Stewarts Conundrum Quad Ale

Formerly brewed at Stewarts Brewing Company
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Bear, Delaware USA

2 year bottle-conditioned 750 ml bottle from Stewart’s. Pours turbid brownish ruby, like a dull ruddy muddy rusty color with a bit more burnt sienna. Minimal head, as expected. Nose is a medley of fruits, yeasty spicy peppery florals, malt, and hops. Tastes fruity, with cherry, berry, merlot, spicy, black peppery, hops, and candi sugary malt. Very complex, very well hidden alcohol, and very well balanced. A bit like a barleywine/quad hybrid, this one was well worth the trip to procure, and the 15 dollar price tag.

BCTC. Best beer of the lot. Amber/dark red color with small head. Malty with fruity,caramel, dark fruit aroma and taste. Sweet and spicy and VERY easy to drink. Went back to the Stewart campsite and drank this stuff all night.

[BCTC 07] Poured a dark reddish brown color with a medium sized, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malts, caramel, coriander, dark fruits, leather, and flowers. Taste was sweet, with more caramel, but balanced with huge fruity spices (coriander), yeast, light toffee, dried fruits, roast, and a touch of alcohol as well. This should be the next one to get bottled, and I expect it to age very gracefully!

Poured a copper color with a nice off-white head, decent retention with good lacing. The aroma was floral (lavendar type smell), fruity esters (lighter fruits, less of the dark fruits) over a spicey base, very hard to determine (primarily yeasty components, anise maybe also in there?). The flavor was nice, deceptively drinkable, very crisp for a beer this strong or anything belgian, excellent bitter hop balance at the end of each sip, again very drinkable. Featured flavors were grapes and other light fruits, some light caramel, gentle peppery spicing, a touch of coriander/cloviness, a lot going on, including an apparent rye/wheat accent to further dry this out and add some twang? A smooth beer, even if this isn’t the prototypical take on a Quad... in that case it’s an excellent Belgian Strong Saison. Nice job, Ric!

Poured a copper color with small head and good lacing. Aroma was of spices and floral and fruits. Flavor was of candied sugar and dark fruits, hops were to keep the sweetness from running away.

Feb. 2007 - Dark brown, strong fruity aroma. Rich dark fruit and candied sugar, but not as rich as other quads, which made it more drinkable. Sweet, but not overly so...maybe a touch of saison-funkiness, but that might have been psycho-somatic. Still and all, very good.

On tap at BCTC. Almost mahogany in color with a reddish hue. A slight head of white with a bit of lace. Aromatics are filled with grape jam, fruit gum, rum-soaked raisins, and a spicy nod. Coriander, orange zest, and white pepper add a nice complexity. The body is on the full side of medium. Sticky and slightly sweet. The pallet is part quad, part saison. Plenty of ripe, dark fruits and caramel, laced with zingy spicework. Fairly clean, no funk, and extremely warming. A big beer, but pretty damn smoth. Finishes warming with some light residuals, ripe figs, and a hint of dark rum.

750 ml bottles of the 2007 beer were offered on black Friday. Had to be consumed at the brewpub due to label not being approved. Poured a dark reddish brown with very light head. Slightly sweet and very nice mouthfeel. Fruity flavors and a warm finish. Way too easy to drink for 11.7% alcohol. A very nice beer and unfortunately a very rare beer.