Well-made American Quads

Do any of the other Trappist breweries use the term? Or, only La Trappe?

 

yes on the Hardywood Park Bourbon Cru!

 

Just them. Most of the Trappist breweries don't even use the dubbel-tripel appellation. I don't think it existed before World War I, even if some of the recipes did.

 

The label and the style. Quad it is.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30/117218/

 

If they have been sitting on the shelf this long, you should be able to get a good deal on 2-3 bottles. Definitely buy, drink one (w/ a friend, pretty potent) & cellar the others. I have mine in a cooler setting, so I plan to leave them for a few years.

 

Midnight Sun Venus is kind of a hybrid but my favorite US version by a good bit. Honorable mention to Southampton and Iron Hill Quadfather.

 

Stoic/Not the Stoic (and yes, they are quads)
SN Ovila Brewed w/Plums

 

Some of the American made quads are on the pricey side. I like sixth glass enough, but I'll usually just pony up the extra cash for a Rochefort 10 or ABT 12. The 750 of sixth glass is around $9.99 or $10.99. I can get the same amount of ABT 12 for $12.99. I'm sure quad is a tough style to nail down. Most of the belgian styles are that way, it really take a lot of skill to make a beer like that without it being boozy or sweet. As my palate becomes more used to bigger beers some quad come off as too thin.

Actually, my favorite American one is Ovila quad with plums. It really surprised me.

 

A Belgian dark strong and Quad are the same for all intensive purposes.
Russian River Mortification
Ommegang 3 Philosophers

 

I like Une Annee Quad...

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32615/109838/

 

I'm confused by the whole Quad thing, because if they're named after La Trappe Quadrupel, why aren't they more like it? The word seems to be used to refer to dark beers, and La Trappe is not a dark beer at all. I don't think it's anything like Rochefort 10.

 

If we are counting Canada I would say try : [ Rigor Mortis ABT ] by Dieu Du Ciel it's a great quad

 

I am a big fan of malty beers, but everytime I have a quad, like Draak 9000, or I tried this year's Ovila, I get a sticky mouthfeel and am overwhelmed by the "malt assault," I think Three Philosophers has been one of the only quads I've liked, I even tried BBQ at FOBAB last year and could not drink any more after the first two sips

 

Actually, I get more influence from the Mexican turbinado brown sugar they used in that beer...

 

I'd agree with you there as well

 

I agree that American Belgian Strong Darks and Quads (I'll use both terms to cover them all) are subpar compared to most Belgian versions. I think American styles have way too much malt and are usually not as yeast-forward or as dry and attenuated as their belgian counterparts. That being said I'll nominate a few of my favorites as noteable:

Avery Reverend and "Missionary style"- Reverend with Pineapple Juice
Ommegang Three Philosophers
Boulevard BBQ
Elevation Apis IV and their barrel aged quad is awesome

 

As has been noted, La Trappe coined the term "quadrupel", when they released their flagship beer in 1991...

http://beer-trotter.blogspot.com/2014/03/la-trappe-taste-silence.html (scroll down to the 4th paragraph under the Brouwerij de Koningshoeven section)

This is what I meant in my earlier post about the term "quad" being mostly a marketing phenomenon, rather than a hard-and-fast style. If you want to be really draconian about it, the use of the term "quad" should probably only refer to beers modeled after La Trappe Quad, since they created the term, and if we're being honest about it, La Trappe Quad was probably modeled after other beers that we now refer to as quads, but that existed before the term was ever used: St. Bernardus Abt 12, Westvleteren 12, Rochefort 10, etc...

Styles are a funny thing. And it doesn't seem like many Belgian brewers--especially the ones that dabble in Trappist-style beers--really care about them, given their penchant for titling beers with numbers (6, 8, 10, 12) rather than styles or names.

 

I haven't had Draak 9000 so I can't comment on it, but most Belgian quads are actually on the drier side and very attenuated. I mean, we obviously aren't talking saison dry or maybe even single IPA dry, but when you look at most of the comparable "big beer" styles from other cultures---barleywine/old ale, doppelbock, imperial stout, even many DIPA's---and then put them next to a Chimay Blue or a St. Bernardus ABT 12, there really isn't any comparison: the quads/BSDA's are almost always less sweet. The whole point of using candi sugar and other adjuncts isn't just for flavor, it's to lighten the texture. All the candi sugar gets fermented out.

That being said, there are definitely sugary-sticky quads out there. Especially if it's an all-malt take.

In fairness, quads/BSDA's pretty much are the barleywines of Belgium. They serve the same function, as do doppelbocks in Germany. For example, over the seven or so years that I have been drinking it Steenberge has variously called their regular Gulden Draak a dark triple, a Belgian dark ale, and a barleywine---sometimes all in the space of the same paragraph on the label or their website. Beer "styles" exist not as absolutes but as a spectrum or many spectra, and barleywines and quads are pretty damn close to each other in more ways than one.

 

To add to this, St. Bernardus has referred to ABT 12 as being both a dubbel and a quad, depending on when the label was made. No change in recipe, they just call it whatever the hell they want.