The Sprecher Series, Part Four ... The Quadrupel

It is the last of the Sprecher Series. In the past, I have previously reviewed the other three beers in that series: the Enkel, the Dubbel and the Tripel. The final beer is the Quadrupel, which is the last in the line of the Belgian style of brewing.

As it turns out, the Belgian Quadrupel is probably my favorite style of beer.  I have also drank some mighty fine Quads in my time, such as the La Trappe Quadrupel.  In other words, the bar is very high.  And, after the somewhat disappointing experience with the Sprecher Tripel, I would not be completely honest if I did not say I was wary of this particular offering.  Nevertheless, I committed myself to trying and blogging about all four of the Sprecher Belgian beers, because I wanted to go through the exercise of thinking about and writing about each of the Belgian beer styles.  So, here it goes ....

The brewers describe the beer in the following words: a "massive mouthful of malt goodness balanced by warming alcohol with a whisper of bitterness and playful spice."  They add that there are "[p]redominant flavors" of "caramelized sugar, toffee, dried fruits (fig, cherry, raisin, plum), molasses, light spice (clove, pepper, nutmeg) and a slight hint of citrus."  That is a very tall order. 

It is also one that falls a slight bit short.  The Quadrupel pours a cola brown in color.  There are aromas of raisins and plums, which are also featured in the flavor of the beer.  The caramelized sugar also features prominently, hence the Belgian candy taste.  While there is a slight tartness to the beer, I do not think that falls in the category of either a "light spice" or "citrus."  Nevertheless, it is present against the booziness of the beer in the background. 

The Belgian Quad was a good quadrupel.  Certainly a better example of a quadrupel than the tripel was as an example of a Belgian Tripel.  With this beer and review completed, it draws to an end my Sprecher Series.  But, it is no La Trappe.  If I ever make my way back out to Wisconsin, I may find another Belgian Quad to double check my impressions.  Until then, 

ENJOY!

The Sprecher Series ... The Tripel

It is the third step in the Belgian series.  There was the Enkel, which was surprisingly good.  And there was the dubbel.  I like dubbels.  The next one is the tripel.  Ordinarily, I like tripels.  However, this tripel was a slightly different story.

I think of this beer progression like a movie franchise.  The Enkel was a very good example of a patersbier, much like Star Wars: A New Hope was a very good first movie. (I don't consider the prequels to be the first of the Star Wars genre, because I don't like those movies.)  Then, there was the Dubbel, which was a very good sequel to the Enkel.

And then there is the Tripel.  But for my "Sprecher Series," I probably would not have written a review for this beer.  It is one of the more forgettable tripels that I have had tried recently.  I don't think that is the fault of the brewers.  There are a lot of good reviews for this beer on sites such as Ratebeer and Untappd.  I think the reason lies with this particular bottle of beer.  This particular bottle of the tripel was just not a good one.  

The Sprecher Tripel pours a dull yellowish-gold color, with little to no carbonation.  The flatness of the beer gave way to some banana elements in the aroma, which one would expect with a tripel.  That banana carried through with the taste, and was accompanied with some clove notes.  However, the most noticeable element was apple, which one would not expect with a tripel.  That apple was a little tart, which suggested that perhaps this particular bottle was the exception to what would otherwise be a very good progression of Belgian beer styles.  

I hope that I can get another bottle of the Tripel so that I can see if the flatness of this tripel was just an issue with the particular bottle that I had.  If I ever make my way back to Wisconsin, I will certainly look into buying one and doing an updated review.  Until then ... 

ENJOY!

The Sprecher Series, Part Two ... the Dubbel

A Wisconsin brewery decided to brew the series of Belgian beers.  The first of the series, which I have already reviewed, is the enkel.  Historically, an enkel is a light beer brewed by trappist monks from a basic recipe.  It was the beer that they would have in the monastery, rarely making out of the building for other people to enjoy.  

The next beer in the series is the dubbel.  This beer appears to have originated with the Trappist Abbey in Westmalle.  The monks brewed a stronger version of a Belgian brown ale, which, unlike the enkel, was sold to the public in 1856.  Other breweries followed, producing their own dubbel style beers.

I have reviewed only one dubbel on this blog in the past, Sierra Nevada's Ovila Dubbel.  The beer had a caramel color, with aromatic and taste elements of apples, caramel and raisins.  The question is whether one could expect a similar experience drinking Sprecher Brewery's Dubbel.

According to the Beer Judge Certification Program, a dubbel pours a "deep reddish-bronze" color with an aroma that provides hints of "chocolate, caramel or toast," as well as "[m]oderately fruity esters (usually including raisins and plums, sometimes also dried cherries)" and even banana or apple.  The flavor provides hints of the same elements as the aroma, with some spice or pepper notes. 

With this background, we turn to the Sprecher Brewery's dubbel.  The beer pours a dark brown in color, but there are hints of bronze or copper in the appearance.  As the beer warms, hints of caramel and fig greet the nose, with a slight cherry element too.  The fruits -- figs and cherry -- carry through to the taste of the beer.  These elements are joined with notes of plum and caramel, both of which are brought forward by the malts used in the beer.  Those malts are accompanied by a slight hop presence.  However, as one would expect with a dubbel, the hops play a secondary role, giving some balance to the sweetness of the malts and providing some dryness to the finish.

Overall, this beer fits squarely into the dubbel style.  The contrasts between the enkel and dubbel illustrate the progression in the Belgian beer styles.  The reviews of other beers in the Sprecher Series will be forthcoming, until then ...

ENJOY!

The Sprecher Series: Part One ... the Enkel

My wonderful family and I took a little road trip across the Midwestern United States.  The trip took us through Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Chicago, Illinois.  However, our destination was Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where there happens to be a Sprecher Brewpub.  

We stopped by the brewpub for lunch and to sample some of the beers.  As we left, I picked up a four pack of Sprecher beers.   The four pack was the brewery's Belgian series.  The series includes an Enkel, a Dubbel and Tripel and a Quadrupel.  

It is the first time that I have seen a brewery package the beers in a Belgian series, so I decided that I would do a beer review for each one.  The Sprecher Series.  This is the first review, which is of the first beer in the series.  The beer is the "Belgian Enkel."

This, of course, leads me to a question: just what is an "Enkel."  As it turns out, an "Enkel" is the first in the series of beers brewed by Trappist Monks.  It is a light beer, made using the monks' basic recipe.  It is much lighter than the other beers in the series, such as the dubbel and the tripel.  Those latter beers are more well known because, as it turns out, Trappist Monks do not brew or sell Enkels anymore.   Instead, the monks brew beers like the Blonde (La Trappe) or the 6 (Rochefort).  Even if they did brew an Enkel, the monks would keep the beer for their own consumption, making an Enkel basically a patersbier.  

Sprecher's Enkel pours a bright, hay color, wiht a thin, milky foam.  That foam provides a persistent haze or cloud over the surface of the beer.  The aromatic elements are principally malty in character.  Light bread or biscuit notes, but little more.  The lightness carries through to the body of the beer, whose taste carries through the malt.  The taste of the beer does go beyond the traditional malt elements.  There are some notes of flowers or fresh grass in the flavor of the beer.  These additional notes provide some complexity in what is an otherwise straight forward beer, low ABV (5.3%) beer.

Overall, this beer is a good example of that first step in the Belgian progression.  It is definitely good for someone who likes a light, easy-to-drink beer.  The reviews of the other beers in Sprecher's Series will be forthcoming.  Until then ...

ENJOY!