Tennessee Prinse
Brewmaster Jack

This is my first beer from Brewmaster Jack. And likely my last, as they closed some time last year. I had never actually heard of them despite them being from Mass, so I don't really have any expectations here. Let's see what their Quad game is all about

Pours a muddy dark brown with a finger of tan head that instantly fades to nothing and leaves no lacing. A bit of particulate floating around that settles to the bottom of the glass

Sheesh, this is sweet and boozy as hell in the nose, reminding me of an English Barleywine but not exactly in a good way. I'm picking up on aromas of raisin, brown bread, fusel alcohol, earthy whiskey, brown sugar, dates, and light leather

In taste, unfortunately, it gets weirder. It loses the touch of charm that it had and gives instead a boozy and almost flabby beer which is especially evident post-swallow. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting black cherry, toffee, hot whiskey, light vanilla, and brown bread. Not bad, but the swallow gets messy and brings notes of fusel alcohol, brown bread, golden raisin, burnt brown sugar, and molasses

A medium full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes neutral but falls flat

Eek. Expectations were low, but I wasn't expecting this. The aroma is alright, but there's really not much else redeeming here. Oh well

 

Pours dark maroon red-brown with a creamy frothy tan foam head. Smells like rich malty biscuits, toffee, brown sugar, dates, dried figs, candied plum, cherry, black and red grapes, raisin, apple, tobacco, woody oak barrel, whiskey, vanilla, caramel, chocolate, dark fruits, mild sweet spice, with floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Tastes like vinous black and red grapes, candied plum, black cherry, dried fig, dates, raisin, brown sugar, toffee, biscuits, toasty brown bread, caramel, vanilla, tobacco leaf, cigar box, woody oak barrel, whiskey, mild chocolate, dark fruits, dried fruits, apple, a touch of sweet spice, hints of farmhouse, with floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Feels lighter medium bodied, creamy with smooth moderate carbonation. Overall a nice whiskey barrel aged quad.

Deep ruby brown body is essentially opaque; center pour into a goblet produced very brief bubbly head which resulted in a foam ring... Flavors of seasoned raisins and muddled dark fruits, with sharper dry edges of tobacco and clove... It has a vague leatheriness, with hints of oaky tannin... Despite the fruits, not overly sweet - I'd call it moderately sweet; and there is a bite of bitterness, too, albeit softened by rich Merlot-like notes, but also appreciable enough to leave a shellac on the palate... Low-key vegetal undertone reminded me of beets and squash... Remarkably smooth, medium-bodied, and with a slipperiness on the finish... Elegant and interesting... Drank quicker than I wanted lol... Totally dug it - an unexpected treat...

Sampling a cellar temp 12 oz bottle poured into my snifter. The beer pours a clear yet deep mahogany color with a large fluffy beige head of at least 3.5 cm foaming up in my glass. The foam fades pretty quickly to a sturdy edge layer that hangs around throughout the sampling.
The aroma is deep with some booze, oak notes and red wine. There is also a little dark fruit, like plums and some whisky note. I dont get any hops here, but the nose tells me this is a sipping brew.
The first sip reveals a thick bodied brew with a sticky texture and very spacious almost non existent carbonation. This is a very cask like beer physically and definitely coats my palate on each swallow.
The flavor is kinda sweet and reflects the nose. I get some toffee and brown sugar, but this rolls to dark fruit and oak note. The finish is very strong dark merlot flavor that lingers after the swallow and dries out my palate. I dont get any hops and the booze is dangerously well hidden. As the glass empties I am reminded of the 11.5%. YIKES! I really like this brew and would buy again, it seems that this brewery is very good at making bigger bold brews!

 

 

 

Dark mahogany body; thin yet lasting light tan head. Rather faint dark grain and dried dark pitted fruit smells. Rich flavored dark grains; a little smoky; roasted malts; mildly sweet chocolate notes. Heavy, velvety body; smooth and thick on the palate; semi-sweet feel.

A big beer with an ABV needing respect as the beer can go down easy.

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into a chalice, the appearance was a dark brown close to black color with a thick finger’s worth of white to off white foamy head that dissipated at a nice pace. Spotty stringy lacing runs around. The aroma starts off with the dark fruits opening up into some milk chocolate and Belgian spices. Sly woodiness underneath. Some vanilla. Bourbon whiskey is very light. The flavor leans to the sweet initially and then opens up into some subtle nuances of Belgian spice. Sweet fruity to chocolatey aftertaste running into the finish smoothly. On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body with a fair sessionability about it. Carbonation felt appropriate, semi-smooth. Overall, pretty good as a barrel aged quad. I'd drink again.

 

 

 

From a 12oz bottle, undated so far as I can tell. Served in a tulip.

Pours a very handsome cola brown with a finger of rocky foam the colour of a nicotine stain. The head quickly settles back into a sparse cap with a modest ring around the glass and very little lacing.

Smells smooth and rich, of caramel cream and applewood. Not bigly on the nose, with very little of the alleged barrel in evidence.

Taste is... ah! There's the barrel! Booze-soaked golden raisins, cider, plums and cherries, damp wood drying in the sun, tobacco leaf and old, worn leather. Finishes with just a suggestion of smoky booze.

