Island Diaries
Drake's Brewing Co.

 

 

 

Medium brown opaque body with a tan head. Aromas of banana bread, molasses, cocoa, toffee, coconut dark belgian yeast, and big rum. Taste is very similar with rum being constant but never too boozy or overpowering, toffee is more caramel like though. Feel is thinner for style with the yeast and malt, but the barrel warmth helps compensate. Fun new world take

strong belgium ale would stack up to other belgium well

 

 

 

 

Dark, mahogany brown body; thin yet lasting light khaki colored head. Deep, alluring aroma; figs and dates; a bit of rum; a touch of bright spiciness. Big taste profile; brown sugar and candi sugar; dark pitted fruits; subtle booziness; rich caramel. Heavy body; fairly smooth overall; prominent alcohol warmth; moderate bit of residual sugar presence coats the palate.

A rather rich and somewhat spicy beer with a hefty yet palatable boozy presence.

 

A: The beer is very dark brown in color (jet black when viewed from afar). It poured with a quarter finger high beige colored head that left a narrow collar around the edge and lots of wisps of bubbles on the surface.
S: Moderate aromas of dark fruits are present in the nose along with notes of rum from the barrel aging.
T: The taste follows the smell, except that the rum is much more prominent and is more on par with the flavors of the quadrupel.
M: It feels medium-bodied and a bit smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I thought that the taste of this beer had a nice balance between the quad and rum. It definitely tastes like a heavy hitter but is pleasant to sip.

Serving type: bottle

 

From Tavour. Yum. No dessert necessary after one Island Diary.

Looks are not particularly different in the very narrow range of barrel-aged darks. Smells are as much great as they are: "What is that ?" (I suspect it's the rum.) Tastes retreat slightly to terribly good and balanced. And in the mouth, I wish this could sit there all night... but I have to swallow so I can breathe.

There can be no escape from commenting on this very well-concealed 13.5% ABV. WOW! That said, this pushes the Quad's envelope by 2-3%. In the final analysis, Drake's got away with breaking the rules. But, that is what lots of invention is about.

In the scheme of breweries started in 1988, I'm not sure how fascinating Drake is to, say, BA's founders, The Alstrom Bros. But to me (a 67 year old newbie), Drake's story is fascinating. They have had three owners (maybe more, but 3 makes the point.) They clearly are a second generation brewer, but have survived a lot of business ineptitude and, probably, this pandemic. They have expanded to three sites, which is kinda slow for how old they are. But in addition to the styles that keep most American crafters in business (those styles involving hops), they have this barrel program which, at this moment in time, suits me just fine.

 

Poured from a bottle - dark and murky, not quite black with short quickly dissipating khaki head leaving a miniature ring of foamy bubbles. Nose is all about the rum barrel. Taste follows with the an almost over powering rum influence. Kind of like rum flavored Stickee Monkee. Definitely more than a bit of alcohol on the way down, very warm. If you like big ass boozy quads ,give it a go.

Bottle from Tavour. Dark brown pour with small, fine beige head. Boozy aroma, brown sugar, chocolate, rum. Taste is oh so sweet and warm, nay, hot. Sugary, molasses, rum packing a lot of heat. Nice, full mouthfeel, slick. Burns all the way down. Wow!

Poured from a 500ml bottle into a Belgian tulip glass.

Look is pitch black with a very thin off white head.

Aroma is dark rum and roast malt.

Taste is rich Belgian candi sugar and vanilla spiced rum.

Absolutely delicious.