Church Brew Cherry Quadzilla

Brewed by Church Brew Works
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

750ml bottle: Purchased in Spring 2005, sampled Nov. 2008. This was tough to open. The cage wire broke when I tried to un-do it, and the plastic cork did not want to budge from the bottle. When I did get it off, there was a small pop. There was some carbonation with the pour, but there was very little head and that went away immediately. The color is a reddish, darker brown. It is almost opaque. Nice nose. I get sour cherries, as well as plums, raisins and lots of malt. Hints of some spice and yeastiness also. Feels a bit slick on the tongue. The tates are balanced. The cherries are a bit sour, but not overdone. There are caramel malt, other dark fruits and some spice also. A touch of alcohol also. Nice. I would like to try the blackberry version also.

This is a sweet, potent quad straight from an old church I long to visit on the other side of PA, far from my home by Philly. I love this brewery’s beers and this was one of the first that impressed me much. I like fruity strong ales, so this was right for my palate.

(bottle - 750 ml) Dark ruby red pour with a thick off-white head. Aroma is sweet but rather sour with a lot of cherries and malt. Flavor is the complete opposite. Lots of cherry sweetness with a ton of sweet malts. Smooth and creamy throughout and hides the alcohol well.

Sampled from a 22 oz green bottle this beer poured a murky orange-brown color with a medium sized khaki head that faded quickly. The aroma was tart sour cherries and light caramel. The flavor was bitter and tart cherries with sweet caramel, molasses and brown sugar. The finish was long with tart cherries and brown sugar. Thick and full bodied. A bit of alcohol shows through. Well done.

#7 Bottle. [Papsoe grand American tasting] Small fizzy off-white head that mostly diminished. Spare display of lacework. Somewhat clear nutty color. Aroma of yeast, dried fruit, raisins, nutty, almond, mild alcohol, toasted malt, and dusty grainy like feel as well with a hint of spice. Quart like style beer. (This is a blind tasting). Full bodied with an average carbonation and light alcoholic texture. Heavy sweet flavor, with a hint of bitterness. Lingering warming dried fruity and light nutty finish. 8 / 3 / 8 / 4 / 16 = 3.9

Bottle sampled on 9/15/07: Pours a transparent copper orange with a nicely-lacing wispy off-white head. Aroma of sweet bready dark caramel malt with some slightly tart black cherry complexity. Body starts with nice caramely malty sweetness and smooth, earthy, oaky cherry flavor toward a full, slightly warming complexity. A nice quadrupel.

Yellow edges, red body, irregular head. Lemon juice, cherry edge, woody underbody. There are two layers of flavor--the cherry and the quad, of course. Interesting alcohol in abundance, tingling the tongue and body, but there might just be too much of it after a bit. The cherry is too subtle.

thanks to whomever brought this to the woodshop quad tasting. Tangy sweet flavor with a nice balance betweent he cherries and other dark fruit flavors