Abbaye Des Sept Minutes IV

From an alcohol standpoint, IV is the strongest entry of the Abbaye Des Sept Minutes series from Tooth and Nail and Godspeed, weighing it at a robust 10%. The Ontarian take on the Belgian quadrupel comes in 355mL cans. The beer inside is handsome bronze, with a sudsy cream head.

AD7M 4 has a malty and sweet aroma, with treacle and raisin notes, with just a hint of licorice. The flavour is big on dried fruit with some sweetness in the early going and a shift to molasses bitterness in the back end. The beer tastes boozy as hell, but the flavours are still subtle.

In my opinion, IV is the highlight of the Abbaye Des Sept Minutes series—it’s the most true to style entry and it has the most complex flavour.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Three Philosophers

 My ol’ pal HW brought me a bottle of Three Philosophers from Brewery Ommegang when he returned from a trip to Rochester. The beer, from Cooperstown, NY, is a blend of Belgian-style beers; specifically a quad and a cherry kriek. At 9.7%, the beer has some big heft, and packs a punch even in 12 oz bottles. The beer itself is gorgeous—ruddy copper with a lush off-white head.

The beer has aromatics that are both woody and tart—cherry comes through in spades, but there is also some heat and a dose of lively yeast. The flavour has a lot of the characteristics of a young, tart red wine—interestingly tannic—but with a mellow and almost buttery texture. The beer is deceptively boozy, but it really sneaks up on you. The quad elements are understated—it isn’t particularly yeasty nor over-sweet—but it contributes great ballast. The beer is less sour than I anticipated, with cherry manifesting as syrup rather than tart.

I love it when a much-loved and hyped beer lives up to expectations. I have had more interesting Belgian blends, but this one was deftly balanced and tasted great. It’s the texture that really spoke to me—mellow and mild—an unusual vehicle for a beer approaching 10%.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

4x4 Belgian Quad

One might not expect to find a Belgian-style quadrupel in Northern Ontario, but that just what one gets when one cracks a 471mL can of 4x4 Belgian Quad, a 10.5% offering from Sudbury’s Stack Brewing.

First off, I should probably address what was, for me at least, the elephant in the room: a quad in a can?! I was pretty wary, but I persevered, dear reader, because I owe it to my art!

Stack’s quad was a fairly dark entry—it started pouring a walnut brown and just kept getting darker as my glass filled up. Atop this dark brown ale resided a slight cap of loose tan head. 4x4 had a pretty feisty aroma, characterized by a generous measure of malt, fruitcake, and a bit of spice. On the flavour side of the equation, I found many of those same sweet notes, but also leather and a slightly tangy fruit finish reminiscent of a red wine. It is in the finish that one gets the first real indication of how strong this stuff actually is.

All things considered, 4x4 was a pretty cheeky offering from one of Ontario’s unsung brewing bests, though not nearly their best work. First off, I have a bit of a hard time classing this as a quad—it has the strength and some of the right flavour elements, but it lacks the heady funk that comes with Belgian yeast. For me, this beer was closer to a barley wine or some other genre of winter ale. But classification aside, I found this brute to be a relatively tasty effort. It didn’t have the full-bodied texture I was hoping for, but the flavour was interesting and many-layered.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Through the Quad Belgian Quadrupel

St. Jacobs, Ontario, the home of Block 3 Brewing Co., is the birthplace of their Through the Quad Belgian Quadrupel, a Belgian-style strong ale. And at 10% even, it is strong. Swig a 500mL bottle of this brew and clear your schedule.

Through the Quad looks for all the world like a stout--it's dark brown/black, opaque, and ringed with off-white head. It has a sweet and fruity nose that also manages to incorporate a whiff of coffee. Flavour is malt driven, with notes of honey and fruit coming before a faintly bitter finish. Through it all, booze is a constant flavour note.

