Gabriel's Horn
Trap Door Brewing

Pours a dirty cola brown that looks like chocolate water or weak carbonated coffee. Small swell of head initially that fades pretty quickly.

Nose is the big rich robust flavours you want from a BA Quad. Sweet vanilla and plum, definitely a little heat on the back end. Caramel supporting some tobacco and a surprisingly dry edge.

Flavour supports this latter theory moreso than the initial. Whereas the aroma led with sweet rich and then had some dry 'old ale' type characteristics on the back end, the flavour goes the other way, with the tobacco and leather leading in with the plums being more the dried/aged plum flavour rather than the fresh sweet from the nose. The vanilla from the nose is at best an afterthought, as the barrel provides more wood than anything. Even the heat from the nose is masked as this is scary easy to drink.
Body is smoothe if dull and dry with sweet highlights. Carbonation is present but immediately overlookable, which works with the smoothe body.

Trap door Brewing’s Gabriel’s Horn 12% ABV. This Belgian Quad pours a deep mahogany brown color with a khaki tan colored head that dissipates rather quickly leaving some lacing on the glass. The aroma is of caramel malts rum dark dried fruits with a hint of whiskey. The flavor is of dark fruits like raisins plums dates prunes dried cherries caramel malts with hints of rum and whiskey along with a woodsy flavor from the barrel aging process the whiskey and rum flavors are very dominant in this beer which I love it tastes a lot like the best rum/whiskey soaked fruit cake you’ve ever had it’s very sweet with a slight alcohol burn. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a nice creaminess the carbonation is at the right level but if you don’t like boozy beers you won’t like this but I loved it this is one of the best Belgian Quads I’ve ever had. 8/10

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin brown head with good retention and light lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, rum, dark dried fruit and a little whiskey. Flavor follows, with candi and caramel malt, dried plums, dates, rum, dry caramel, whiskey. Caramel, rum and whiskey finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess and an odd unctuousness. The rum and whiskey barrel treatment is really the dominant flavor here, with the base quad tasting a little more like an English barleywine than a Belgian. However, the malt does a nice job of supporting the robust barrel flavors. This sounded kind of busy from the label description and it is, but everything holds together quite nicely. It's a little boozy, but the flavors complement each other. I'm a bit impressed they pulled this off. Definitely worth a try.