Trip In The Woods: Madeira Quad With Cherries
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

what a treat to drink this now vintage rarity! not enough madeira barrels employed in the beer world in my opinion, and this one was super impressive overall, well aged now, delicious and complex. brown in color without a ton of head, even a little thin looking for what it is, but immediately compelling on the nose, the madeira super forward in here, woody, sweet, leathery, molasses and tobacco, raisin and red wine, sherry and port, and just enough of the cherry pushing through too, slightly tart, but still very woody and rich, mineral forward, and with some belgian yeast still in the mix, although more generic strong ale to me than belgian quad specifically here. the flavor is just as good, malt forward with brown sugar and that chateau malt depth, raisin and fig, amazing with the madeira, which is really prominent in here, silky and lightly spicy, so distinctive, just enough cherry in the mix too, a great blend. subtle licorice, pipe tobacco, black pepper, and even dry cocoa, its layered and mature with just slight oxidation now, it warms up very well, and still seems less belgian than i remember forms of this quad being back in the day. still, remarkable beer, lovely expression of the madeira, and probably peaking in terms of age right now. an awesome experience! huge thanks to my friend for sharing this special bottle!

 

 

 

Pours dark brown - red-ish in parts. Another non-Belgian quad that isn't hugged by that token massive head - maybe only a finger here - not sure what wizardry those Belgians employ.

Nose immediately punches with prune, raisin, cherry juice, grape candy, brown butter, packed brown sugar, powdered sugar, marzipan, wet oak. Real impressive complexity, though very syrupy on the palette. Same issue I had with Stickee Monkee - unlike, say, a stout that can be nicely kissed by additional barrel sweetness, a good quad is already so multi-dimensional in its sweetness that it's difficult to propel it forward with additional decadent flavours. This was obviously more expected here, as the madeira and cherries are front of house.

Still, this could have easily been a total washout, and that it is certainly not. With pleasant alcohol warmth on the breath, you really do have to enjoy this in a good snifter, as a mid-point between beer and fortified wine. More power to these boundary pushers.

 

 

 

Screams "5" from the first sip. Label states it is a very limited release, of which I have no doubt. Had on tap at the North Carolina brewery, and immediately bought 3 of the 750ml bottles. Just finished first bottle. Bottle is very similar to on tap version. Has very little carbonation or head, and dark brown color that is not beer's strong suit.

Hallmark of the beer is the rather strong Madeira flavor, both on the nose, and more so on the taste. Cherries are also evident, and form a remarkably elegant link between the Madeira barrel flavors and the quad background flavors. Having a barrel forward quad with cherry linkage gives this a tremendous depth and mind-boggling complexity.

Smells and tastes like a winery, which is a good thing, along with complex malty quad flavor sweetened by cherries. At 10.5% ABV, this is beyond awesome. For any fan of barrel-aged beers, this is a must try if you can find a bottle.

This was made once (2017), but is not without precedent as they did a Madeira Ovila Quad with Plums before, which was also highly regarded, though I never got to try that one.

This edges-out my previous favorite beer, which held its title for the last 18 months.

The best liquid I've very had. Better than high-end brandies that beat 99% of beers.