Feel is silky-soft but maybe a little thin, medium-light bodied for the style, gently carbonated, and smooth-drinking with not much of that big abv detected.

Overall, a very nice beer. As noted, a bit thin to the style, more like a dubbel. I saw the label and stated abv on the bottle and expected it to come out punching. Instead, it was gentle and understated and quietly delicious. Much enjoyment.

 

A: The beer is black when viewed from afar, but when held up to a bright light the beer is very dark brownish red in color. It poured with a short dark beige colored head that died down, leaving a patch of bubbles on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of dark fruits and whiskey are present in the nose.
T: Similar to the smell, the has lots of flavors of dark fruits such as cherries and plums along with notes of whiskey and brown sugar and hints of oak and vanilla.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation along with slight hints of warming from the alcohol.
O: This beer does a very good job at balancing the aromas and flavors of the quadrupel with whiskey barrel aging. Any traces of alcohol are also very well hidden from the taste.

Serving type: bottle

 

 

 

12 oz bottle, I dont see any vintage or bottling date info

Pours dark brown, minor head and leaves just a smidge of film, thin colar and a thin ring or two of fine lacing.

Minor sweet malted up nose

Kinda thin for the style body and mouthfeel wise.

Malty, with notes of rum, figs, assorted ripe fruits and again sweet dark malts.

Lacks the body and roundness of flavors I'd like to enjoy in the style...

So so at best....there are better examples of the style out there

No bottling date. Served cold in a snifter.

Looks like a quad. Smells like a regular quad and I barely get any barrel character on this one. It isn't overly boozy like I would expect from a freshly emptied whiskey barrel. None of the classic barrel-agedness character that should come with a beer spending time in a fresh barrel. Aside from that, it is a good quad. Tons of dark fruits, nice fusel alcohol notes, medium light body. I just wish there was more barrel.

 

Note, got another bottle and adding some more notes as it's mellowed and aged a bit.

Dated sticker must have fallen off, hence the problem with dating via stickers.

Pours a dark creamy 1/2 finger head that fades at a med pace, decent lacing, pitch black beer.

Nose brings plenty of whiskey, more like a cheap Jack Daniels whiskey which is not too good, sweet candy malts underneath, caramel, candi sugar, molasses, some dark fruits like candied date and fig, a touch of biscuity toffee. NEW NOTES: more candied dark fruits, lots of date and raisin, molasses sweet brown sugar, whisky has subdued and is more vanilla oak barrel now.

Taste brings sweetness, big sweet malts out front, Belgian dark malts, Belgian candi sugar, toffee, molasses, caramel notes, etc, but not super sweet, into dark fruits again, candied fig, sweet dates, booze almost dark rum soaked raisin, some warming tingly booze, chewy like candy syrup, etc. Mild whiskey, again super cheap whiskey and not so great, I guess the brand for the barrels really does make a difference. Finish is sticky sweet, big sweet candi sugar, dark candied fruits, some warming booze, little cheap icky whiskey. NEW NOTES; Whisky is still mostly there, more vanilla sweet bourbon flavors than cheap whisky but that cheaper young whisky is still there, lots of date and candied molasses brown sugar fruits, plenty of oak and vanilla.

Mouth is full bod, syrupy thick, decent carb, plenty of warming booze.

Overall base beer is def detracted by the cheap not so great whiskey. NEW NOTES: however the aging has settled out the young cheap whisky for more barrel notes and a decent character, the base beer comes through a bit better now and it's more balanced. Definitely aged this for a few months before cracking.

 

 

 

 

Bottle from March 2015:
Pours a very dark brown, with a nice tan head that sits in a thick foamy ring atop the beer while it warms. Eventually this foam fades as does all head, not to return.

The nose is quite reminiscent of whiskey and coke. There's a sweetness - supposedly of the base quad - that melds with the whiskey to give this impression. Light notes of wood, including a little tang that I can't place.

The taste does not really give me whiskey and coke, mainly due to a lack of sweetness. The opening notes lean towards that impression, however - with a root/earthy bitterness and a light sweetness combining with the whisky notes. With considerable warmth, I start getting faint impressions of raisins, and maybe a little unsweetened chocolate, and the light sweetness holds a little longer into the drink. The barrel additions are nicely melded into the beer - not overpowering it - which is commendable as I am not getting bold notes from that base beer.

The feel is a little fizzy and thin, but there is a nice light woody bitterness and whiskey tingle than are nice.

A fine whiskey barrel beer, but I'm not getting the quad depth I would like. The ABV indicates quad, but the flavor profile is almost more like a dubbel for me with this bottle.

 

 

"Barrel Aged PrinSIPia": bottled between Jan 2015 (first batch of PrinSIPia) and May 2015 (when BA PrinSIPia changed to Tennessee Prinse). 12 oz bottle poured into a snifter.

I liked how the whiskey complemented the quad style, as opposed to when this type of barrel is used for stouts and it comes across more one note on the sour side. Smell of whiskey and dark fruits is stronger than the taste comes across. The feel is a little thinner than typical for a BA beer at the given ABV. Only knock on this beer is not a whole lot of complexity. I may need to try the non-BA version to see if I get a more rounded flavor profile.