Smuttynose Gravitation

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

Deep dark brown coloured body with a very thin tan head that faded quick from a slightly larger one. Aroma of roasted malt, pit fruits, nice spices (clove and allspice noticeable), toffee and some strong oak. Medium-bodied; Very strong fruity flavour of concord grapes, raisins and toffee with a good roasted malty flavour touch and a slight bit of alcohol. Aftertaste shows plenty of sugars, pit fruits and oak - a nice mellow taste instead of an overly bitter flavour usually found in quads. Overall, a good beer - not too strong, but showing plenty of good flavours. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from K&E Discount Beverage in New Paltz, New York on 20-June-2009 for a cool $6.59, sampled at home in Washington on 20-September-2009.

Bottle poured into a snifter produced a finger worth of off white head that changed to a thin lace. The color of the body was a burgandy to purple and slightly hazy. I had a ton of fresh dark fruit aromas rising from the glass. Raisins were most definitely the most predominant smell in the bunch. The flavor was dark fruit forward as well. Very sweet, not to much in the way of bitter spices. Almost to coy in my book for a Quad. The alcohol was well hidden, but I think a little more heat might have helped the flavor. Medium feel in my mouth with good carbonation. I like sweet brews but this one was a little to much for me. I finished the bottle, but not looking for another. There are much better American Quads out there. Smutty dropped the ball on this one. To bad I really wanted to like this one but it just wasn’t up to par in my book.

Bottle. Poured a cloudy brown orange body with thin head. Aroma is light cardboard, dried fruit. Flavor is malty, dried fruit and plums.

bomber bottle. Poured cloudy brown in color. Aroma comes off very sweet and malty with notes of raisins. Taste is of tons of caramel sweetness, dark fruits, brown sugar, and pretty yeasty. Overall very sweet and not my thing.

Bottle 65 cl. Courtesy of fonefan. Clear, orangey brown with a beige head. Intense aroma of sweet burned caramel, overripe fruit and yeast. Quite full-bodied, overripe fruit, vanilla and burned caramel. No bitterness in the finish but a warming alcohol. 240709

Murky brown pour with some random off white bubbles. Aroma of yeasty fruits, raisins, brown sugar. FLavor is sweet, lots of dried fruits and sugars. Full bodied, fine carbonation. Finishes long with a mix of sweet and alcohol burn.

Bottle thanks to one of my trading buddies. I’m getting bad at remembering what’s in my cellar. I’m gonna go with dchmela, though, because that’s usually a safe bet. Sorry if I snubbed someone. So, the beer: Pours dark brown with reddish/purple tint. Smallish beige head. Nose of lots of sugars and tons of raisins. Looking at the description, I was not surprised to see that it actually has said raisins in the recipe. Some prune and plum as well as Belgian sugars and some fruity yeast and burnt toffee notes. Hope you like raisins...

Clear deep red with a tiny beige head. Aroma had roasted malt, caramel and overripe fruits. Flavour went the same way. Finished sweet and full bodied.