Should barrel-aged Quads be recategorized?

Great! Thanks. By post or BM, either is fine. Also for what its worth, I did some checking back on the GABF records and there's no category for any Belgian beer styles prior to about 1992 or 1993. Haven't found a source yet for an BA guidelines that old.

 

Did you check the other two languages used on the web site?

 

Naw, I'm not trying to prove anybody wrong. (And the allusion to Lewis Carroll was intended to try and keep things on the lighter side since this is not a burning issue that really matters in someone's life.) But so far we've lots of assertions and minimal documentation.

I recognize that proving it was not in use is very hard, however if it was in use before 1991 there should be evidence for that and so far I'm not finding any, which supports the idea that the introduction of the La Trappe beer first brings the term into any use at all. If it was used as a category discription by anyone there should be evidence of that as well and the date on that could be helpful.

BTW no need to disappear if wrong since there isn't anyone on here who hasn't gotten something not quite right sometime or another.

 

America is not the only country where English is the principle language spoken.

 

But in the very language where the term as a stylistic descriptor supposedly originated they don't use the term "quadrupel." Why is that?

 

Absolutely true but so what? America is the biggest market for Belgian style beers. As JoeSixpack has pointed out the Greater Philadelphia area is consumes more Belgian beers than they do in Brussells. As Jean Von Roy once pointed out in an beer sesssion at Monks (which Joesixpack described in one of his articles), in Belgium nobody knows who he is, but here in Philly even the desk clerk at his hotel recognized him.

Why wouldn't the English version of the St. Bernardus web site use the term most likely to be familiar to English speakers??

 

But when was it first used by St Bernardus? It certainly wasn't used when I started drinking it, only a few years ago, (but still, that was before the term became popular in America).

 

No, no, it was an expression of my confidence that I said I'd leave (said in humour). I was going to offer a million pounds to the person who proved me wrong...

 

this is starting to look like a Porter vs. Stout thread.
The big question is what came first:

• Quad /Quadruple ( possibly coined by La Trappe possibly used before 1991? but that is the earliest known date)
• Abt ( used by St. Bernardus made commercially released beer for St.Sixtus aka Westvleteren post WW2 a period of 46 years) do we know it was called Abt. during that time? or was it the same numeric name that we see Westvleteren use today?
• Grand Cru, comes up if you change the language option. That is a non-official descriptor but meant to show the highest level of classification ( and i guess that would be strong dark Belgian beers) wine makers have been using that descriptor since 1855-ish coined by Cistercian Order of monks.

I don't think we can definitively answer these question as some portions could of been lost over the course of WW1 and WW2.

Do i often find myself using Quad even though i know its not a style per say rather than the name of a beer, sure but it is easier to say that a strong dark Belgian ale and in or out of a barrel it will always be a strong dark Belgian ale.

As for the BA:
"The beer style guidelines developed by the Brewers Association use sources from the commercial brewing industry, beer analyses, and consultations with beer industry experts and knowledgeable beer enthusiasts as resources for information."
BJCP:
"We have spent considerable time researching world class beer examples, visiting renowned breweries, talking with noted authors, and searching key reference materials for information on beer styles. We have collected this information into our guidelines as a way to reduce the amount of time, effort and variability in learning this knowledge."

boils down to: If you are a Homebrewer? Try sticking to BJCP standards. A Commercial Brewer who wants to win medals? The BA might be a guideline to pay attention to.

 

Good point.

 

Hmmm, a million pounds eh? Would that be Sterling, Guernsey, Jersey, Manx, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, etc. ?

As for the humour, sometimes the twinkle in the eye is hard to spot online. :-)

 

Yes. the question of interest to me, at least, is which came first. And I too am currently of the mind that we don't have access to the resources to tell. There may be beer memorabilia from when St. Bernardus had the brewing contract but....

 

BJCP is used for Homebrew competitions, the BA for GABF. More medals for the pros.

 

Thanks. Now can we go one step further and figure out any reasons why Homebrew competitions don't have the style category and the BA folks do have that style category?

 

I seem to recall that St Bernardus (in English) called their beer a strong dark ale until very recently...Does anyone know what was the second Belgian beer to be named Quadrupel (by the brewery). Was it Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel in 2010? Edit: sorry, first Belgian beer (!).

 

I think the BJCP leaders have said it is just a dark strong Belgian ale. BA gives medals in categories that the breweries have been selling beers under. They add a few every year as new "styles" are brewed.

 

Like "Bamberg-Style Weiss Rauchbier"? First smoked Weizen I drank (back in 1990-91) was from Eichbaum. Schlenkerla's Weizen appeared around 2000. Not sure how the "style" got named after Bamberg.

 

Had to look.
2008 - 2014 BJCP - 23 beer categories.
2008 WBC - 91
2014 WBC -94

 

Ya Track #8 is as ADJUNCT belgian as it gets haha. Stickee monkee is more like the sweet elixir of the beer gods.