Monks' Reserve Ale

Rocky off white head stayed all the way in a rich mahogany coloured still body. Malt, chlorine & raisin aroma. Medium to full bodied, smooth on the tongue with a soft back. Heavy malt, spices raisin, berry, Christmas cake & boozy tastes. Very tasty.

Bottled. A very dark brown beer with a lazing tan head. The aroma has notes of candy sugar, yeast, dried fruits, and malt. The flavor is sweet with notes of candy sugar, prunes, raisins, yeast, malt, and hints of alcohol, leading to a dry finish.

Bottle. Not far off black with a dense cm of beige head. Aroma of dried fruit and brioche with figs, golden raisins, light spices. Full bodied. Lots of fruit and some dough but little bottom note. Alcohol well hidden. Spiced bitter end. Some unusual bitter herbal (gruit-like) notes there too. Good.

Bottle from The Davis Beer Shoppe. Pours very dark, but held against a very strong LED lamp it is almost clear and very ruddy. Creamy/foamy beige head. Aroma is spicy with roasty, nigh toasty malt. There's a hint of something herbal. Approaching full bodied. The malt is toasty - approaching actual toast. There's spice which seems clove; there's fruit which seem bananaish. I really like plummy quads, but now I'm thinking I like hefe quads. :) :) There's a heat burn that's quite tolerable. Trying hard, I'm also finding dark fruit, so it's something of a plummy quad. Not dry, but far from sticky. Bitter enough for the situation. I could drink this frequently.

Pretty acceptable quad except for a lack of warmness and carbonation. Des aromes de caramel brulé, de dates fraiches, de raisins secs et de cannelle nous introduit un olfactif au malt dominant et complexe. Un liquide brun foncé aux reflets roux, très flou, avec beaucoup de particules en suspension, se couvre d’une petite mousse beige qui s’attarde assez longtemps. L’entrée de bouche se veut légèrement alcoolisée avec des notes maltées en abondance rappelant les dattes, le raisin sec, les figues. De subtiles houblons épicés nourrissent la finale qui se veut légèrement sucrée avec une touche d’alcool. L’effervescence n’est cependant pas à la hauteur. Le corps est ample et la texture veloutée mais elle manque un peu de chaleur. Très acceptable sauf pour un manque de chaleur et de piquant.

Pours deep brown with a tan head. Aroma of booze, spruce, heavy malt. Taste has coffee, caramel malt, slight yeasty element. Palate has spiced malt residual with a boozy nose feel. Ferrous.

355ml bottle. Opaque, mahogany colour with average, thick, creamy, moderately lasting and lacing, off-white to beige head. Grassy hoppy and fruity, malty aroma, notes of dried fruit, raisin, hints of fresh hay, a touch of lemon and lime. Taste is minimally sweet, fruity malty and grassy, minimally citrusy hoppy, hints of dried fruit, raisin, plum, some lemon, a touch of fresh hay; fruity and minimally bready finish, whiffs of alcohol. Almost watery, highly fluid texture, very fine but highly efficacious carbonation, soft, minimally sticky palate. Highly drinkable due to an astonishing hop intensity, not overly complex on the malty side. Somewhat funny to imagine monks (especially Trappist monks) as hop heads.

01-09-19 // bottle. A massive gusher cost me a third of the bottle. Dark brown in colour with a beige to brown head. Sweetish light roasted malts in the nose. Starts heavy sweet, molasses and brown sugar. Opens up with some roasted malt aromas and a fruit sweetness.

Bottle. Dark brown color. Malt and a hint of roast in the aroma. Malty sweet, soft roasty caramelly flavor with a hint of licorice. Some warming alcohol. Good balance. Pleasant.

Botella @La forja, Oviedo 03/08/2019 Color marrón oscuro, corona espuma blanca beige escasa, aromas caramelo, maltosa, notas a pasas, sabor maltosa, notas vainilla, toffe.