Another barrel aged version in this series (and very surprised I am the first?)... Courtesy of 77ships. Creamy, stable, off-white head over a deep, hazy bronze beer. Aroma has all the basics of the Préaris Quadrupel, banana, brown sugar, ripe peach, dates, brown sugar, adorned with a sauce of woody tannins and bourbon - balance has been achieved. Same for the taste, where the basic qualities of the quad come to full glory, while the Jack Daniels (a drink I sincerely detest in pure form) provides woodiness, drought, depth and an additional alcohol warmth. Way better than that Ardbeg version I had yesterday, but I guess this is a matter of personal taste to begin with, and this series would prove truly interesting if all versions are tasted side by side...

The Ardbeg barrel aged version in this interesting series. Very thick and frothy, yellowish light beige, creamy head leaving thick lacing on the edges, sitting on top of a clear, dark bronze coloured beer with ruby hue. Aroma has a lot of iodine- and strongly band aid-like peat at first glance, something which usually puts me off and that is no different in this case; along with an unmistakable whisky bouquet, it covers more subtle hints of banana, caramel, brown sugar, blue plums, walnuts and toffee, none of which get a chance to really shine because of the peat; the expected woody tannins are there as well, but only subtly so, as even they are overpowered by the iodine smell. Soft fruity onset, stewed pear, red apple, some banana, redcurrant, mellow carb, ’fluffy’, bit resiny and smooth mouthfeel consisting of a rounded, bready, caramelly, nutty and slightly toffeeish malt base with Belgian fruity yeastiness on top. Finish continues this thick, sweetish, rounded maltiness and adds a deep herbal hop bitterness along with a strong whisky presence, clearly alcoholic, and still accompanied by a certain - but to my taste insufficient - amount of drying wood, and of course the retronasal iodine. Way too peaty for me - I have nothing against peated whisky, but why is it dominating an otherwise more than decent quad? I remember I liked a couple of the other versions, but this is too iodine-like for me to fully enjoy. Experiment is important in craft beer culture, but good taste prevails, as far as I’m concerned, and this one just did not turn out right for me. I can see, though, how opinions may vary widely on this, because it does show complexity and interest.

33cl Bottle from Prik&Tik Baelus. Slightly hazy golden colour, white head. Aroma of hops, light herbal, light malts, dust, hay. Flavour is light sweet, light floral, grain, pilsner, Belgian hops, bitter finish. Light bodied. Quite bland.

Bottle consumed at Cropredy, Fairports Annual Reunion Festival 2015, Thurs 13th, Friday 14th and Sat 15th shared with Craig. The Belgians make great beers, however their record on Bourbon Barrel Aged beers is rather patchy. Hazy murky brown with a few bubbles. This is another patchy one, spicy but with some chocolate quite strong but really struggling with this, too boozy. It reminds me of Innis and Gunn and that is a slur. A6 A3 T5 P3 Ov10 2.7

Lukt: Fruktig plomme og ander frukter.
Utseende: Dunkel lys gulbrun farge.
Skum/kullsyre: Tynt skum, liten ring langs kant.
Smak: Frukter, plomme, høy og gjør.
Hvor: Kjøpt@VP Kvadrat, Nydt@Tasting hos Gorm.
Medium: Flaske@330ml, ABV@6%, Når@09.08.2015

Bottle at Uiltje. Dark brown pour. Aroma of boozy grape and raisinous malt. Flavor of caramelised malt and raisin at first, than the cognac kicks in with some boozy white grape. Rich taste, good stuff.