Goochland Quad
Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery

 

 

Bottle, review from NBS:
A nice brown, perhaps a little rusty reddish hue to it. The head is basically tan, and builds up in a nice tight foamy cap. It is still there as I type and let the beer warm.

Nose isn't as dark as I'd expect, and it leans more towards the prune/plum side than the date/fig side. The bottle mentions the use of Candi Syrup, but it takes a little warmth before a note of molasses starts to come out. There's something else in there as well, but I cannot tell what it is (maybe the Belgian yeast).

Taste starts out a little cola-like, followed by a strange woodiness that is unexpected. This morphs into a light unsweetened molasses (yes, I understand this oxymoron). It's a strange sensation, I keep expecting a little turn sweet, but the beer stays balanced to even bitter (a balanced to woody bitterness). The tarter dark fruits from the nose don't really come out in the taste, and I'd have to go maybe towards fig if anything. Really, it's more lightly spiced rooty in nature. Feel is pretty smooth, a little tingle from carbonation, and actually a little dry, alcohol is in there somewhere, I guess.
As the beer neared room temp, the sweetness finally started coming out. It was still balanced by a decent does of bitterness, but it at least does come out eventually.

Different than I expected but not bad. I almost think of this more like an "American Quad" than a Belgian in the sense that an American Barleywine tends to go heavier on the hop bittering than the old continent does. Personally I wanted just a little more malty sweetness. I did finally get it at a near room-temp beer, so I suggest following style guidelines on temp for this beer.

 

Poured a dark brown body with two finger head that slowly died and left a lace ring around the glass. Aroma is boozy, woody, caramel/toffee sweetened along with hints of spice and dark fruits like figs and raisins. I like this beer as it is a sweet version of a quad with the dark fruits mostly being figs and raisins and working with not candi sugar but spicy sweetness mixed w/ caramel and toffee. Only knock on the beer is that times it's fuller body becomes muddled (the yeast doesn't smooth out things or add to beer like it should, in my opinion) and the booze shows up in finish and it's not complimentary.

750 mL capped bottle, 2015 release at 11.2% abv. Poured into a stemmed, Belgian style glass. Very dark brown color. You get some of the dark plum flavors. Incredibly smooth, and the "house" yeast is subtle which I enjoyed. I feel if you cellar this, it'd just keep getting smoother and smoother. An incredible Quadrupel.

 

Appearance: pours a deep brown with some deep red to garnet hues. a finger or two of a tannish head forms, strong retention and a big frothy lacing. the darkness makes it just about opaque with some brightness along the very edges.

Smell: strong spicy and clove-like phenols. dark fruit consisting mostly of prunes. some alcohol.

Taste: opens with strong yeast character. a wide range of phenols with mostly spice and clove but bordering on smoke. dark fruit character comes through with mostly prunes but some fig and light raisin. more yeasty character comes back. alcohol comes on moderately to strong.

Mouthfeel: fairly full bodied. sweet but the phenol spiciness cuts that a bit. some warmth to it.

Overall: fairly unique yeast character going on (they say 4 yeasts so not quite sure how that works out.) and it really takes up most of the flavor. unique but overall its pretty good. might have to cellar one to see what happens to all the yeast character.

 

Poured on-tap at the brewery, the beer is a muddled, opaque, brown coloring with a foamy, light cream colored head. Nose of rich caramel and toffee, with a subtle spice blend of clove, cinnamon, and all spice. Flavors are rich caramel forward, followed by highlights of clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, and an old world fruit blend of plum, fig, and date. Very well balanced. Smooth, robust bodied, with a dry undertone. The aftertaste is a sweet, rich blend of old world fruit, roasted notes, and subtle spice blend. Smooth, heavy, slow finish, with a linger of toffee, spice, and subtle vegetal notes. Solid brew.