Urthel Samaranth

Brouwerij De Leyerth
Brewed at De Koningshoeven (Bavaria - Netherlands)
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Ruiselede, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass

i have a .750ml. bottle from 07/08 purchased from canals in new jersey. it poured kind of dark honey colored with an off white head that was about a finger thick and some what bubbly, but fell rather fast. the body is dark clear amber with some bubbles rising from the bottom. the aromas are alcohol, sweet caramel malts, sugar, and super sweet milk chocolate. the flavors are chocolate with a strong burn from the alcohol in the finish. there is also roasted caramel malts along with a high grade malt that was used quite well producing a very nice flavor. i also get some bitterness from the hops, but the malts are the main focus. the aftertaste is nice and not over kill and the body is full bodied with good carbonation and mouth feel.

Pours a deep but clear amber with a medium tan head that collapses slowly. Aroma has a lot of dark fruits and brown sugar, dark malt, honey, a little alcohol. Very complex aroma, all good aromas too. The first sip reveals that this is the hoppiest Abt I’ve ever tasted, and at the end is a soulful chest warmth. In the middle is caramel and candi sugar, and the hops persist here as well. Bold flavor that gets better and better with every sip. Very complex. Smooth mouthfeel, sticky finish. A damn good ale, frankly; This one stands out even in realms of Belgian ubiquity... Underrated! I say with utter clarity that this is in the same league as the "Big 3" trappisten Abts. My take, anyhow. Complexity matches Westy if not surpassing it slightly. Overall, world class.

Bottle 11.5% (same as Runes). Light amber color with great head. Strong powerfull spicey sweet flavor. Alcoholic.

Poured hazy amber brown, dark fruits, brown sugar, bready, alcohol, little yeasty, little citrus peel.

330ml bottle, 11.5% abv., from Systembolaget, Linköping. Glittering, white foam over an amber-brown coloured body. Fragile head-lacing. Alcohol heating to the nose with dried fruits behind. Spicy, dried fruits and candy sugar in flavour, only partial offset by bitter berries. Some yeasty notes. Quite noticeable alcohol heating. Still smooth and dry on the swallow. Dangerously easy to drink. Nice, though a bit too sweet. I found more pleasure in the Urthel Tripel (Tromsø, 23.10.2009).

Ruby red and maroon color, relatively clear with lots of suspended particles. Lots of effervescence, but rapidly disappearing white head. Aroma of leather and orange peel. Taste is very large caramel with lots of malty sweetness, but well balanced with hops. Long, syrupy caramel finish. Very nice indeed.

Pours a hazy amber color with a thin white head. Aroma of caramel, brown sugar, and some nuts. Flavor of caramel, brown sugar, malts, and alcohol. Odd taste for a quad, but a good beer.

750ml corked bottle. Pours a Beautiful, vibrant, dark amber to mahogany with orangish, tawny hues and a medium off-white head, which leaves excellent Brussels lacing. A lively bead of carbonation endlessly floats to the top. Appearance is similar to a dry sherry or tawny port. The aroma is incredible, by far the best feature of this brew. An endless array of sweet, juicy, overripe dark fruits, bursting with black cherries (actually an almost medicinal cherry flavor I’ve found to be quite common in quads) brown sugar, molasses, grape jam, plums, and even lychee. This is followed with just a hint of lactic sourness,(raspberry or even balsamic vinegarette) bittersweet with further hints of raisins, nutty sherry, and oily dark rum. Juicy! On the palate it is smooth and almost creamy, with a just-right level of carbonation appearing at the back of the tongue just as the alcohol does. The taste is immediately bitter and full of warming alcohol with raisiny, bittersweet dark fruit, caramelly molasses and again, that slight cherry medicinal tinge. Plums steeped in alcohol, port, spicy cinammon and allspice as well as a peppery, spruciness remind me of Christmas(and no doubt this would make an excellent Christmas beer). Finally, the finish is medium-long and drying, leaving a bittersweet fortified wine taste and a warming, intense alcoholic burn as it trails down the throat. Some brewers manage to produce a really strong beer in which the alcohol just blends seemlessly with the flavor- this is not one of them. However, it is still a great strong beer to sit down with and read a book, or simply just relax.