Pizza Port Carlsbad Belgian Style Quadruple

Brewed by Pizza Port (Carlsbad)
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Carlsbad, California USA

Draft @ Pizza Port - Carlsbad. Pours a dense, cola-brown color; thin, light-tan head with fine-bubbled lacing. Lots of dense dried fruits and caramel in the aroma; raisins and dried dark fruits; reserved sweetness. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: lots of dried dark fruits (raisins, dates) and malty sweetness without being sticky; basic, dense core without a ton of developed esters; solid quad. Lengthy finish: dried dark fruits, caramel and malty sweetness; balanced end.

<i>On tap at the brewpub.</i> Pours a dark tobacco color with ruddy highlights and thin layer of wispy off-white head. Low level of carbonation for the style. Aromas of raisins and alcohol hop out of the glass immediately, along with some more subtle dark melanoidin notes. Hints of bubblegum yeast character. Medium bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel with a soft texture. Flavors of dark fruit malt characters flow over the palate up front, bringing out notes of raisin and prune. Plenty of rich malt melanoidins, but sufficiently dry. Impressive malt depth and character, but the yeast complexity is somewhat lacking, perhaps not surprising for a draft offering. Notes of bubblegum and black pepper emerge in the finish, along with some burned raisin flavors. Finishes moderately dry with some warming alcohol in the final smack. More carbonation would have been nice to further enhance dryness and break up some of the heavy, plodding alcohols found in the nose.

On tap at both Stone and PP Carlsbad. pours a red/burgundy color with small off-white head. It is pretty good, but probably needs more time, and could be a little more complex. Raisin, plum, rich sweet malt, molasses, dark fruit, vanilla, and oak. Notes of apple and spice. I would really like to get this bottled and see what its like in a few years.

dark brown pour and said pour did not leave any room but for a halo of suds. sweet raisiny alcoholic nose...flavors were deep, sweet and boozy with raisin and other dark fruits, anise, and slight crisp hoppiness. typical american version lacking real complexity, though it is still quite cold. very warming alcohol feelings with some peppery hotness on the tongue. some bubblegum belgian yeast notes come out once it warms up a little. still, its rather hot and one-dimensional. this style is easy to do average, but near impossibile to do like a westy 12.

Tap @ PP Carlsbad. This was quite nice, it had a lot of character, rich and tasty, and is a great example of a well made version of a Belgian classic.

On tap at Pizza Port Carlsbad. Clear burgundy color with a medium pillow beige head. Dark fruit aroma of plum, raisin, and cinnamon biscuit. Big malty flavor with notes of maple wood, molasses, vanilla cream and sweet candy sugar. Finishes with a classic Belgian yeast note and a warming alcohol tone. Very tasty.

On tap @ PP C-Bad. Dark amber hue, light ring of tan head and watery lacing. Nose is big swaths of drak fruits, hints of toffee, caramel, light fruits. Syrupy sweet dark fruits and molasses initially, quickly brightens up with honey sweetness, pears, and apples, chewy caramel malts linger, finishes with slight alcohol presence. Thick chewy texture with nicely amped carbonation. A great combination of fruit with a strong malt backbone, delicious!

On-tap at PP C’Bad. Pours brown/red with a medium size, offwhite head, specks of lace. Smells sweet, fruity malty with some alcohol. Tastes sweet malty with some nice, ripe fruit flavors. Quite a bit of warming alcohol flavor on the finish. Full body, good carbonation.