Box Set Track #8 - Number Of The Beast
The Lost Abbey

Box Set Track #8 - Number Of The BeastBox Set Track #8 - Number Of The Beast
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From:
The Lost Abbey
 
California, United States
Style:
Quadrupel (Quad)
Ranked #7
ABV:
13.7%
Score:
96
Ranked #886
Avg:
4.34 | pDev: 8.06%
Reviews:
138
Ratings:
849
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 03, 2023
Added:
Aug 16, 2012
Wants:
  160
Gots:
  230
We’ve never released a Bourbon Barrel version of our Judgment Day. So we thought it might be interesting to take the base beer for Cuvee de Tomme age in first fill Bourbon Barrels and let mother nature take over. Of course, because this is a Rock and Roll inspired Box Set beer, we couldn’t just leave well enough alone.

Upon sampling the base beer, it became apparent that the raisins used to brew the base beer were going to drive the flavor bus of this beer. The conversations turned to Oatmeal Raisin cookies and the essence of a freshly baked treat. So we added some cinnamon sticks to the barrels and threw in some dried chiles as well.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of kitch
Reviewed by kitch from Hong Kong

4.18/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
A corked and caged 12.7 fl. oz. bottle, with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.

Appearance: A murky dark brown colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.

Aroma: Dark fruit, raisins, prunes, plum, figs, toffee, bourbon, faint cinnamon, light roast, and a touch nutty.

Taste: Light to moderately sweet, dark fruit, raisins, prunes, plum, fig, chocolate, toffee, boozy bourbon, cinnamon, light chili spice.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.

Overall: Although I’m unsure of the timeline due to a lack of bottled on or best before date, I’m pretty sure I’ve cellared this for quite a few years. The aroma and flavours were nice and intense, and it was just an enjoyable sipper.
Sep 03, 2023
Photo of nwalke16
Reviewed by nwalke16 from Michigan

4.66/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
I had this beer back in 2019 and I can safely say it is one of the most uniquely good experimental beers that I've had. I think of it more like an oatmeal cinnamon raisin cookie with a shot of bourbon with some slight lingering heat.
Jul 26, 2023
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

4.6/5  rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
375ml bottle from Tavour. Dark brown, opaque, huge head fades to thin cap. Aroma is boozy, sweet, pit fruit. Taste prunes, raisins, figs, light sweet notes, hint of chocolate. And the booze! Slight burn at the finish. Truly exquisite.
Jun 01, 2023
Photo of TreyIsWilson
Reviewed by TreyIsWilson from Michigan

4.3/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Vintage 2018

A - Pours dark brown with a thin fizzy off white head. Very minimal lacing.

S - Aroma is raisins, dates, toffee and cinnamon.

T - The taste is raisins, dates, vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, toffee and a good amount of oak. There is also a very faint pepper heat in the finish.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Syrupy mouthfeel with a still dry finish.

O - Nice beer. After five years the flavors are still popping.
Apr 26, 2023
Photo of tide
Reviewed by tide from California

4.41/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
The beer vapored like 2-3 CM after I bought it, that’s 10 years (probably this is released late 2012, and it’s early 2023). The beer has lost its carbonation, that’s not a good sign. (There’s not a lot of sediments at the bottom, which is a surprise.) But I don’t want to throw it away, let me taste it. The beer is mahogany, dark brown color. The foam is gone. It smells strong soy bean sauce nose, followed by raisin, fig glaze, Bourbon, molasses, chocolate, caramel, cinnamon noses. That’s a very yeasty, dark, malty smell, and it doesn’t smells over-aged. The beer is lightly sweet, and the sweetness keeps releasing, with a bit of bitter surfacing up, in overall it’s light sweet and not that dry (for over-aged beer that’s not that common). The beer tastes pretty good still. It’s quite complex, as expected. I can sense a lot of dark dried fruits aroma like a barleywine or dark strong ale. I got dried plum, Bourbon barrels, alcohol, vanilla, soybean sauce umami, some aged wine character, tobacco, leather, raspberry and strawberry jam, caramel and molasses aromas. The aftertaste is very nice, fresh oak barrel, prunes, green plum, pine needle hops, and green chillies (say Jalapeño), I even feel the heat from the chillies.

OK, it’s actually pretty good. Maybe the over-aged is not the sole reason of the foam issue, or maybe that’s not an issue here.

