Barrel Aged Quad W/ Currants
West Sixth Brewing Company

The beer world has taken notes of the extended age, barrel techniques, deliberate oxidation, savory, tangy, indulgent taste from fortified wines and applied them to beer. West Sixth's Belgian-style strong, dark ale finds favor in oaken barrels for a drier but more decadent character to send each and every tastebud soaring.

Barrel Aged Quad w/ Currants comes as a dark plum color with ruby and garnet highlights. With a fledgling froth, the beer shares instead a tawny port appearance equipped with brandy legging. Its sultry perfume is of hard candy, dark berries, red wine, sherry, leather, tobacco and oak spice. Flavors of grandma's hard candies wash the taste in fruit forward sweetness with hints of molasses, maple and brow sugar.

Sweetness relaxes on the middle palate and the complex fruit, booze and yeast spice unleashes. Filled with fruit, the tastebuds are awash with red grape, blackberry, plum, blackcurrant, blueberry and black cherry. Its light carbonation fuels a sweeter and tangier profile as the balance carries a mild twang of dry red wine, savory balsamic and the off-soy flavors of madeira. Hints of leather, weathered oak, fresh tobacco, prune and a kiss of tar lead into a dusty finish that's remiss of cellar funk.

Full bodied, spicy and warm, the beer's low lying carbonation pulls from Belgian tradition and has the ale trending slightly barleywine-like. Those aged complex vinous tastes, earthen woods and stone fruits also point in that direction as well. However the finish is of peppercorn and brandy while is sweetness is dusty and powder fine.