Sunday, October 6, 2013

Sunday Night Suds - Boulevard Sixth Glass Quadruple Ale


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Boulevard Brewery's Sixth Glass Quadruple Ale, one of the beers in Boulevard's Smokestack Series.

Picked up a few different Boulevard Smokestack Series brews at C Gasbaro's in Seekonk, Massachusetts. Stopped in at Gasbaro's based on reviews on Beer Advocate and the sale ads on their website. Neither turned out to be accurate, but they did have a decent (yet overpriced) selection of Boulevard beers.

The Boulevard Smokestack series features some extreme beers which are normally sold in 22oz bottles, but are also available in 12 oz versions. One of the advantages to buying them in 12oz versions is that you can try out specialty styles without spending $6-10 and potentially being stuck with beer that outkicks your coverage.

The Quadruple Ale is a style of beer that I never tried before. As defined by the experts at BA:

A Quadrupel is a Belgian style ale of great strength with bolder flavor compared to its Dubbel and Tripel sister styles. Typically a dark creation that ranges within the deep red, brown and garnet hues. Full bodied with a rich malty palate. Phenols are usually at a moderate level. Sweet with a low bitterness yet a well perceived alcohol.

Mrs KB and I tried this brew one YT evening and were struck by the complexity of the flavors of the brew. The beer poured a dark brown and was thick and had an almost velvety mouthfeel. The alcohol flavor was prominent (10.5% abv) and caused me to sip, rather drink the brew. There are strong dark flavors with some phenols, but also some plum and even brandy tones in the brew.

I could not see drinking this regularly, or trying to consume an entire bottle on my own. But it was a nice special treat which I would recommend sharing with friends.

Boulevard Brewery Sixth Glass is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Kansas City, but the bottle I purchased did not have the certification mark on the label. If you would like the LOC from the Va'ad, please let me know and I will email it to you.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link -http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/39621.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. 

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable). 

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

2 comments:

DMI said...

I just tried out this Quadruple on Simchas Torah and I felt that it was a bit too thick, sweet (and strong) for what I was expecting. It wasn’t bad by all means, but I would have enjoyed something not as heavy at the time. It was my 1st quadruple and I was figuring that it wouldn’t be so far off from their Tank 7 beer, but I was wrong. If you haven’t checked it out yet, Tank 7 is one of the best beers I have ever had, and whatever guests I’ve served it too have enjoyed it as well. I don’t remember off-hand but it may be a trippel. I am looking forward to trying my second bottle of their Quadruple to see if I can make amends with it, but it does not live up to their Tank 7.

Gasbaro’s used to me my go to place when I was up in Providence, RI! However, once I discovered Yankee spirits in Attleboro, there was no turning back. Check out Yankee next time up there. Now that I’m in Baltimore Total Wine (as you have mentioned) is the go to place.

Neil T said...

Thanks. Actually picked up a Tank 7 in Seekonk but have not tried it as of yet.