FlacoAlto (2473), Tucson, Arizona, USA
| 3.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 6/10 | 3/5 | 6/10 | 4/5 | 12/20 | May 25, 2008 Bottle Acquired February 2007; Sampled May 2008
A reasonable pour produces a fat-two-finger thick, pale tan colored head. The beer is a lightly hazed, reddish, darkened amber color that shows an perfect amber hue when held up to the light. The aroma is quite fruity and this couples with some light sherry notes that move towards rich port-wine character towards the aromatic finish. Fruit aromatics provide a mix of sweet plums, even prunes, light dried-fig and rum soaked, brown sugar glazed raisins. A touch of biscuit-like grain provides just a hint of an offset to the sweeter aromatic notes.
Sweet prune notes greet me up front and continue through to the finish. Only lightly carbonated with keeps the mouthfeel creamy textured and a bit flat (referring to texture, not CO2 levels). Surprisingly simplistic seeming after the first two sips, I don’t get a sense that a lot is going on here. The finish has a nice drying effect with toasty grain, and bread crust notes. There is also some age malt notes of sherry that lightly contribute to the finish. It gains a touch of complexity with fruit notes of earthy dates, some raisin character and a touch of brandy towards the finish that is brought out by some lightly warming alcohol. As the beer warms up some toffee notes join the general sweet fruit character. This does have a nice texture to it, not to heavy or cloying, yet still a sipper.
Certainly not bad, but it is quite simplistic in character despite having some nice aged sherry / port notes thrown in. I would only guess that this was more bland when fresh (looking through my rating of Blasphemy, I predicted much the same thing about the base beer) and the sweetness was more than likely sticky and cloying then (which it thankfully is not here). It really could use some spicy fermentation derived character. DaveCampbell68 (5), USA does not count | 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 6/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 3/5 | 17/20 | May 21, 2008 Malty, alcohol aroma with notes of dates and figs. Pours amberish in color with an off-white head. Sweet and malty taste with figs being the most prominent flavor. Warming at the end with a little burn. Overall I likethis beer a lot--great flavor. aubreya (676), Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| 3.6 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 6/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 17/20 | May 18, 2008 The color was medium amber with an off-white, creamy, thin head. The aroma was overwhelming alcohol, sweet, caramel malt, and some fruit notes. The flavor was brunswick stew, alcohol, and fruit. The palate was lively at first, but mellowed out. The finish was warm. emacgee (1881), Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| 3.6 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 16/20 | May 18, 2008 Pours an almost still ruby copper brew with no haze or sediment. Frothy offwhite head. The nose has some booze, sweet, fruity, belgian aroma, . The flavor is very boozy, fruity, a little belgian flavor in there, not too much complexity, candy. The mouthfeel is a bit thick and it finishes boozy as hell. Not too hot for a quad. craftbeerdesign (754), Alpharetta, Georgia, USA
| 3.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 3/5 | 8/10 | 3/5 | 17/20 | May 17, 2008 bottle. nice beer, definitely does not compare to other quadrupels out there... but still a tasty beer. pours a deep red color with little head. very sugary, sweet and candy like. medium body over the palate and very smooth... lots of fruit tones and some rich sweet malts. this one will knock you on your ass if not careful... the 12% comes through strong.... sticky and sweet. kmweaver (2463), Sebastopol, California, USA
| 3.5 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 13/20 | May 16, 2008 12oz bottle. Pours a viscous, mead-like, orange-amber color; light-tan head with solid, fine-bubbled lacing. Basic cola, dried fruits, and Belgian sugar in the aroma; a bit of a cardboard note, and bland overall. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: very chewy, viscous and heavy presence in the mouth; perhaps overly sticky altogether; cola note is most dominant, followed by dried fruits and viscous Belgian sugar, following the nose; intense and heavy, but not nearly as complex as the better examples of the style. Lengthy, sweet finish: cola, toasty malts, dried fruits and breadiness. Tasty; simple in its expression. tarc (47), New Jersey, USA
| 3.7 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 | May 15, 2008 great beer! Maltly but comes through with hopps. Inviting aroma, not too strong. a cheeky little beverage. jmikolich (405), Athens, Ohio, USA
| 3.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 6/10 | 2/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 13/20 | May 14, 2008 22oz,bottle, aged for a couple years... but, still poured into a trappist glass, looks like apple juice taste is more of the same surprisingly, apple and fruit with a finish of slight alcohol, not horrible because of the aging and a quick buzz. not bad, not great.
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