Benevolence
Cambridge Brewing Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Quadrupel / Dark Strong Special Out of Production|
Score
7.70
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Of course, when we burned all production notes for this beer in a fit of artistic pique, we failed to foresee years of requests for us to do it again. Nor did we imagine how appropriate it would be to attempt to reproduce it in honor of our 20th Anniversary. Now as we celebrate out 25th Anniversary, we’ve done it again. With more than a little bit of nostalgia, the original production and tasting notes are below for your enjoyment.
This is certainly a strange one…
An altogether new and unique creation in the world of beer, Benevolence combines the age-old traditions of Belgian lambic blending, Flanders sour ales, wild fermentations, and barrel-aged English strong ales with new American ingenuity and a penchant for the bizarre.
A very strong wort made with 8 different malts, aged hops, Belgian candi sugar, and organic black raisins was fermented with multiple yeast strains in stainless steel, then racked into used bourbon casks. Wild fermentation was sparked by the addition of dates, fresh sour cherries, and raw local honey, which left a dry, puckering tartness in the finish. After three years aging silently in the wood, this intentionally soured beer was blended with a young strong ale, and Benevolence was born.
Deep raisiny brown, the nose exhibits fresh dates, brown bread, oak, and subtle sherry-like oxidation. On the palate, soft carbonation, sweet raisin/fig/dates, a touch of herbal honey, oak, vanilla, and the slightest hint of maple lead to a rich but slightly tart finish with the character of well-aged madeira wine.
2003 release 12.6% abv
2009 release 13.0% (?)
2014 release ??
2019 release 10% abv
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Bullit (6148) reviewed Benevolence from Cambridge Brewing Company 5 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
Dark brown. Massive PX, sour, raisins, light acidity, dried fruits. Great sipper.
caesar (10859) ticked Benevolence from Cambridge Brewing Company 6 years ago
Zware dikke rozijnen,sherry
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Dark brown to black. Red edges. Smells really good. Dark fruit, prunes, figs and pepper. Taste. Whoa. Oxidized, sherry and port with loads of dark fruit, wine barrel. Malt backbone is huge. Really lovely. Finish is like a very old port
notalush (7333) reviewed Benevolence from Cambridge Brewing Company 16 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
GABF2009 - holy hell! - this beer is huge in more ways than one - loads of sour cherry, fruit skin tannins, and light earthy funk in the nose, with a light touch of oak and acidity - date, raisin, sour cherry and other dark, heavy fruits in the flavor - warming, but not overpowering alcohol - some earthy wildflower honey qualities through the middle - red wine and oak characteristics cut the sweetness - this is some serious stuff.
Lubiere (24390) reviewed Benevolence from Cambridge Brewing Company 16 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
A nice reddish amber ale with a thin creamy moka head. A wonderfully pleasant dark fruits in aroma, molasses, treacle and maderized porto, enticing and intense. In mouth, an interesting mix of dark candy cane extract, sour molasses, and raisins. Challenging in a good way. Rich and warming. On tap at brewpub, July 1, 2009
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Benevolence from Cambridge Brewing Company 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
2004 draught @ Cambridge Brewery. Dark magenta tones swirl throughout a murky brown body with dark blacks and a creamy yellow-tan head. Aroma is yeast, yeast, yeast. It’s got alcohol, prunes, figs, musty old wood, dry vinous notes and raisins. What is this stuff reminding me of???? I had to sit there and smell it for a while but then it hit me, this stuff smells almost exactly like Kuhnhenn Fourth Dementia Old Ale! Which is great. It’s full, pungent and wonderful. Flavor is a mix of sour fruits, dry wood, vanilla, sherry and dark malts. Finish has a big vinousness, a bit of bitter dark chocolate. The complexity is astounding. Wonderfully made stuff, though admittedly not as Belgian tasting as I would expect. More like a baltic porter mixed with a really strong English Old Ale and then aged on wood. Body is not thick and syrupy and though the flavor is full, it is much more loose than I expected.