Oak Aged Cherry Quad
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

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From:
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
 
United States
Style:
Quadrupel (Quad)
ABV:
13%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.87 | pDev: 9.3%
Reviews:
13
Ratings:
21
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 15, 2018
Added:
Dec 12, 2009
Wants:
  10
Gots:
  1
Dark Belgian-style ale aged in oak barrels with cherries and Brettanomyces. Funky, fruity and rich.
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Ratings by 4DAloveofSTOUT:
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Rated by 4DAloveofSTOUT from Illinois

4/5  rDev +3.4%

Jul 20, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.5 by stakem from Pennsylvania

Jun 15, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by DrBier from Pennsylvania

Jul 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Kegatron from Pennsylvania

Jul 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by GClarkage from California

Jul 08, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by beernads from Florida

Aug 22, 2013
Photo of homebrew311
Reviewed by homebrew311 from Illinois

2.98/5  rDev -23%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
A: pours clear red, almost no head, minimal lace

S: cough syrup cherry is the most identifiable thing I can relate to on the nose with an additional bit of sourness and vinegar

T: sweet and syrupy up front, artificial cherry comes in and is countered by oak, the result is tame and muted

MF: thin body, low carbonation

O: the balance is lacking on this brew, not my favorite
Jan 27, 2012
Photo of Florida9
Reviewed by Florida9 from Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A: Cloudy brown in color. Forms a smallish off-white head. Leaves no lacing.

S: Aroma is lightly of cherries, slightly sour cherries, with a aromatic tartness that grows as the beer warms.

T: Taste is toffee mixed with tart bitter cherries and wood. There is no subtlety here nor is there any complexity.

M: Medium bodied with lighter carbonation and a mild bitterness.

O: Drinkable, but I really wouldn't want to.
Dec 09, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by Vdubb86 from Illinois

Dec 05, 2011
Photo of TMoney2591
Reviewed by TMoney2591 from Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Served in a flared pokal.

Thanks to the Central PA group of the Gang Bang BIF for this bottle!

Gotta love the label-less bottles, right? This one pours a hazy garnet-russet topped by a half-finger of dirty off-white foam. The nose comprises graham cracker, red grape, white wine vinegar, and light black cherry. The taste holds notes of toffee, graham cracker, black cherry, tart pomegranate, and light toasted wheat. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, a generally nice brew, but the main quad characteristics are sorely lacking, and the cherries really seem to run roughshod over everything in a reckless fashion. it ain't bad, but I'm not the biggest fan around.
Nov 29, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by Exiled from Texas

Nov 25, 2011
Photo of JAXSON
Reviewed by JAXSON from Pennsylvania

3.55/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours a clear dark mahogany with large bubbles and a sizable ring of foam that sticks around the edges. Nose is really heavy brett funk. Sweaty socks, light acidity, farm yard, goat collar. Some dark berries and cherry. Still tons of brett funk in the mouth from beginning to end. Sour cherries and a fairly strong alcohol heat. Actually much tighter than I thought it would be, which is a big positive. Some chewy malts come through on the finish but they have kind of been devoured by the brett and acid. Feel is rich and smooth with pretty sharp carbonation. Decent, much better than Ron Burgundy, if only for the fact that it's tighter and better integrated.
Aug 28, 2011
Photo of KickInTheChalice
Reviewed by KickInTheChalice from Illinois

3.42/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Poured into a tulip.

Appearance: Pours a dark cranberry brown color with caramel edges. No real head to speak of.

Smell: Sour cherry, a fair amount of booze - which is actually a little tough to get past, some nice barnyard funk, but not much malt aroma.

Taste: Just a touch of quad sweetness to start. Some cinamon, sour cherry, a little bit of oak, and a dose of funk. Either the quad fell out of this one or the combination doesn't really blow me away.

