Le Don Juan
Broadway Pub

Bottle: Poured a clear dark brown ale with a large brown foamy head with OK retention and light lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with light blakc chocolate notes and some residual sugar notes. Taste is a mix roasted malt with some light black chocolate notes and faint candi residual sugar notes. Body is light for style with good carbonation and no perceptible alcohol. This didn’t taste as I was expecting with more flavours akin to a porter then a quad.

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle from a Quebec trip. A boozy imperial brown ale, with some yeast characteristics. Not what you expect from a quad. Booziness takes a toll on this one, but drinkable to me as a winter warmer. Some decent malt sweetness below the surface of booze. Slightly above average mouthfeel.

 

341ml bottle, thanks to papat444 for passing this one on to me.

This beer pours a clear, dark ruby-brown colour, with three fingers of finely puffy beige head, which sinks away at a measured pace, leaving some bulbous, streaky lace around the glass.

It smells of toasty, nutty malt, some mild drupe fruitiness, swirling alcohol, and frowsy, dusty hops. The taste is more nutty, biscuity grain, tempered in its sweetness by a bit of ash, soft fleshy orchard fruit, and leafy, earthy hops. The elevated booze does a nice job of concealing itself from sight.

The bubbles are fairly sturdy, and a tad prodding here and there, the body a steady medium weight, and generally smooth, amidst the tacky ash and simmering booze. It finishes sweet, more and more from the clingy alcohol, than the lingering biscuity malt, with that ashy, dusty character hovering about.

A commendable attempt at a rarefied style, and drinkable enough - however, the logarithmic scale of Quad comparisons leaves this, if somewhat unfairly, in the vicinity of the median. I sure wouldn't turn down a snifter of this, though, in _my_ local brewpub, cough, cough.

 

 

Poured into a Chimay chalice. Deep, dark brown colour with ruby highlights. A complete cover of cream-white head with decent retention, always maintaining a cover over the surface.

On the nose: lightly roasted bready malt, alcohol, toffee, pear, plum, cinnamon, cocoa, yeast. Definitely smells like a quadrupel.

Flavour is very similar with dark toasty malt and lots of dark drying bitterness. Cocoa, earthy hops, dark fruit, cinnamon stick, yeast and a good touch of alcohol including a little scotchiness. Surprisingly smooth and balanced at such a young age (only a month or two old).

Solid medium body, carbonation maybe a little foamy not too bad though. Drying finish.

Nothing really unique or unusual here, just a well-made and enjoyable quadrupel. It doesn't stand up to a beer like Rochefort 10 but at this price ($3 a bottle) I could see myself buying a couple more before the winter is over, especially to age.

Thanks to hoppypocket for this one.

Poured from a 341ml. bottle.

Appearance: A thick foam (lookin' whipped) sits over a deep red-brown body. Retention is medium and decent draping of foam.

Smell: Figs, assorted dried fruits, dark cherries and caramelized sugar.

Taste: Rich fruits, mostly plums, raisins and figs. Good dose of spices in the fringes compliments well. Bit of a sweet finish as it warms with some candi sugar.

Mouthfeel: Strong carbonation that dies down a bit at room temp to reveal a smoother feel.

Overall: Pretty good. I liked it a bit less as it warmed but it delivers on flavor.

 

 

On tap at Max's today. The pub lists this as a tripel brune. In any event...

The beer pours an ice tea brown color with good head retention and lacing. The nose is pretty impressive, showing brown sugar, milk chocolate and caramel. Flavors replicate the nose pretty closely, though I'm just loving all the chocolate and brown sugar I get in this beer. There's a hint of bitterness in the finish that helps to counter the sweetness, and in fact the sweetness is moderate and not over the top. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a fairly long finish, and drinkability is very good considering the abv. The alcohol is very well integrated into this beer, and the beer is not at all heavy or tiring on the palate.

Very nice beer. Well done.