Friar's Quad - New England Brewing Co.

jimmy82063

Connecticut

4.23/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle - Been waiting for this for a year or so. This pours a nice translucent brown. Light smell of toffee. I love the taste of this raisins figs a bit of chocolate and vanilla and maybe some smokiness. This along the Three Philosophers vein just a tad sweeter. Well done!

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2012 23:45:08 | More by jimmy82063

ShanePB

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -20.2%

05-15-2013 19:56:29 | More by ShanePB

jaxon53

Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

04-21-2013 17:00:45 | More by jaxon53

Hugonaut13

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

04-19-2013 15:01:53 | More by Hugonaut13

hoppymcgee

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

04-16-2013 18:52:24 | More by hoppymcgee

MasterSki

Illinois

3.83/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Another New England offering shared by theTomG. Served in a Half Acre taster glass.

A - Lightly tanned foam settles to nothing at all. Mostly transparent dark amber body.

S - Candi sugar, dark fruits, some red fruits, a touch vinous, with only mild spicy Belgian yeast character to it.

T - Taste is fairly similar, with prunes, dark fruits, candi sugar, plums, cola, a bit of tart apple skin, and some nebulous bready malts. Alcohol is reasonably well-hidden.

M - Chewy, medium body, with lower carbonation and a sticky finish. Again, not much alcohol heat on the palate.

D - One of the more solid American-made quads I've had, although it's still a pale imitation compared to Trappist offerings. I'd drink this one again, although I wouldn't seek it out. Definitely enjoyed it more than the barleywine.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2013 16:10:20 | More by MasterSki

Hanzo

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

04-14-2013 15:48:07 | More by Hanzo

CTJman

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +13%

04-03-2013 01:10:55 | More by CTJman

braugon

Connecticut

3.25/5  rDev -13.6%

03-26-2013 20:11:07 | More by braugon

alexgash

Connecticut

3.79/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

16.9 oz. bottle. Served at cellar temp.

Garnet-maroon body. Clear. Thick finger of light sandy-beige head. Some lacing. Lots of fruity sweetness on the nose. Concord grape jam is at the center of it. Caramel syrup, figs, rum, and a hint of woody bitterness.

Plum and grape skin tannic bitterness and woodiness up front. Jammy grape sweetness quickly swoops in and gets behind the wheel. Figs and singed caramel flit about. Slight herbal note sits in the background. Rummy alcohol comes on near the finish, providing warmth and some spicy, peppery jabs. More grape jam in the finish with lingering vegetal, tannic bitterishness. Medium-bodied, with a slick feel. Needs a little more complexity, depth, and body to get up to the level of the great quads, but this one is not bad.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2013 02:07:32 | More by alexgash

juliusseizure

New York

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

03-06-2013 01:44:07 | More by juliusseizure

diverite

Connecticut

3.5/5  rDev -6.9%

03-04-2013 13:18:26 | More by diverite

ColForbinBC

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

16.9oz bottle poured into chalice

The body sits a dark brown with no head whatsoever. Some tiny bubbles around the edges, no lacing.

Subtle and clean nose. Figs, raisins, dates. Some mild cocoa notes. Not a whole lot going on.

Some nutty flavors roll over the palate with figs, raisins, and dates through the finish. Mild smoke flavor. This is too clean to compete in this style.

Medium body with low carbonation. Thin for the style.

I look to my quads to be fortifying and strong. This just scratches the surface.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2013 03:15:18 | More by ColForbinBC

mendvicdog

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -6.9%

03-01-2013 16:32:00 | More by mendvicdog

Beerontwowheels

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -6.9%

02-27-2013 14:49:49 | More by Beerontwowheels

marlinsfan4

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -6.9%

02-27-2013 06:31:19 | More by marlinsfan4

duceswild

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

02-27-2013 06:03:43 | More by duceswild

oline73

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -6.9%

02-27-2013 01:33:34 | More by oline73

nmann08

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

02-24-2013 01:41:07 | More by nmann08

Snarf103

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

02-12-2013 03:19:12 | More by Snarf103

KelsoSaaz

New York

4.36/5  rDev +16%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Early 2012 bottle, though no date to be found, poured into NEBCO tulip.

A: Pours a deep mahogany - amber that shows when held up to the light. Free floating sediment. Fine, tan, 1.5 finger head.

