Ovila Abbey Quad: Plums
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Quadrupel / Dark Strong Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.37
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Ovila Abbey Quad is heady with aromas of caramel, rich malt, and dark fruit balanced by the spiciness and delicate fruity notes of a traditional Belgian yeast. This complex beer is a collaboration between Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and the monks of the Abbey of New Clairvaux. It features sugar plums grown on the grounds of the Abbey and harvested by the monks in Vina.
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8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Murky brown pour, huge beige head. Huge spicy, fruity aroma. Huge notes of plum, fig, even some banana with a solid dose of spices, mainly cardamon, and cloves. Uber complex. Solid mouthfell, great body. Semi sweet finish with a nice, yeasty aftertaste. Gorgeous beer.
Tried
on 28 Feb 2025
at 05:38
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle picked up from Saveur-Biere Webshop, Lille, France, and consumed at home Saturday 17th April 2021 listening to Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show on 6Musicb and then watching Divines in Netflix, we had homemade Salmon Ravioli for tea. Lively almost mahogany in colour with a little glint of scarlet or ruby and an off white head atop. Caramel and wood on the nose along with some dried fruit. In the mouth, molasses, woodiness, the barrel ageing is also showing, dried fruit again, some bitterness, rich malts. Good but perhaps not quite as complex as I had hoped.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Apr 2021
at 04:25
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
12.7oz bottle. Aged a few years so the carbonation has faded, the cork didn't have much pop. Deep, sweet, true to style. The plums work well, accentuating the deep, fruity Belgian yeast tones. Doesn't have quite the mouthfeel of a Belgian, but flavorwise it really nails it. Good stuff.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Aug 2019
at 02:18
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 7
Bottle: Deep, ruby-brown/black with a small tan head. Aroma is spray-paint, plums. Spicy plum flavour......a touch of warmth, figs, raisin. It just tastes...."purple"......not in a candy/gimmicky way, but rich fruit-wise. Very smooth and full flavoured. Excellent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Mar 2016
at 20:06
6.9/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 5
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
The pour is a very dark brown almost black. 1"head of off white foam.
A very malty nose. And fruity. Caramel malt with heaps of dark fruits. .obviously plums, raisins with a slight indicator of a possible tart note or 2.
Caramel malt sweetness up front with quite the sharp taste of plums that’s more bitter than tart. I sense some oxidation going on as well. .Cardboard, mild butterscotch.
Close to full bodied with medium carbonation and the alcohol is well hidden.
A slow sipping beer for sure and in general, I like what’s going on. --- Beer merged from original tick of Ovila Abbey Ales Belgian-Style Abbey Quad Ale Brewed with Plums on 05 Mar 2014 at 15:56 - Score: 8. Original review text: I'm having this at room temp. The plum flavour is massive and delicious. Lots of heat at that temp too.
A very malty nose. And fruity. Caramel malt with heaps of dark fruits. .obviously plums, raisins with a slight indicator of a possible tart note or 2.
Caramel malt sweetness up front with quite the sharp taste of plums that’s more bitter than tart. I sense some oxidation going on as well. .Cardboard, mild butterscotch.
Close to full bodied with medium carbonation and the alcohol is well hidden.
A slow sipping beer for sure and in general, I like what’s going on. --- Beer merged from original tick of Ovila Abbey Ales Belgian-Style Abbey Quad Ale Brewed with Plums on 05 Mar 2014 at 15:56 - Score: 8. Original review text: I'm having this at room temp. The plum flavour is massive and delicious. Lots of heat at that temp too.
Tried
on 13 Mar 2016
at 15:31
8/10
Last night. This was excellent. Warmed me up.
Tried
on 05 Jan 2016
at 14:43
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle, withaybe two years of age. Very litle carbonation but a loud pop of the cork. Opaque, dark brown appearance so they did that right.immediately i am enjoying the dark, malt forward chracter of an abbot alr rather than a pale wuad. Aroma has caramel, malt ,raisn and dried fruit. Sweet flsvor, tons of malt flavor. Here the plums are not prominent but enhance the rich malt flsvor. Some grit, good palate. This is one of thr best American ecamples of tje style I have tried and could certainly pass for a Belgian beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Dec 2015
at 00:30
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
On tap at bier thirty. pours out brown topped with a small head. nose is plums some pit fruit caramel toffee sweetness and a nice malt. Taste is more of the plums plenty of the pit fruit and malty sweetness.
Tried
from Draft
on 19 Dec 2015
at 20:39
6.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
Draught, small stable creamy beige head, deep brown color with dark red hues, aroma of biscuit and hay with some quircky yeastiness, flavor of barnyard ,dark bread, caramel and dark fruits, not too strong swetness .Nice but not sure the plums contribute too much to this overly malty brew.
Tried
on 04 Nov 2015
at 03:04
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
Draft 12 oz pour at Special Brews. Pours a cola black with an active tan fizz head. Boozy dark fruit aroma. Oaky, dark fruit flavor. Sweet, and definitely tastes as strong as it is. Finishes sweet, and lingers. Pretty good.
Tried
from Draft
on 19 Sep 2015
at 15:46