Dragonmead Armageddon Grand Cru

Brewed by Dragonmead Brewery
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Warren, Michigan USA

( 750ml bottle, courtesy of ericandersnavy ) Pours a clear amber body with a medium off-white head. Aroma of mustiness, candi sugar, raisins, toffee, and dates. Flavor of raisins, candi sugar, and toffee.

Bottle… A hard pour provides a clear amber ale with a small, fizzy, white head. As it warms, the aroma really opens up to reveal butterscotch, caramel, toffee, mild clove, biscuit dough and inviting alcohol warmth. Full-bodied with a syrupy mouthfeel and gentle carbonation. Toffee, toasted malt and fuzzy fruit sweetness up front, followed by a very pleasant, delicate bitterness. The alcohol is not at all overwhelming. Lightly sweet finish. I fell asleep in the sun about ¾ of the way through this bottle, but woke back up and finished it off a couple hours later… too good to waste. Thanks to dmschefke for shipping this beer to my front door!

Bottle courtesy of dmschefke. Pours copper with a thin white head. Smells of molasses, caramel, some toffee, fruity. Tastes of raisins, sweet malt, molasses, honey, toasted malt. Earthy finish.

Stratford tasting @ Cletus house. Pours an amber body with an off white head. Chewy etoh latent fruit, butterscotch, lighter Belgian spices with some residual sweetness. Sweeter cherry notes a hint medicinal. Decent.

2004 on tap. Soft ruby-orange color, light haze, slightly translucent with a small rapidly disippating oatmeal colored head. Smells of light chocolate, raspberries, a hint of doughy yeast and some bit of clove. Flavor is quite impressive, full of candi sugar and sweet sweet caramel flavors. Lots of red fruit and a medium-full body. Even served warm, this stuff is able to mask the 11 percent alcohol very well. Only after drinking a lot of it do I begin to notice a few problems in the finish. A hint of acidity and some strange, almost dirty/soily flavors make their way in, but it’s fairly minor and this is still a grand beer.

Bottle thanks to ericandersnavy. Pours with no head and a hazy golden body. Aroma of banana esters, alcohol and caramel. Taste is sweet, with honey, alcohol, and caramels. Kind of bland for a Quad. Light bubbles.

On tap: The aroma has lots of banana with some light apple, candi sugar, yeast, and very faint alcohol. It’s a transparent golden-orange with a creamy off-white head. The flavor stats with banana, candi sugar, apple, and faint yeast up front. It finishes with some light tart apple with some faint alcohol. It’s listed as a Quad on the menu and a Belgian Strong here on the site. I’d say it tastes more like a Tripel. Either way, it’s very tastey. This gets my vote for the best beer from the brewery.

750ml bottle, courtesy northernbrews. Pours a very lightly hazy, copper-amber hue. A foamy beige head leaves jagged flares of lacing on the glass. The nose displays a weird, phenolic, artificial grape overtone, with some dry cereal grain, dark candy sugar, and tannic fruit skins. Flavors follow suit, showing candyish, slightly medicinal grape with a hint of dry, tannic tartness. This certainly tastes unlike any quad I’ve ever had. Weird. Big bodied, alcoholic, and moderately carbonated, the palate sports a dry, parching finish that just doesn’t suit the style. Not very good.