Mouthfeel: This was fairly flat, and the excessively light carbonation created a weird taste/mouthfeel combination. It was a bit watery and lacked enough body. The end is definitely on the dry side from the Brett. It feels

Overall: This had an ok flavor, but it was not too sour and it seemed the bugs negatively affected the mouthfeel more than they added anything to the flavor.
Jul 06, 2011
Photo of orangesol
Reviewed by orangesol from Pennsylvania

3.77/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Served on-tap at the Iron Hill Lancaster Sour event.

A - Pours deep red with no head at all leaving no lacing down the glass. If I didn't know any better I would say it is dead.

S - Smells of cherries, oak, port wine, dark fruits, and booze. This one has a lot going on and it seems to be a bit muddled as a result.

T - Starts off with some cherry sourness, nothing too over the top, quickly giving way to a mix of booze, woody oak, dark fruits, more cherries, and some vinous wine tannin. The yeast comes thru toward the end but it really never gets past the other, much stronger, flavors. Finish is pretty dry. I like the flavors in this one but I think it is still a bit raw.

M - Heavy body and flavor with moderately low carbonation. Plenty of booze and drying wood tannins in the feel of this one. Finish is more of the same.

O - This one was OK. I think the flavors are fine but it needs a bit more time to mature. If you have a bottle of this one I would sit on it for a little while in hopes it would round out.
Jun 01, 2011
Photo of Hojaminbag
Reviewed by Hojaminbag from Colorado

3.62/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
This beer has a very dark red body with shades of purple thrown in. No head on the pour.

The aroma has cherries, wine, oak, booze and some spice to it.

Sourness is apparent up front, but by no means is it powerful or dominant. Lots of cherry comes next, with quite a bit of sweetness to it, followed by the clearest expression of the barrel characteristics in the form of a vinous wine taste and spicy oak. Next the Quad's yeast really picks up, making contribution of some dark fruit like date and figs, but also a distinctive spicy characteristic that reminds me of a mix between coriander and clove. The finish has a noticeable blast of alcohol.

The mouthfeel doesn't have a lot of carbonation and could probably use a little more body.

I like this one. Although it isn't perfect, I think the addition of sourness and cherries to a quad is a good idea.
May 04, 2011
Photo of Slatetank
Reviewed by Slatetank from Pennsylvania

3.89/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
This was served on tap at the 'Make it Funky' event and Iron Hill Lancaster.

A deep burgundy which is almost purple w/ no clarity-opaque and no head or lace is apparent, not even legs on the glass. The smell is good with fruity and very vinous dark raisin aroma with subtle beefy scent with deep currant and black cherry aroma. There is a noticeable alcohol odor and a bitter prune ester. The feel is strong and tannic with roasted notes and viscous feel w/ drying alcohol and tangy bitter acidic texture w/ over the top wine astringency and moderately tangy stone fruit elements w/ a spice accent that seems to be just a lot of tannic action.

The flavor has a deep wine influence with a bitter vinous element and raisiny dark plum w/ roasted nut accent and moderately high alcohol taste w/ hint of black cherry and deep grape like tannic and oaky finish, I enjoyed all that is going on in there, but honestly it really pushes pretty hard with out much to soften the blow malt-wise. I think overall the concept was good and the recipe is fine, it just needs more time to age and mellow. I would lay this down if I had a bottle to see how it will improve. Perhaps some of the alcohol intensity was from the added juice the wine barrel brought to this quad.
May 01, 2011
Photo of Mora2000
Reviewed by Mora2000 from Texas

4.47/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Big thanks to thirdeye11 for sharing this bottle. Not sure of the vintage, but it has been in thirdeye's cellar for nearly a year. The regular version was great and I expect this one to be as good or better.

The beer pours a reddish-orange color with a white head. The aroma is heavy on the tart cherries with a little bit of other dark fruit and some dark malts. Still, this beer smells like a sour cherry beer.

