Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

330 ml bottle. Pours a hazy dark brown with light head. Aromas of dark fruit/figs, tobacco, rye bread, and other bready malts. Flavors follow same; a little sharper, with additional minerals and dry bitter malts.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8

33cl bottle from Struise Beershop Woesten e-shop.
F: thin, tan, average retention.
C: dark, opaque.
A: rich dark malts, dark dried fruits, figs, brown sugar, caramel, leaves, dark berries.
T: full malty base, dark dried fruits, figs, banana, dark caramel, bit vinous, dark berries, nice herbal hoppy, harmonic bitterness, medium carbonation, quite complex all together, very good, enjoyed for sure.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

A different label, a different ABV, as of the time of this sampling. Quite all right, I do enjoy trying quadrupels. I have a 33 cl bottle delivered to me from one of my Belgian retailers. Opening now before tilting into a Chimay glass, the view is mahogany brown topped with a steady, creamy head of parchment colored foam. I smell ripe fruit, yeast and grain. A full drink, I think there is a good start to this tasting. Whole grain bread, figs, raisins, malt and red cherries lending a limited touch of sourness to the taste. A small sweetness and certainly a dense sensation. A traditional approach to quads, certainly I see plenty to like.

beerfestival Olen

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle. Brown pour, gusher. Aroma of candi sugar, molasses, raisin, vanilla, dates, figs, caramelised malt and fruity yeast esters. Taste has sweet caramelised malt, raisin, vanilla, candi sugar, figs, molasses, maple, fruity yeast esters and a boozy finish. Bit high on carbonation. Nice quad, I like the fruity malty flavors, less carbo and a thicker body would have made this better.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7

The original Mareklop, a hefty 12% quad with medium thick, moussy, pale yellow beige head, quickly reduced to a firm rim and some islands in the middle yet eventually disappearing almost completely, on top of a very dark bronze-brown beer with warm mahogany hue, hazy, almost blackish in the middle but still more or less translucent under bright light. Strong aroma of candied fig, stewed beef, chicken stock cubes even, brown sugar, lots of ’blood’ iron, toasted bread, raw spinach, candied banana, orange peel, onsetting ’rusty’ oxidation already, butterscotch, dry earth, ruby port, brown rum, cold tea, wormwood, dried mushrooms, old ginger powder, nutmeg, liquorish candy, cloves, gin, sweet peanuts, tree leaves, old cocoa powder. Fruity, mildly estery onset, some banana but hints of pear, black cherries and blackcurrant as well, sweet core surrounded by ’generic’ sourishness, umami touch in the background but less outspoken than the nose would suggest, softish carbo, thick and supple, bit oily mouthfeel, quite full but still not betraying its impressive alcohol strength. Very caramelly malt sweet body, bit resinous, with pleasantly nutty flavours as well as a thin toasted edge towards the end, more so than average for a quad. Dried fruit and spicy phenols (cloves) alongside coriander seed with a thin soapy effect reign the finish, above this bittersweet maltiness, herbal hop bitterness and, unsurprisingly, a heating, rum-like alcohol ’afterglow’, warming the chest without becoming too astringent. At about one and a half year of age, this is already showing signs of oxidation, in a plain, ’rusty’ and metallic way, impairing the aroma a bit; clearly just past its prime, though I would not be surprised if more extended cellaring could create madera- or port-like flavors with a more elegant character. In any case a decent quad, with unexpected umami and toasted bitterish accents setting it a bit apart from the trappist standards in this style; alcohol is very obvious but not astringent and mouthfeel is pleasant and not overcarbonated, though it probably would not hurt giving this a bit more body. Enjoyable for sure, but I prefer the oaked version of this, which was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Bottle. Unclear dark brown to black color initially, but when you look a bit closer you can see it’s actually dark brown with a red glare. Average sized beige head that diminishes fairly quickly but leaves fair lacing. Aroma is malts, caramel, a hint of oak, dark bread, a hint of rye bread, dark candy sugar. Taste malts, caramel, raisins, candy sugar lightly, slight dark bread notes again, a hint of figs and dads in the distance, but towards the end malt and light alcohol bitterness overtake the initial sweet flavors. Medium body and carbonation. Quite pleasant.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

22/08/2015 – sample (bottle) @ Gents Bierfestival shared with JorisPPattyn, Sebletitje, 77ships & PriorL Black colour, mocha head. Caramel, chocolate, spices, licorice, syrupy

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Sampled @ Gents Bierfestival 2015 Trübes dunkel braunes Bier mit einer mitelgroßen beigen Schaumkrone. Geruch nach Schokolade, Vanille und Karamell. Geschmack nach Karamell, Vanille, etwas Schokolade, leicht alkoholisch.