La Trappe Quadrupel

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

750 Koningshoeven bottle, at-least a year old, could be up to two, 08:32 K26D7, whatever that means. Pours a darker glowing orangish red with a tall foamy beige very thick creamy froth. Aroma is strong of fruity esters, alcohol, hint of banana phenols, some vanilla, quite rich. Flavor is much the same, hot and rich, touch of banana, caramel, toasted light brown sugar, touch of sweet white raisins, a bit doughy, rich and sugary but mostly without depth, little bit of vanilla towards the finish, some lingering burn. Develops more of a Gulden Draak candy sweetness and burn along side a Unibroue yeast quality. Medium/full bodied, creamy and fluffy with some sharp fine carbonation and leftover stickiness. Actually quite good for a Quad, still prefer any Abt though.

This is certainly an enjoyable beer, but trying the Dubbel, Tripel and Quad together, I’m highly confused about the Quad’s significantly higher ratings. True, it’s a bit better. The flavor is fuller, the malt is richer and the beer is a bit more warming, but the flavor profile is in line with the rest of the lineup with the smaller beers. I’m even lowering the rating a bit in deference to style comparisons. On a flat rating scale, this would be more highly rated than the Tripel or the Dubbel. At any rate, the Quad pours a deep medium red. It’s translucent with amber highlight at certain angles. It’s actually less murky than the Tripel (maybe a function of the pour). There’s a bit more lacing, though. The aroma has more banana bread and clove than I noticed in the previous Koningshoeven beers. There are also aromas of vanilla, brandy and apricots/plums. The flavor is similar with peppery spicing. I’m again impressed at the depth of flavor these Trappist brewers are able to get out of such simple ingredients. It’s one hell of a strain of a yeast that can impart this depth of flavor. If not for style comparisons, I’d bump up my ratings in every category.

From bottle, pours ruby stunnig color with a nice off white head, caramel, raisins, vanilla and alcohol in the aroma, flavor is intense with some caramel, lots of alcohol and tones of butter, sweetness is high body is medium, finishes with some spices like cinammon and coriander. I might be mean if I would say that it reminds me of a malt liquor, but it does.

Poured dark brown color with a medium white head to it. Has a bit of fruity smell to it. Has a fruity flavor to it with a boozy finish to it. Needs to have a little more body to it for the abv it has. Maybe it just needs to age a little bit. Thought this would be better

Dark amber colour, i tasted many trapisstes so i can judge thismuch better. Quite medium head. Nice caramel, honey, sweet malt. Very well balanced malts and hops. Bittery finish mix with sweetness. Such an amazing beer.

Bottle in São Paulo - Very strong beer... however... this not affect the good taste of honey and fruits (malty beer indeed)... it is not as complex as other Quadrupel’s, however, it is a good and decent beer.