Raspberry Quadrupel
Mikkeller ApS

Pours a one-finger brown head that fades slowly, leaving some lace, chunky bits left in bottle. Black color, no highlights. Good carbonation and medium-heavy bodied. Raspberry nose and flavor is slightly tart raspberry jam, dark fruit and malty sweetness. Higher ABV, 13.0%, not totally hidden, not overwhelming. Not one for weight watchers - 413 calories. Pricey at $15.49 for a 375ml green bottle from Beverage Warehouse, Winooski, VT.

 

A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 20th January 2020. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.

Appearance: A murky dark brown colour with a one finger tanned head that settled fairly quickly to a thin but replenishing layer, while leaving some nice lacing.

Aroma: Raspberry jam, very intensely jammy with only a hint of any roast and chocolate.

Taste: Raspberry, raspberry juice, raspberry jam, boozy raspberry. It’s sweet, on the borderline of being overly so, but still ok. Sourness follows soon afterwards along with lots of dark fruit, raisin, prunes, plum, fig, and hints of dark malt, roastiness, and chocolate.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation and a touch of booze.

Overall: I loved the intense jammy raspberry aroma and while taste was just as jammy, it was on the borderline of being too sweet, and this combination of sweet and booze is not my favourite.

 

brandy barrel edition, bottle consumed live at the mikkeller bar in san francisco. its a real impressive beer, i love the raspberry tripelbock, and this has about just as much boozy raspberry jam and red wine fruitiness to it, but the base beer is even more striking. layers upon layers of rich velvety grain, molasses, belgian candy sugar, raisin, prune, fig, tobacco, and honey, sweet for sure, but also toasted and nutty enough to be somewhat of a balancing agent for all of the fruit. i dont know if all of these were brandy barrel aged or not, but that aspect is a big influence on it, the taste of the brandy is prevalent throughout, and with the fresh pulped up raspberries, its pretty incredible. usually mikkeller beers hide their strength pretty well, but this one was a beast from the first sip. the brandy barrel is responsible for some of that, but this is insanely strong. drinks oddly smooth though for what it is, i can just feel it setting in almost immediately. the fruit is sweet and tangy at the same time, and there is some acidity towards the end. one of the most flavorful and seemingly concentrated beers i can recall, but one that i would love to drink again, it is just so distinct, and another perfect testament to why i reckon mikkeller is one of the greatest operations out there. if anyone has a lead on another bottle, id be real interested.

Fruity, toasty, tangy and robust- a host of conflicting flavors begin to shower the palate with its varying pellets of taste. A Belgian-styled dark strong ale at its base, the liberal use of raspberries and a fortified wine slumber gives Mikkeller's Raspberry Quad many talking points.

Its lavish scent is toasty, chocolaty and laced with dark fruit. Red wine and booze tingle the olfactories while a soothing taste of chocolate and toast caress the early palate. Dark in its austere, a light mocha stain decorates a mid-length foam.

And then the complication and complexity sets in as the ale unfolds on the middle palate. Saturating raspberries bring a juiciness that melds ideally with the fading chocolate, coffee and toast. But its lingering fruit flavors retains a sensible robust taste, then joining forces with red wine, oak and plum. Estery black cherry, currant, fig and date; the late taste is spicy with the beer's barrel influence with a strong vinous overtone.

Beautifully full, lavish and malty- the beer's signature sweetness trends quickly towards peppery and dry textures. Spicy, boozy and bitter; the finish is malty-dry and powdery as the texture of oak plays heavily on the beer's linger. Surprisingly dry and short, the aftertaste is bright with berry and brandy.