Smuttynose Gravitation

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

Bottle: The aroma is fruity with hints of chocolate, caramel, and raisins. It pours slight hazy reddish-brown with a small off-white head. The aroma starts moderately fruit. The finish has a hint of chocolate and raisin. Medium bodied with with soft carbonation. Maybe a little simple and not overly complex, but I find this extremely tasty and underrated.

My Bottom Line:
Dried cranberries, dates and plums add complexity to the caramel malts of this rich and sweet dessert Quadrupel.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam covers the hazy dark brown.
-Light alcohol warms up the back end.
-Some roasted and toasted angles are tasted.
-Even though the body is luxurious, this is still easy to sip on.
-Some more attenuation would help methinks, but this is already a fun recipe to partake in.

Bottle.

Bomber. Slightly hazy, deep amber body with some ruby highlights. Off-white, lasting head. The aroma is dominated by sugared raisins, but there is a note of toasted grain. Very slight hint of overripe fruit. The flavor is heavily sweet and lightly bitter. It finishes moderately to heavily sweet and lightly bitter. Medium to heavy body with a watery texture and lively carbonation. One dimensional and cloyingly sweet. Where’s the Belgian yeast? Where are the hops? This was like drinking highly sweetened raisin juice. Very disappointing.

Bottle. Pours a deep bubbling amber brown. Sweet caramel, malt, candy sugar, Belgium yeast. Medium to full bodied. Moderately active effervescent.

Deep chestnut color with lingering tan head. Definite fruits there, juicy and raisiny with figs, toffee and vanilla/cherrywood. Toothcoatingly viscous with a warming touch down the hatch. The taste highlights some chewy fig/raisin flavors and there is a medicinal alcohol twinge giving way to a slight apple tartness which lingers for a while. Certainly a sipper which improves with warmth. I like my quads Belgian, and while this one lacks that special delicate complexity, this is a good effort and worth a try if you can get it

The raisins are a huge part of this beer’s taste, but they’re not the only taste that’s there. A really big beer that will take you for a ride on the delicious train. Anyone a fan of fruity notes in a Belgian style beer should pick this one up.

22 oz. bottle. Pours a beautiful ruby with a touch of brown and a large creamy light tan head. Must, vinous notes, fruit, date, and dust notes make up the nose. Medium-low carbonation with a medium-rich mouthfeel. A little oily in the texture. Ripe fruit, fig, a bit of alcohol, wood, and very sweet malt on the palate. A little too sweet in fact. The finish is medium-long with a lot of residual sweetness. This is batch labeled 2009 and I think it could benefit from some aging. Worth getting and sticking on the shelf for awhile.

Dark ruby/brown color with no head. Aromas of berries, grapes and sherry. A solid caramel malt hit as well. Strong, sweet caramel and rich malt flavor. More berries. A little herbal and floral quality. Some yeastiness. After it was a bit over cellar temp, I think there was a bit of chocolate malts as well. Really a heck of a lot better than it’s overall score would indicate. Not the second coming of Rochefort 10, but very good.