5th Anniversary Belgian Quad
Straight To Ale

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From:
Straight To Ale
 
Alabama, United States
Style:
Belgian Quadrupel (Quad)
ABV:
11.4%
Score:
86
Avg:
3.78 | pDev: 10.05%
Ratings:
14 | reviews: 6
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Nov 27, 2017
Added:
May 21, 2015
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by parris:
Photo of parris
Rated by parris from Massachusetts

4.4/5  rDev +16.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Aug 03, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of cjgiant
Reviewed by cjgiant from District of Columbia

3.74/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Guessing an approximately 1.5-year old bottle:
This beer poured a deep brown with perhaps a small red hue to it - turning a deep mahogany in the glass. The head grew moderately, and fizzled slowly to a thin ring.

The beer has a definite dark fruit-heavy nose, fig newton like. There is a raisin aspect as well that adds a little tang, but there's also a little heavier tartness that has me thinking tart wine grape.

The taste mostly avoids the tarter notes from the nose, but also lays on some extra thick sweetness. Molasses to old-time cane-sugar cola in the opening, date and dark raisin for the little fruit aspect that sneaks past this.

Just a little too sweet for me, perhaps if a little more sugar were converted to get this up to 12% or so, it would've lost a little of this and opened up the dark fruits a little more and maybe provided a little bite to pierce the remaining sweetness.
Nov 27, 2017
Photo of Jadjunk
Reviewed by Jadjunk from Georgia

3.57/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
"In celebration of the fifth anniversary of the first beer ever sold by straight to Ale, we are releasing this Belgian style Quadrupel. Dark and full bodied, deceptively sweet with a candy like nose." Brewed in the style of a Quadrupel, available in 22 oz. bottles and on limited draft. 5th Anniversary limited release.

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle to a snifter glass.

(Appearance) Pours a crisp, foamy head of a caramel brown tone over a deep brown body, mildly opaque. Retention is below average and there is no visible lacing. 3.25

(Smell) Toasted bread malts, dark caramelized sugars and rich, sweet fruit notes of plum and ripe cherry. Very clean overall with a moderate potency. 3.75

(Taste) Incredibly sweet and rich delivery up front, candied sugars, juicy fruit syrups build up to a saturated and candy-like body. Subtleties of toasted bread and fruit tartness are evident, but pale by comparison, not quite enough to counter the sweet delivery of the malt profile overall. Finishes mildly sticky and mildly dry. 3.5

(Mouthfeel) Texture is sticky, lightly residual, lightly chewy, mildly dry. Carbonation is moderate, generating a medium frothiness and a medium crisp finish. Body is medium+ for the style, medium/heavy overall. Alcohol presence is light and there are no off characters. 3.75

(Overall) Arguably one of the sweetest deliveries in a Quad that I have ever encountered, it actually works fine, avoiding harshness that would closely imitate cough syrup, but nonetheless comes close to being too saccharine for drinkability's sake. Enjoyable as a dessert option, Quadrupel purists probably won't enjoy this one too much as the fruit character and syrups dominate the beer, and more of the subtleties of a Quad, namely yeast and specialty malt characters don't come through as easily. This was not the least bit impacted by a year's age, and still menacingly sweet. 3.5

Straight To Ale's
Fifth Anniversary Belgian Style Quadrupel
3.57/5.00
Jul 07, 2016
Photo of ccg
Reviewed by ccg from Virginia

3.83/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
2016-04-22: Straight to Ale Fifth Anny

Look: Dark brown -- surprisingly dark, almost black. Full inch of frothy foam on initial pour, sticks to the side of the glass. 4.0

Smell: Sweet malt, yeast, bread, hints of sourness and oak. 4.0

Taste: Much sweeter than the smell suggested. Loads of browns sugar. It's smooth and tasty and easy-drinking. I expected more sourness or funk or something. It's enjoyable, but to be honest, it's a little one-dimensional. 3.75

Feel: Full feel initially, but it becomes light and virtually disappears by the finish. 3.75

Overall: Sweet, simple, and enjoyable. 3.75
Jun 25, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by StoutAtTheDevil from Alabama

Apr 15, 2016
 
Rated: 3.89 by TheBeard89 from Alabama

Jan 24, 2016
 
Rated: 3.5 by Sweffin from Wisconsin

Nov 30, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by thatoneguymike from Georgia

Sep 09, 2015
Photo of chinchill
Reviewed by chinchill from South Carolina

3.47/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Large shared bottle (thanks Matt).
Pours dark red brown, near black, with a decent head.
Sweet and a bit simple for style, but also easier to drink than many quads. Lightly (typically) spicy.

O: certainly good but a touch too sweet and lacking complexity.
Sep 06, 2015
Photo of AgentMunky
Reviewed by AgentMunky from New York

2.93/5  rDev -22.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5
On tap at the brewery.

Purply black with a vaguely plummy nose. Oh dear god. It's overwhelmingly viscous and sweet. It's candy. It's date syrup. It is too sweet to be good or drinkable, but it's not a bad beer. Just another American quad.
Jul 09, 2015
 
Rated: 3.89 by Zuidman from Illinois

Jun 20, 2015
 
Rated: 3.84 by ramblinwreck101 from Georgia

Jun 04, 2015
Photo of ThickNStout
Reviewed by ThickNStout from Georgia

4.41/5  rDev +16.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
22oz bottle from Sprayberry Bottle Shop (Marietta, GA). 9.99. No bottling date but this just hit local shelves in 05/2015. Served in a Barrel and Barley teku.

Pours a deep, dark, fully opaque chestnut brown with a two finger khaki head. A healthy halo persists but deposits only a few tiny wisps of lace.

Sweet, inviting aromas of raisins, grapes, cherry, yeast and brown sugar. Lovely.

This baby is very sweet with dark fruits galore. Cherries, plum, fig, brown sugar, strong Belgian yeasty notes, chocolate, caramel, bread, apple, faint herbal bitterness, earth and an occassional swift kick of alcohol. So much dark fruit and sweetness that my palate is distracted from the double digit abv and this goes down dangerously easy.

Creamy, medium full body with supple carbonation. Booze doused and sugar coated dark fruits, caramel and sweet bread all come into play in the candy-like finish.

In a tremendous step up from their seasonal quadrupel, Hellfire, Straight To Ale has brewed something special in celebration of their fifth anniversary. For my tastes this is on the upper tier of American brewed quads. I plan to buy more of this to enjoy both now and through the years.
Jun 04, 2015
Photo of Belgeko
Rated by Belgeko from California

4.17/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Got on tap, poured dark with a thick head. A little sweater then I anticipated. Very smooth especially for an 11.4%
May 21, 2015