S: Boozy, dark fruits, cherry and fig especially, sweet bread and molasses with Belgian sugars.

T: Dark fruit: cherry, raisin and fig that start sweet then fade to slightly tart, with warm brown sugar, honey, and sherry flavors towards the finish. Belgian and chocolate malts with little hop bitterness. It hides its alcohol very well, with only a nice warming sensation to hint at its high abv.

M: Heavy yet smooth, chewy, syrupy with low carbonation and warm booziness.

O: One of the better Quads, though not quite on Rochefort 10's level. NEBCO continues to please with this one. This beer is great for holiday meals and for fighting off cold winter weather. Worth seeking out IMO.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2013 02:55:56 | More by KelsoSaaz

tehzachatak

Massachusetts

3.7/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.5

500 mL bottle poured into my 668 tulip. #properglassware

Note: I have not had this beer before - Matt told me it was about a year old, and that it tasted much more like he wanted it to now than it did at bottling. So I have been possibly a little biased before having the bottle!

A - Pours a not particularly beautiful ruby-brown with a half finger of ivory head. Very little lacing. To style, pretty good.

S - Slightly oxidized malts, sweet malt, some candi sugar, some alcohol soaked fruits. Not an overwhelmingly strong nose. Not quite as complex as I hope from a quad/BSDA.

T - A little bit oxidized. That's the first thing I get - typically, I do not react well to oxidized flavors in anything except stouts, but I kind of like this. More fruit than the nose. Some bready malt, definite candi sugar presence. Definite plum notes.

M - Nice and thick, perfect carbonation (pretty low). Well hidden 10% alcohol.

Can't imagine this was very good fresh, but I enjoyed this!

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2013 23:19:45 | More by tehzachatak

raythealeman

Connecticut

4/5  rDev +6.4%

01-31-2013 00:34:28 | More by raythealeman

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.79/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

A little sad after Pat's lost, so a big abv beer to drown that out, and how about New England beer. No date on it, but I think it's about a year old.

Pours a creamy ish off-white bubbly head that fades semi quickly with the high abv as expected, a bit of spotty lacing, quite clear mahogany brown color with plenty of ruby light sneaking through.

Nose brings aged malts, almost old ale like, sweet malts as well, molasses, brown sugar, candi sugar even, all there but on the lighter side. It has some toasty brown malts that have that soft aged old ale like aroma, just a bit of booze, clean booze, and faint hints of dark fruit. Overall fairly light on the nose.

Taste starts with dark fruits, candied raisin and fig like, then right into sweet flavors, lots of molasses, tons of molasses almost as if they poured some in, almost a molasses based rum flavor as the booze kicks in a bit and brings warming very slightly tingly feel. More sweeteners, brown sugar, candi sugar, syrup, corn syrup flavors like almost startchy corn stalk sugar, etc, and a bit of a nutty toffee flavor. Malts are mostly toasty brown malts, little nutty, touch of caramel, syrupy feeling aside from the flavor, and faint hint of cocoa, as well as the soft aged malt flavor. Finish is still fairly sweet, a bit sticky and syrupy, booze kicks in again at the finish and lingers throughout, lots more molasses, a bit of corn syrup, brown sugar, nutty toffee, and a bit more of the soft brown malts, etc, all lingering.

Mouth is med to fuller bodied, some warming and tingly booze, decent small bubbly carbonation.

Overall OK, but not great. The flavors are mostly there but in the wrong proportions I think, a bit of a corn stalk flavor, husky almost, fruits are barely there, malts are nice at first but seem to get drowned out by the loads of molasses and syrupy flavors. Booze in right on nice, but I wish there was at least a little hop profile in there somewhere. Not sure if the age on it took away from it a bit either.

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2013 03:10:00 | More by jlindros

KTCamm

New Jersey

3.55/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the oversized bottle into a pint glass.

Pours dark brown/black. No foam. Still. Fruity nose, candi sugar scent. Bubblegum too. Taste is very sweet with virtually no carbonation. Somewhat syrupy. hints of chocolate, raisins, cherries, cola. Builds to a boozy, cough syrup taste. Brown sugar. Packs a wallop & a lot going on.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2013 12:50:53 | More by KTCamm