25th Anniversary Ale
New Glarus Brewing Company

2018 vintage; drank 4/6/23 @ the Beer Temple.

Dark brown appearance.

A slow pour yielded a nice tan head; frothy lace.

Raisin, fig, leather, plum & faint booze heat notes in the nose. This smelled great!

Medium mouthfeel.

Brulee'd pineapple, plum, fig & leather flavors up front; mild booze heat, maple & Belgian candy notes on the finish.

Stunning.

 

 

Bottle. Khaki head. Carmel hued brown color.

A very enjoyable American made Belgian quad. Caramel, cocoa, bananas. The yeast and spice is toned down. Overall, smooth and flavorful. Some molasses and dark dried fruits.

I received this bottle in a Secret Santa box and it may be the star of the show.

Loaded with raisins and brandy and maple and dark fruits... this is the Christmas pudding that Mrs. Cratchit served to Mr Cratchit in the movie.

Dark rich, boozy and fruity and everything I was hoping it would be...super tasty...

I loved everything about this....

Terrific beer... Christmas in a glass....wish I had more of this....

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the bit of carbonation that sticks around after the pour. You can feel it on the tongue too. It's thick and syrupy, almost the cross between a porter in thinness but sticky sweet like a good stout. I confess I opened it thinking at the time that I was going to be drinking a 5% fruited sour and then pulling up the review and finding it's 11.5% and a quad, I am a little disappointed. I love a great quad, but it's not quite up the a Rochefort 10. I like the clove, vanilla, and fig notes. I don't taste the alcohol as some others have written, so I think that's a good sign of quality. I'm glad I bought a couple of bottles at the brewery, as this should age very well and I'll be curious to come back to my review the next time I open one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had this at the brewery over the weekend. Reviewed from memory. Here goes:

A: Dark but clear brown with a khaki-colored head. Head is large and leaves good lacing.

S: Caramel and some brown sugar - not much else, though. Very simple and not very robust; can't detect the barrel-aged qualities. Kind of disappointing given the complexity of most quads I've had. Taste was better, though, as you'll see below.

T: Good. Can taste banana, clove, and bread from the yeast, all of which are far more present in the taste than in the smell. Beer also has a lot of caramel and dark fruit, which were also present in the smell, just not as abundantly. Beer also has a fair amount of vanilla from the barrel-aging. On the downside, the beer is quite boozy - it doesn't mask the alcohol very well.

F: Thick and sweet; also fairly bready and well-carbonated. Good.

O: A good beer. Would have again.

On draft at the source: taster glass at the brewery 8/11/2018.

Dark brown beer with thin cap. Dark fruits, caramel, brown sugar in the nose. Tastes of so much dark fruits paired with oak and hint of brandy. nice caramel and brown sugar notes. Very balanced flavors here. Mouthfeel of this beer feels lighter and more drinkable than 11%. Perfect carbonation and soft mouthfeel. Creamy body. Very slight booze. Dan brews incredible Quads. This is just as good as the big names from Belgium and their World Class Quadruple offerings for this beer style.

L- 4.25
S- 4.25
T- 4.5
M-4.75
O-4.45
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bottle consumed 3/13/21. Nice little hiss as the bottle is opened.

500ml bottle poured into goblet.

Appearance: dark brown bodied beer with thick 1 almost 2 fingers tall of creamy egg shell white colored head. drops down to a thin ring.

Smell: Oak barrel and dark fruit bomb. Lots of fruity belgian yeast.

Taste: The beer opens up with a sweetness and light bitter bite. Dark fruits galore paired with huge oak presence and barely detected hint of brandy. Still has caramel and brown sugar, but the sweetness is dialed down from fresh. Yeast has given this been a black pepper note in the finish that is spicy and zesty. Very interesting how the yeast has changed in this beer. It was fruity and sweet and now this interesting pepper note. The black pepper teams up with the oak to add some dryness to balance out this Quad even more from being so rich and sweet as it was fresh. As this hit room temperature, the sweetness increases and the brandy expresses itself a little bit more.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer with moderate low carbonation levels. The beer has still got adequate carbonation, but its not as carbonated as before. The mouthfeel has suffered a little bit, it is no longer that creamy, sticky, and fuller mouthfeel; it has become more "slick" and slightly thinner, but not by too much. Drinkability is still excellent that did not change at all. The alcohol is not easily perceived at all.

Overall: Still a delicious brandy barrel aged quad. Biggest changes are the head is smaller and diminished staying power of the head. The yeast's flavor profile change was the most dynamic. The yeast changed from sweet and fruity to expressing big black pepper notes. The black pepper works fairly well too. The zest of the black pepper spice really tames / balances the sweetness of how this quad was fresh. Not something that I would have guessed. I would have thought this beer would have stayed sweet. This beer is still holding its own. I wish the caramel and brown sugar notes were as prominent as they were fresh.

L- 4.00
S- 4.25
T- 4.5
M-4.25
O-4.39

 

 

 

500ml
$15
New Glarus Beer Depot

New Glarus's 25th Anniversary ale is the deepest of browns, bordering black but not quite reaching that point. When backlit it offers some narrow burgundy highlights along the edges of the goblet. The ecru head is very finely bubbled and silky looking while an active carbonation keeps bolstering it along the ring. Sheet lacing remains along the glass as it empties. It's a handsome monster of a beer.

The nose is interesting and complex. It brings with it your typical Quad characteristics with some grape soda, raisins and prunes. It's a touch leathery, which I appreciate. The barrel presence is even handed. It's not brandy boozy in the least, instead it brings forward a rich vanilla characteristic. The maple syrup addition adds depth to the barrel presence instead of standing out on its own, which is nice. Deep pulls bring a softly spicy, peppery booziness. Every aspect seems very well integrated.

The flavor follows the nose, thankfully. Prune and raisins off the bat with prunes leading the way. A soft grape soda sweetness rounds it out but is not as vibrant as the nose suggested. There's a good leathery quality along with a generous helping of tobacco. This guy has some character. All this is surrounded by the softly sweet vanilla barrel quality and maple syrup, as mentioned above. There's a bright, juicy sweetness on the finish along with moderate bubblegum. With that said, it doesn't finish cloying or sweet. This is a fine beer.

Dan Carey nailed the mouthfeel on this beer which is one of the most important aspects of Belgian beer, in my opinion. This is an 11.5% beast of a beer but it's moderate in weight with a frothy, airy carbonation. While there is some sweetness toward the finish it actually dries up on the swallow thanks to that candi sugar and a whisp of peppery, drying booze. This beer is scary easy to drink.

It goes without saying but this is another extremely well made international style from the man up in New Glarus. It's very Belgian-esque with a nice Wisconsin twist involving maple syrup and brandy barrels. I would pick this up again in the future and recommend it as well.

 

 

 

On draft at the brewery. Served in a brewery pint glass. Darker brown body, one finger white head, short retention and a bit of lacing. Smell is sweet fig, a bit of caramel and chocolate. Sweet maple is in the background, brown sugar. Touch of slight brandy heat and oak. Flavour follows, with a fair bit more maple sweetness and brandy than the nose suggests. It’s delicious actually with a decent straightforward sweetness. Not superbly complex, it all blends together in a nice sweetness. Mouthfeel is medium body, slightly undercarbonated, slightly sweet maple and brandy finish. It’s not overwhelming on the adjuncts, it’s a very balanced quad with a nice added sweetness to it. It’s good, not mind blowing but it would be a nice one to drink at Christmastime. A very Wisconsin beverage.