Four Horsemen
Idle Hands Craft Ales in Malden, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Quadrupel / Dark Strong Rotating|
Score
7.13
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notes of spice cake with flavors of golden raisins, prunes and rich malt. Touches of toffee tease the palate while a balanced bitterness prevents the beer from becoming too heavy.
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7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
December 2014 bottle drunk 12/19/16.
Deep mahogany with maroon and auburn hues. Dark beige head atop shows moderate retention, though especially nice given the age.
Extremely spicy nose makes it rather difficult to actually figure out where the phenols stop and where the adjuncts begin. It does seem a bit heavy on the adjunct spicing, especially for a two year old beer. I’d hate to see this thing young...Past that, plentiful specialty malts contribute interesting notes of fig, raisin and plum as light chocolate-caramel character forms the rich base of malt. There’s a bit of strong ester and light alcohol sharpness but it’s not too bad given its extreme size.
Rich and malty in the mouth with still tons of sugar present. Caramel, brown sugar, raisin and date are lightly dried out by both strong phenol, light alcohol and gentle acidity from the added spices and yeast. They aren’t overdone (the spices) but they do slightly disrupt the overall picture of the yeast and make me wonder that this wouldn’t be elegant and far more interesting without them (what do they really add here?). It’s kind of a big rant for such a seemingly innocuous thing as a light spice addition to a 11.8% monster, but everything counts in a beer. Vanilla, caramel, allspice and bright, fruity esters linger on the finish with light alcohol warmth and low but engaging carbonation.
Deep mahogany with maroon and auburn hues. Dark beige head atop shows moderate retention, though especially nice given the age.
Extremely spicy nose makes it rather difficult to actually figure out where the phenols stop and where the adjuncts begin. It does seem a bit heavy on the adjunct spicing, especially for a two year old beer. I’d hate to see this thing young...Past that, plentiful specialty malts contribute interesting notes of fig, raisin and plum as light chocolate-caramel character forms the rich base of malt. There’s a bit of strong ester and light alcohol sharpness but it’s not too bad given its extreme size.
Rich and malty in the mouth with still tons of sugar present. Caramel, brown sugar, raisin and date are lightly dried out by both strong phenol, light alcohol and gentle acidity from the added spices and yeast. They aren’t overdone (the spices) but they do slightly disrupt the overall picture of the yeast and make me wonder that this wouldn’t be elegant and far more interesting without them (what do they really add here?). It’s kind of a big rant for such a seemingly innocuous thing as a light spice addition to a 11.8% monster, but everything counts in a beer. Vanilla, caramel, allspice and bright, fruity esters linger on the finish with light alcohol warmth and low but engaging carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 May 2017
at 17:26
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pours deep mahogany into a trappist glass. Creamy tan head with excellent retention recedes leaving sheet lacing. Dark pit fruit and ginger aromas. Sweet with prune, fig and hot cherry upfront turning to mild all spice and cinnamon in the lasting finish. Warming and aged nicely.
Tried
on 04 Jan 2016
at 17:22
7.6/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
750 mL bottle, shared at Ale Alpharetta. Cloudy brown, with a rocky, beige head. Nose is allspice, caramel, oak, vanilla, pine, and syrup. Very sweet, light savory spice, and low bitterness. Light to medium body, very effervescent, silky. This is a pretty nice, surprisingly light, very sweet and complex beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Aug 2015
at 20:24