The flavor is more of the same. I get a little bit of toffee malt and some alcohol, but what really stands out is the tart, sour cherries. There is very little quadrupel in the flavor or aroma. It has been a while since I had the beer, but this reminds me of Iron Hill Kriek de Hill.

Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. An outstanding beer, just not sure where the quadrupel went. Still, this is one of the best beers I have tried and very worthy of a high rating.
Apr 24, 2011
Photo of DIM
Reviewed by DIM from Pennsylvania

4.14/5  rDev +7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4
a: This was a bright, clear coppery ruby color. it poured with a small, short lived, big bubbled head.

s: First and foremost I smell sour cherries. Tons and tons of them. There is some yeast lurking around the edges and maybe a little candi sugar as well. I couldn't discern any oak and the underlying quad, which I tried and loved, is all but lost. Regardless, what is here smells wonderful.

t: As the smell suggests. this is a cherry bomb. Some of the quad does peak through in the form of musty plums, candi sugar, and chalky yeast. This is very tart all the way through and there is a bit of woodiness in the finish.

m: This wonderful beer is a bit under carbonated I'm sad to say, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment all that much.

d: Very nice stuff from Paul. The balance of sweet and tart makes this dangerously easy to drink. Thanks to mikereaser for the chance to try this. I was sad to have missed it on-tap, so I was really happy to have a bottle.
Nov 18, 2010
Photo of coldmeat23
Reviewed by coldmeat23 from Oklahoma

4.15/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
GLASS: Snifter
TEMP: Cellared @ approx 50 degrees
HUGE thanks to mikereaser for this hook-up!!

I was told that there were only, like, 30 bottles of this one. That just might make this the rarest (bottled) beer that I've consumed. At least as far as production=rarity goes. I was told to hold onto it for a few months before opening. It's now at about 9 months. Let's see how it is.

This liquid is a beautiful crimson/ruby color with some light amber tinting. It forms a small head of loose, soap bubble-like, foam. This dissipates to a spotty cluster of surface film. Lacing is in tiny spots. Their is a good deal of residual 'oiliness' that slides the lacing back down to the surface. The 'oiliness' itself slides down after a moment or two, as well.

Cherry notes stand tall, front and center. Hints of tart and sweet, alike. Good hints of cherry skins/tannins. Beautiful oak notes bring a slight dry quality to the mix. There is a touch of sweetness here that is not unlike belgian candi sugar. Mild hints of doughy yeastiness and other dark fruits.
I love the smell of this one.

The oak and the cherry notes are balanced out, side-by-side equal. Neither dominates the other, but together they dominate the taste. Dry, tart, woody, sweet, earthy, jammy. This is extremely wine-like! Fortunately, I like that sort of thing also. If you look for them, you can find hints of dark fruit sweetness and some yeast-like spice notes. It's very easy to be blinded by the oak/cherry combo, though!
If I were rating this as a wine it would be perfect. As a beer, I have to take off a point.

On the lower side of full-bodied. It has a medium level of carbonation, which works well. This may be the finest example that I've yet come across of 'prickly' carbonation. Very crisp and delightful.

Okay....Iron Hills' Quad is 13%abv, so I'll assume that this is in the same area. That being said, this one drinks like it's about half of that. It's got great flavor and body, as well.
Very nicely drinkable.
Sep 30, 2010
Photo of Deuane
Reviewed by Deuane from Pennsylvania

4.24/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
A-Deep reddish copper and almost completely still with the tiniest, thin white ring that left no lace.

S-Oak and cherry with an astringent character. Some backing fruity sweetness. Very much like a Cabernet Sauvignon.

T-Amazingly not still on the palate! Spritely and lively with sweet cherry initially that then dries out quickly into oak infused cranberry.

M-Medium bodied--sharp, dry and crisp with a building astringency.

D-Really nice. Very flavourful and all of the notes work well together. This is the kind of brew to sit, sip and enjoy!
Dec 15, 2009
Oak Aged Cherry Quad from Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 21 ratings