8.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

750 ml bottle into chalice, 2017 vintage bottling. Pours crystal clear deep ruby red/brown color with a 1 finger dense and fluffy light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big juicy and lightly tart/tangy raspberries, raisin, plum, fig, date, black cherry, red grape, pear, apple, light pepper/clove, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, dark/brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, light smoke/herbal, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of raspberries, chocolate, coffee, fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, and dark/bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of huge juicy and lightly tart/tangy raspberries, raisin, plum, fig, date, black cherry, red grape, pear, apple, light pepper/clove, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, dark/brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, light smoke/herbal, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light peppery yeast spiciness, herbal/roast bitterness, and fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of raspberries, dark fruits, black cherry, red grape, pear, apple, pepper, clove, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, dark/brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, light smoke/herbal, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of raspberries, chocolate, coffee, fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, and dark/bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/tart/spiciness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness and tart/tangy fruit. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, fairly acidic/tangy, and slightly sticky/chalky balanced mouthfeel that is fantastic. Minimal warming alcohol for 11%. Overall this is a fantastic fruited Belgian quadrupel! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of raspberries, chocolate, coffee, fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, and dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the big ABV. A bit more impressive than the base beer overall. Same similar rich and perfectly balanced complexities of yeast, malt, chocolate, and coffee; but the added blend of Framboise lightened up the body, making it much smoother; and added additional tangy fruit complexity as well. Never overly sweet/heavy feeling. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing style example.