Monk's Elixir
(has 4 batches)

750 ml bottle into chalice; no bottle dating, but likely at least a few years old.. Pours hazy extremely dark brown, almost black color with a 1 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass; with some light streaming carbonation. Aromas of big raisin, prune, molasses, cocoa, toast, pepper, clove, toffee, roasted malt, dark bread, dark candi sugar, dark earthiness, and yeast spiciness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark malt and spicy yeast esters. Taste of raisin, prune, date, cocoa, molasses, toast, toffee, dark bread, dark candi sugar, light clove, and dark earthiness. Lingering notes of dark fruit, cocoa, molasses, toast, toffee, dark bread, dark candi sugar, light clove, and dark earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice balance and complexity of robust dark malt flavors with fruity/spicy yeast esters; and zero cloying flavors present after the finish. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very creamy and slick mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a small warming noticed after the finish; but still definitely a slow sipper. Overall this is an excellent Quadrupel style. Great balance, complexity, and robustness of dark malt and fruity yeast ester flavors; and very smooth to sip on slowly. A very enjoyable offering; this ages very nicely.

Really awesome quad. Aroma of prune and raisins. Good lacing, creamy texture. Dark brown colour. Some sugarcane sweetness at finish. Awesome feel, great balance. Bottle at volos Mikkeller tasting.

dark brown ccolour, thin beige head; aroma of yeast, caramel and a hint of alcohol; taste of roasted sugar, significant alcohol and and bitter aftertaste; well ballanced quadruppel, though the alcohol is a bit too intensive

There was a special type of alcohol I had to order from chemists to properly clean my 8-track mini-studio in the mid-90s. This beer smells like that, plus almonds. It’s very interesting to me as a homebrewer that only pale malts are used to make this dark beer (darker than some supposed ’imperial stouts’ I’ve have), so all the colour is coming from dark sugars. This is the kind of beer I give to wine drinkers to say - "Look! Beer really is more interesting and complex than wine. Shut your face!" And then in the morning, I regret my forthrightness, with the emphasis on the ’rightness’.