Let me do another clean round. Smells like caramel candy, sweet Bourbon Whiskey, warm malt candy, mole sauce, chocolate, dried fruits like raisin and plum. The smells mostly recalls Bourbon and caramel candies. It’s mild sweet, lightly bitter at the back. The aroma is full of ester, pretty dark (dried) fruity. The beer have good about of yeasty umami, which feels like aged fermentation that’s why it sparks soybean sauce experience. The beer has dark fruit aromas recalls raisin, dried plum, dried prunes; and then alcohol, earthy herbal cough syrup say licorice, burnt chili pepper, cold brew coffee; dark malts, caramel sauce, Brandy (aged barrel). It’s smooth, deep, complex, full of umami and the finish shows heat from chili pepper. It’s soooo good!
Mar 04, 2023
Photo of Bouleboubier
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey

3.91/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
(375 ml corked bottle, 14% abv, no date/code; purchased single off dusty shelf at Clayton Liquors today... decanted into a teku)

L: deep, impenetrably dark brown, almost black liquid; very little foam on the pour... looks like still table wine afterlong... glad I decanted, tons of mucky sediment left in the bottle

S: PX, prunes, subtle hint of chiles spice trying to poke out, underlying molasses, more prunes... overtone essences of peppery caramelized things, maybe some balsamic... little overt bourbon notes aside from maybe wood and barrel char; little vanilla, though it may slowly be creeping out, more apparent if you're searching for it... overall mild-to-moderate intensity, though it has apparent depth; but yeah it's kind of a chore to suss out characteristics

T: ugh, yeah, the bourbon barrel aging is well apparent upon first sip, and it's a whole lotta prune and mildly roast-forward malts hovering below, with that mellow but perfectly-tuned chile spice in the finish, not so much cinnamon popping out, though its flavor gradually emerge on the sides of the tongue, while its phenolic character melds with the chiles down the middle-back... I'd really love to be tasting oatmeal raisin cookie here; I sort of get that, but it's mixed with fossil fuel... damn, that raisin flavor does slowly build in the aftertaste, it's like I'm sucking on some

F: mildly oily/greasy, but surprisingly light, softly punchy and strident... light-medium bodied at best, retaining a stealth carbonation; the chile heat centers and hones the booze heat; delicate parching lift on the tastebuds mid-tongue, with the heat emanating directly up at the roof... light enough, but also a bit too dead weight at this point

O: hard to pinpoint where this fits into a particular style, though I'd lean away from Quad and more to Belgian Dark Strong, owing to its dark fruit and malt nuances; tastes more like a wine than beer... not bad; probably better fresh(er) of course... at $17, not sure I'll be racing back for the other bottle I spotted... just another as-of-late Quad tick (2052)
Oct 03, 2022
Photo of Holderness
Reviewed by Holderness from Massachusetts

3.91/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75
On tap at Blackback Pub, Waterbury

The raisins and cinnamon come through nicely against the caramel malt base and bourbon barrel character. Chili character is much less pronounced. Surprisingly thin for the ABV

79/100
Mar 13, 2022
 
Rated: 4.08 by morebeergood from Massachusetts

Jan 07, 2022
 
Rated: 4.78 by Vylo from New Jersey

Mar 20, 2021
Photo of InternetDrunk
Rated by InternetDrunk from Colorado

4.16/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Wonderful beer. Raison taste
Jan 10, 2021
Photo of snaotheus
Reviewed by snaotheus from Washington

3.85/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
2020-04-25
375ml corked/caged bottle served in a 5oz sampler. I don't see a date on it anywhere. I think it was a gift from a friend.

Pours murky brown with little or no head. Smell is cinnamon, sweet, maybe I get the raisins, probably I get some dates. Herbs come across.

Taste is cinnamon raisin bread! In a good way. Pretty sweet.

Mouthfeel is medium.
Apr 26, 2020
 
Rated: 4.25 by Patches826 from Massachusetts

Apr 17, 2020
Photo of BEERMILER12
Rated by BEERMILER12 from Maine

4.4/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
On tap at The Archives
Jan 10, 2020
 
Rated: 4.53 by MJSFS from Florida

Dec 07, 2019
 
Rated: 3.94 by Chuckdiesel24 from Illinois

Oct 03, 2019
 
Rated: 4.6 by cmrncrzy10 from Ohio

Aug 26, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by Hopsohard from California

Jul 16, 2019
Photo of Treyliff
Reviewed by Treyliff from West Virginia

4.49/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
375ml cork & cage bottle poured into a snifter
2013 vintage

A- pours a deep brown color with a one-finger foamy khaki head that reduces to a ring around the edge

S- dark fruit-driven nose, with a big raisin and fig note, followed by Belgian candied sugar, molasses, brown sugar & fruit cake. Undertones of spicy cinnamon, chocolate, oatmeal cookie, oaky bourbon & just a hint of chili

T- sweet and malty with a big raisin note up front, along with black strap molasses, chocolate, port, black licorice & peppery yeast. Mid-palate brings out the bourbon barrel, adding sharp oak and vanilla. The finish brings out cinnamon, raisin cookies and a hint of chili heat on the linger

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that continues into a slightly warming finish

O- One of the best aged beers I've had in a while, the adjuncts are all still popping through, outstanding
May 22, 2019
 
Rated: 3.88 by BarryMFBurton from Indiana

May 17, 2019
Box Set Track #8 - Number Of The Beast from The Lost Abbey
Beer rating: 96 out of 100 with 849 ratings