Quad from this brewery in Drenthe, bought at a Mitra shop in Lelystad. Medium thick, moussy, pale greyish beige head leaving dots of lacing and some thin veils in the middle, over a translucent dark bronze to mahogany brown beer with ochre edges. Rich bouquet of cocoa, toffee, candied figs, yellow Sultana raisins, overripe pear, ripe blue Président plum, medlar even, caramel syrup, dried banana, blueberries, brown rum, beef stock, bayleaf, old dried thyme, wet brown leather, stewed horse meat ’carbonades’, blackcurrant juice, slowly stewed cranberries, coffee with a lot of cream, vanilla pudding, Eiswein, brown bread crumbs, very old sherry hint (vintage bottle of 1+ year old - onsetting oxidation, in other words). Candied sweet onset, hinting at marmelade, blueberry jam and candied figs with a deeply situated blueberry sourishness, soft spicy notes and beef stock-like umami as well, in a medium yet subtly tingling carbonated environment, just about right for this style; rich caramelly malt sweetness ensues, very (milk) chocolatey in the middle, acquiring a bitterish toasted edge quite rapidly but firmly maintaining this deeply situated chocolatey and very toffeeish sweetness. Very malty beer by all standards, finishing a bit more dry due to herbal, somewhat spicy hop pungency and a warming, very lightly astringent, rum-like alcohol glow. The alcohol and the bittersweet - yet more sweet than bitter - flavors linger for quite a while; at the same time, some retronasal, bit rusty but still very elegant, old sherry-like oxidation remains as well. I haven’t had any previous experiences with this brewing company so I cannot compare with the quality standard of their other beers but this to me is a very accomplished quadrupel: thick enough, complex, very pleasantly malt and sugar sweet, with a warming alcoholic finish but adding umami layers of flavor which make it quite an individual beer departing from the old sweet Belgian blue Chimay, Rochefort 10 or indeed ’Westy’ 12 standard - in fact almost turning it into a dark barleywine, if that concept makes any sense at all. The bottle fits this time of the year perfectly and the age (I estimate about 1.5 years) is perfect for this type of beers, already adding a sherry-ish maderisation which, in this case, only adds complexity to a basically relatively ’simple’ beer - for this style, that is. I thoroughly enjoyed this one at this age - if this is the quality standard this brewery achieves, I’m very curious about the rest of their range. Pleasant surprise.

How: Bottle.
Where: Tasting at omhper 2016-06-18.
Appearance: Dark brown colour with a minimal tan head.
Aroma: Dried fruit, malt, caramel, raisin.
Body: Medium body and carbonation.
Flavour: Dried fruit, malt, raisin.

Bottled, thanks MonsterMagnet! Dark brown, small head. Marzipan and brown sugar up front. Sweet with full body and rounded mouthfeel.Sme hay, lots of brown sugar, notes of coffee. Warming finish with long bitterness.

330ml bottle, from trade with MonsterMagnet. Many thanks! Pours dark brown with medium tan head. Aroma is sweet dark fruits, yeast. Taste is quite sweet, with assorted dark fruits, toffee, brown sugar, yeast flavours with a hint of sherry. I liked this.

Bottle (from hetbiermoment.nl). Pours murky brown with beige head. The small head stays for some moments. Aroma is malty, spices, cardemons, some sweentess and some alcohol. Flavor is sweet and slightly bitter, fruits, apples, spices, cardemon, slight vanilla, malt, toast. Finish is sweet with slight bitterness. Alcohol is mostly covered. Overall: very good, nicely balanced.

(Bottle, In De Wildeman, Amsterdam, 19 Feb 2016) Dark brown colour with dense, beige head. Malty, slightly roasted nose with notes of dried fruit, caramel, raisins, dark bread and brown sugar. Malty, sweet taste with caramel, dried fruit, rum raisins, prunes, brown sugar and a mild spicy bitterness in the finish. Full body, quite sweet. Tasty and warming, but on the sweet side. Nice one.

33cl bottle. Dark ruby pour, clear, with a very thin beige head. Visible carbonation at the top. Smells of dried fruit - prunes, raisins - and caramel. The taste is sweet, and just a bit bitter, with notes of dried fruit, sherry and brown sugar. A bit too sweet and cloy, but the flavours are all there.