Quadrupel and Belgian Dark Strong

Tier B · BJCP 26D · Ale, fermented warm with a Belgian yeast, then conditioned in the bottle

ABV

8.0-12.0%

IBU

20-35

SRM

12-22

Serve

50-55F

Glass

Chalice

Identify

Deep amber to deep coppery brown, and usually clear. It is not black, and holding it to a light proves it. A huge, dense, mousse-like head in cream to light tan, which stands well above the rim and stays there. The smell is raisin, plum, date and fig, with black pepper and a soft perfume of alcohol behind it. Rich and creamy at the front, then the very high carbonation lifts it and the weight disappears. Dried fruit and dark caramel lead, with no roast or coffee anywhere. The finish runs from moderately dry to moderately sweet, and the warmth arrives several seconds after you have swallowed.

Place

Belgium. Westvleteren made a version just before the Second World War, Chimay and Rochefort just after.

Cause

Belgian brewers build much of this beer out of cooked sugar rather than out of more grain. That sugar does two jobs at once, and the second one is what makes the style dangerous. It raises the alcohol, because sugar is a clean source of fermentable material and the yeast eats all of it.

Confused with

Belgian Dubbel, which is the same flavours at two thirds the strength. Belgian Tripel, which is the same strength in a pale, drier, more bitter beer. Doppelbock, which is dark and strong with no fruit and no pepper. English Barleywine, which is the same strength and sticky rather than fizzy.

Numbers

A Quadrupel is a dark Belgian ale between roughly 8% and 12% that does not taste like one. That is the whole style, and it is also the reason it deserves a warning label rather than a poem. Pour one and watch the head.

Will you like it, Order and Try

A US standard drink is 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol. To count them: ounces times strength divided by 0.6. Strength goes in as a decimal, so 10% is 0.10. An 11.2 ounce bottle of St. Bernardus Abt 12 at 10% is 11.2 times 0.10, which is 1.12 ounces of alcohol, divided by 0.6, which is about 1.9 standard drinks.

Pair, Judge, Myth and Remember

What does not work: green salad, delicate white fish, and anything very sweet. The first two disappear under it. It is also worth saying that the beer works perfectly well as the dessert itself. Deep amber to coppery brown, clear, with a huge mousse-like head that lasts.