Four Corners Quad
Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company

Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co. "Four Corners Quad"
1 Pint 6 oz. brown glass bottle, capped & waxed, with no apparent freshness dating
$15 at the brewery

Notes via stream of consciousness: From the label: "Rye whiskey barrel aged Belgian-style ale". Very dark in color, appearing black in the full glass but showing dark ruby when held to the light. The head is a short, creamy cap of khaki colored foam. In the nose it's malty and sweet with caramel, brown sugar, whiskey, dried dark fruit, nuttiness,oak, and some very light Belgian yeast "spiciness" and a hint of alcohol. The flavor is quite full and rich, sweet and sugary - fortunately the whiskey flavor, dark fruit notes, and alcohol temper it - you're looking for some malty sweetness in a quad anyway, right? The fruitiness is clearer, including notes of dark raisin, plum, fig, prune, apple, and cherry. I'm also finding some coconut which I usually get in stronger, dark, barrel aged beers. I'm getting lots of caramel as well. There's darker, reddish caramel and golden caramel, not so much of the very dark or almost burnt sugar caramel. It's a bit toasty as well, and now I'm getting some almond-like nuttiness. Full bodied and smooth - not that there's not carbonation there, it's just that it's very fine bubbled and has a hard time fighting against the viscosity of the malt. I'd call it perfect, giving you a delicate caress on the tongue that lasts from start to finish but never goes any further than that. In a lower gravity beer you'd certainly have much more bite. Wow, that's a really pleasant, complex but balanced mix of sweet caramel, dark fruit (lots of raisin), and alcohol. Excellent! It's a bit sweet but somehow balanced. Perfect for malt heads!

Collaboration with Against the Grain. Aged in rye whiskey barrels.

Pours a reddish cherry-cola color with a thin tan head that's quick to dissipate into a soupy crown.

Fairly strong whiskey in the nose with creamy vanilla and some faint rye spiciness. There's some caramel and fig beneath that. Very pleasant.

This all continues to the taste with a much stronger fruitiness showing -- almost like Concord grapes, light cherry and fig again -- and then a very unique, faintly toasted malt quality. There's a flash of alcohol and almond on the backend, but a relatively clean finish for something so sweet. It's quite tasty.

It has a slightly syrupy feel with moderate carbonation.

I like this, despite the very strong sweetness. I have another bottle I'm going to put away for a while, and I might pick up some more.