolle might make with the syrupy sweetness its major attribute. Good, but not what was expected (which is why I think it is rated so relatively low).

Little aroma to me. Taste is sweet malts, belgian candy, not too bitter on the finish, pretty clean. Pleasant to drink. Sweet, syrupy almost, probably from the barrel aging. Light spice. Very drinkable and delicious, would get again.

Bottle. Pours orange/amber with a very thin white head. Aroma is nice, spicy, sweet and tart, almost like a good sour aroma. Aroma has my mouth watering for the first taste. Interesting, not a typical quad. Has a little more of a sour taste to it. Not bad, but not what I was expecting, some almonds are coming thru, but the big dark fruit and spice that I was expecting is missing. Some wood, but not a alot. This is not bad, but not great, a little thin too.

12oz bottle. Amber with a wispy head. Sweet aroma with candy and fruit (apricot and apple) and musty yeast. A bit of a musty flavor with apple, spice, and a light candy sweetness. Very enjoyable sipper. Mouth fell is carbonated and tingly. Also a bit coating and lingering. One of the best quads I’ve ever had.

Completely sediment free and brilliantly clear, a fair amount of carbonation causes a multitude of streaming carbonation bubbles to dash maddeningly to through this artificially clear, ruby hued brew. The head starts out about a fat one-finger thickness (a bit less than one would expect from the carbonation) and is a tan color. The aroma is quite spicy with substantial notes of clove, a touch of allspice and maybe even a hint of nutmeg. Spicy esters and higher alcohols add notes of white pepper, pickled Japanese ginger, ample nutmeg and cherry cough syrup. The aroma is quite sweet, and really quite cloying, somehow even simplistic, despite the added dimension of oak, bourbon, vanillin and brandy character. If I had to guess based solely on the aroma and heading of this brew, that this one has been overly filtered.

Wow, this drinks quite light for a beer of this strength; I was expecting it to have quite a bit more body and residual sweetness than it does. Bourbon character is noticeable as are flavors of vanillin, lightly spicy wood and buttery oak. The barrel character is actually not overwhelming, but still seems to be the most noticeable thing about the flavor. I can’t help but still feel like this has been filtered quite tightly, lots of malt complexity & yeast character seems to be missing from this brew. Spice notes of nutmeg and clove, mix with brandy-like warming alcohol notes to form some light turpenes driven character.

Somehow, even though I was not expecting too much from this beer, this is really just a lackluster beer. With all of the complex potential something like a bourbon barrel aged quad should have, when missing the mark, I would have expected this to have been a complete train wreck of flavors. Instead it just seems a bit flabby and somehow lackluster; this is missing the depth of malt character & rich fruitiness that I would expect in a Quad, even a mediocre one. If this was actually filtered, I would be curious to try this unfiltered and bottle conditioned.

12 oz bottle. Clear ruby brown with a ring and a patch of white bubbles. Just cool, this is giving off wonderful waves of cherry, bourbon caramel, Belgian yeast and orange peel. Medium body with a light carb tingle. Taste is vanilla caramel orange, some raisin and malt; followed up with a shot of bourbon. Finish is dry with green berries. Alcohol and aftertaste keep this from being great.