Monks' Reserve Ale
Spencer Brewery in Spencer, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Quadrupel / Dark Strong Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.58
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Spencer Monks' Reserve Ale is a classic Trappist Quadruple ("Quad") in the Belgian tradition. This Quad is fragrant, robust and full-bodied, mahogany in color and crowned with a dense, tan, frothy head. Its malt-forward profile yields to a warm finish.
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7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 4
Overall 8
Bottle from Harvest Market. Deep copper brown color with a tightly bubbled off white head. Lots of sweet toasted maltiness with plenty of dark fruit aroma and flavor. This is a pretty good beer, it smells and tastes great but lacks the body and of most Trappist quads
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jan 2018
at 21:24
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
13th January 2018
Very hazy deep amber brown beer, small pale tan head. Palate is smooth and dry, decent fine minerally carbonation. Smooth dry malts, modest sweetness and plenty of tangy caramel. Spicy mid. Rich ripe fruits. Mild spicy esters. Dry and slightly bitter finish. Mild gum numbing alcohol.Tasty quad but quite dry.
Very hazy deep amber brown beer, small pale tan head. Palate is smooth and dry, decent fine minerally carbonation. Smooth dry malts, modest sweetness and plenty of tangy caramel. Spicy mid. Rich ripe fruits. Mild spicy esters. Dry and slightly bitter finish. Mild gum numbing alcohol.Tasty quad but quite dry.
Tried
on 13 Jan 2018
at 17:44
8.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
330 ml bottle into signature chalice, best before 6/21/2019. Pours fairly hazy deep ruby red/light copper/brown color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky light khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Great thick soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big raisin, plum, fig, date, cherry, apricot, pear, red apple, pepper, clove, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of chocolate, nuttiness, coffee, herbal, wood, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, dark/bready/light roast malt, and light earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big raisin, plum, fig, date, cherry, apricot, pear, red apple, pepper, clove, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of chocolate, nuttiness, coffee, herbal, wood, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate peppery yeast spiciness and light herbal/grassy/roast bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark fruits, cherry, apricot, pear, red apple, pepper, clove, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, light nuttiness/roast, herbal, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, dark/bready/light roast malt, and light earthy hop flavors; with an awesome malt/spiciness balance, and zero cloying/astringent flavors after the the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness and carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and lightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 10.2%. Overall this is an incredible Quad! All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, dark/bready/light roast malt, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the ABV. This hits the style the exact way I like it. Perfectly balanced fruity/spicy yeast and dark/bready malts. Never overly heavy on maltiness or dark on sweetness(licorice/molasses etc). A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jan 2018
at 19:50
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Deep brick red with a tan head. Raisin, dark fruit, dark brown sugar, sweet caramel malt. Finish is sweet, lightly boozy, and a little bit tangy. Medium to full body. Quite the nice sipping quad.
Tried
on 10 Jan 2018
at 18:24
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
A very dark brown beer, a head is medium and beige. Aroma has dark and dried fruits, raisina, dates, prunes, also fresh fruitness, apricot, some spicyness and flowers. Great aroma. Taste has dried fruitness. dry earthyness and wood, low spicyness. Surprisingly dry. Medium+ bodied. A high-quality beer as the trappist has to be. Quite dry and good.
Tried
on 07 Jan 2018
at 04:15
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 8
Overall 8
bruin/rood met licht bruine kraag. aroma van graan, mout, alcohol, bruine suiker, rozijn, pruim, Smaken zijn redelijk bitter, anijs, kerskruiden, bruine suiker, kardemom, vrij kruidig, speculaas, matige bitter, matig zoet, matig
Tried
on 18 Dec 2017
at 04:28
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Bottle at home, dark brown beer, small head. Aroma is malt. caramel, fruit, hint of licorice, taste is the same, sweet and some bitterness, nice one.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Dec 2017
at 15:56
7.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Very dark brown with thin head. Aroma and flavour have some caramel malts and lots of dried fruits like raisins and dates.
Tried
on 09 Dec 2017
at 13:58
6.5/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle (from finestbelgianbeers.com). Pours dark brown with beige head. Aroma is sweet, malt, burnt sugar, grass. Flavor is sweet and bitter, caramel, malt, yeast, burnt notes, grass, booze. Finish is burnt bitter, yeast, and booze. Body is on the thin side. Overall: okish, maybe take a lesson of brewing this kind of beer from one of the original trappist breweries?!
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Nov 2017
at 14:49
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Flesje gedeeld door Benzai. Donkerbruin helder bier met matig schuim. Aroma is houtig, branderig en fruitig. Smaak is zoetig en koffie achtig. Nasmaak is iets kruidig.
Tried
on 14 Nov 2017
at 16:09