As an uncontextualized strong ale, Through the Quad sings a lovely tune. As a simulacrum of a Belgian quad, it fares well enough in terms of vigour, though it lacks the yeasty demeanor of a classic quadrupel. That said, though, it is an agreeable shot at a tricky style, done with strength and artistry. I seldom spot Block 3 brews, but when I do, I snap them up quite eagerly, since they tend to be well made and somewhat unconventional. Such is the story with Through the Quad--a nicely constructed beer that, while not exactly representative of the style, is quite delicious and fiendishly potent.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Précaris Quadrocinno

Précaris Quadrocinno is a Belgian quadrupel infused with coffee. At 9.5%, it has serious potency and heat. A dark brown ale under a tan head, Quadrocinno hails from Oedelem, Belgium. It's produced by Vliegende Paard Brouwers and comes in attractive, hefty 330mL bottles.

In spite of my expectation that the beer would have an assertive coffee scent, the nose was actually quite yeasty and boozy, with only a sprinkling of java. Likewise, the flavour has only a whisper of coffee, and is instead dominated by sweet, strong notes of roasted malt and dried fruit. However, coffee is in evidence at the finish, albeit subtly.

Very strong and sweet, Précaris Quadrocinno makes a lovely after dinner beer--with some strong cheese or a chocolate dessert, it would really sing. I was a tad disappointed that the coffee element didn't hold up to the boldness of the underlying quad, but pleased to find that the underlying quad was pretty good.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Monk's Brew

Good lord! This is my 800th post. That's pretty rad!

Monk's Brew is a strong beer! I'd have called it a dubbel, except at 10% alcohol, it's too strong. Too dark to be a tripel, I'm going to call this a quadrupel. This stuff is brewed by the transient Danish brewer Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij in Lochristi-Hijfte, Belgium. Sold in 330mL bottles, this stuff has really compelling labels. It's a super swampy dark brown ale topped with a healthy tan head. It has a sweet nose with notes of raisin; very warm and malty. It's flavour doesn't have the high concentration of yeast notes that typify most Belgian beers, but it definitely has the booze.

Sweet but not syrupy, Monk's Brew has lots of dried fruit notes with an ever-so-slightly tangy finish. It tastes strong, but not diabolically so, and it's got sufficiently subtle hops to create balance. For a strong ale, Monk's Brew is surprisingly drinkable and has a restrained, thoughtful flavour. None too shabby.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Gregorius Trappistenbier

Austria's Trappist brewery, Stift Engelszell, is the outfit responsible for Gregorius Trappistenbier, a liver-battering 10.5% alcohol ale. Hailing from Engelhartszell, Austria, this stuff is sold in 330mL bottles. It's a very dark ale; a bloody, swampy, deep ruby, and pours with a fluffy but short-lived head. I'm pretty sure that this stuff would be classed as a quadrupel.

Gregorius has a powerful aroma: sweet, fruity, and extremely boozy. There are raisin and fig notes on the nose that carry over into the flavour. It's a very rich ale that begins with a lot of sweetness, but there is actually a pleasant bitterness buried in the finish that really keeps things interesting.

Strong. That's what this stuff is. It's flavourful and thick, with heaps of hooch. Not an ale for novice drinkers of Trappist ales.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Lambda Brett-Barrel Aged Quardrupel

Lambda Brett-Barrel Aged Quardrupel comes from Bellwoods Brewery, my friendly neighbourhood suds provider. It comes in a really nice looking 500mL bottle with a monkish stained glass theme. A Belgian-style quad, this stuff contains a jumbo 11% alcohol. Sure, this beer is really strong, but at $12 a pop at the brewery's bottle shop, I feel like it might be a tad over-priced.

Lambda is a very dark brown ale. It pours with a thin wisp of tan head. Its strong aroma shouts tart fruit notes from the rafters. I expected that aging this brew in barrels with brettanomyces would give this Belgian-style strong ale a funky sour kick, but it's actually sweet and syrupy above all else. The initial flavours are of port, raisin, and fruitcake. The wild yeast does definitely contribute to the finish, though. The brew closes out with some sour apple and red grape notes.

This is a deceptively strong beer. The jumbo percentage is largely cloaked by the big, sweet, malty flavour. This intriguing strong (STRONG) beer is a neat Ontario take on the quad style, though I feel like it could have benefited from a touch more balance away from sweetness on the finish.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.