The Stoic - Deschutes Brewery

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.9/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

good beer, but not your father’s quad. Rather mid yellow with big lasting head, lace. Sweet, and some tartness from the pomegranate. Overall I get more berry than pomegranate.Complex, sweet dominates but it is not cloying. Smooth mouthfeel and good drinkability. Thanks Presario.

Serving type: bottle

11-23-2012 21:08:58 | More by northyorksammy

womencantsail

California

3/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

On-tap at Beachwood Brewing

A: The pour is a clear amber color with a finger of off-white head.

S: An almost nail polish remover/acetone aroma. Strong acidic fruit character in there, too. A little bit of toffee/bread/caramel sweetness in there somewhere. There is a little bit of raisin and plum, too.

T: More typical Quad character on the aroma. There is a strong fruit note to it, though. Lots of plum, raisin, and perhaps some cherry. Maybe a touch of cough medicine. There is a strong toffee and toasted bread malt flavor.

M: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.

O: A real miss from Deschutes. A rare one as well. Very disappointing.

Serving type: on-tap

10-13-2011 01:12:09 | More by womencantsail

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.15/5  rDev -17.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Thanks to daysinthewake for sending this bottle out my way. Served in a Mikasa tulip.

Pours a semi-hazed peach color with a bit of a white head and light lacing on the way down. The nose brings light honey and faint fruit. None of the barrel character really coming through. Medium body and light dryness in the finish with some sweetness. As it warms, the sweetness becomes more prominent. Not terribly complex, and not really getting much of the "weird" stuff they did to this one. This is just an average Belgian strong that didn't live up to what it was billed as. Oh well.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2011 10:36:46 | More by Thorpe429

brentk56

North Carolina

3.83/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Pours a clear amber color; the modest head fails the Belgian test and fades away rather quickly, as well; it does manage to leave a few dots and dashes behind

Smell: Bubblegum phenols on top, but there is much more depth underneath, including a vinous fruity character and pomegranate esters

Taste: A fruit salad of flavor, up front, with apple, pear and white wine grapes establishing dominance; the pomegranate arriving with the alcohol at mid-palate, followed by spicy yeast and more vinous elements, after the swallow; oaky dryness, in the after-taste

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation and some warmth in the gullet

Overall: Not really a quad; to my palate, it is more like a BSPA; a lot went into this beer but the sum is less than the parts

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2011 23:09:51 | More by brentk56

UCLABrewN84

California

3.93/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Best by 8/4/12.

Pours a clear golden color with a 1 inch puffy white head that settles to a thin cap. Thin broken rings of lace line the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark fruits, banana, caramel, and malt. Taste is of dark fruits and banana, malt, some caramel, yeast, alcohol, and a tart flavor. I am not really getting any pomegranate or barrel aged flavors in the smell or taste. This beer has a higher level of carbonation with a crisp and prickly mouthfeel. There is an alcohol burn in the back of the throat with each sip. Overall, this is a good beer from Deschutes but not as good as I was expecting based on their other barrel aged offerings.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2011 04:12:44 | More by UCLABrewN84

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

4.22/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The Stoic, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Oregon, A Prized, Potent Belgian-styled Quad of Stirring Depth and Complexity. …well, there, I don't need to say anything more, right?) The Stoic, malt beverage brewed with pomegranate with 16.5% beoing aged in oak wine barrels and 16.5% aged in oak rye whiskey barrels.

Clear, deep amber hue, slim head. Looks nice, despite the meager foam.

Aroma: the barrels speak first, oak and rye come right out of the nose, fruit and alcohol (11%) come next. Deep, while delicate. Pomegranate is here, accompanied by pear and apple.

Taste: Bright, ripe fruit, as before, apple, pear, pomegranate, met with cherries and berries. A switch of spice comes shining through, and the oak rises up, as well. It all coalesces, in an intriguing bl
end.

Was it red wine in the oak barrels? Not sure, but I can feel that flavor coming through. I am glad they judiciously aged a mere 1/3 of the brew, for too much would be overpowering, and I appreciate some subtlety more than ever these days.

Malt makes a good match for the high alcohol. No hops, low bitterness, but fine, funky fruit flavor, and beautiful oak additions. I'm loving this. Stirring Depth and Complexity, indeed. I've made fast friends with this Stoic.

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2011 08:52:04 | More by feloniousmonk

Mora2000

Texas

3.38/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

The beer pours a dark brown color with a tannish head. The aroma is full of nuts and toffee. I seem to remember the Hazelnut Brown Nectar from Rogue tasting similar to this beer, but it has been a long time since I have had it. The flavor is full of caramel and toffee malt with some cocoa and nuttyness. There is a cream flavor to the beer as well. Medium to thick mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Nice, but not worth the price.

Serving type: on-tap

09-24-2011 20:11:08 | More by Mora2000

zeff80

Missouri

3.88/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Poured out a clear, golden-orange color with a one-finger, white head of bubbly foam. It some sudsy rings of lace on the glass.

S - It smelled of pomegranate and other fruits. Some wood-like aromas and caramel.

T - Nice pomegranate flavor with some yeasty/spiciness. Good caramel sweetness with a touch of oak to add some needed bitterness.

M - It was crisp, sharp and smooth. A medium bodied ale with a dry finish.

O - By no means is this a traditional Quadrupel, but it still a tasty beer and worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2012 14:55:58 | More by zeff80

Gueuzedude

Arizona

3.38/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

The beer pours into my Lost Abbey Teku glass with a light amber color that shows a brilliantly clear, pale-amber / gold hue when held up to the light. The beer is topped by a frothy, three-finger thick, light tan colored head. The aroma smells of golden raisins, clove, woody pepper, biscuit like grain, toasted oak notes and some spicy oak character that seems fresh cut, but not quite green. The toasted oak aromatics mixes well with the toasted, pale grain notes. There is a touch of tartness to the nose that couples with the general fruitiness, a cotton candy like note, a hint of cantaloupe melon notes and just a general, pretty expressive fruitiness in the nose. There is a fair amount of complexity in the nose of this beer, but it is not quite as well integrated as it could be; it is not bad, but at times the hot alcohol, phenolics, hints of acetone, sharper fruit notes, and spicy oak clash with each other.

The beer is sweet with a general fruitiness that leans towards plums, pears and apples up front, but this fruitiness leans towards the anticipated pomegranate towards the middle. The finish has some phenolic clove notes, a touch of spicy oak character, perhaps a touch of green woodiness and an astringent woodiness. The flavor is perhaps not quite as fruit focused as the aroma, but it is close to the dominant note in the flavor. The oak character is actually quite soft here; it is noticeable, but mostly stays in the background. The malt character is actually quite a bit more muted than I was expecting; there is a touch of cracker like maltiness and a touch of dried hay like grain. The body of this beer is quite light considering the strength, though this is definitely a sipping beer. As the beer warms up a bit more hot alcohol begins to come out, and the oak gets a bit more toasted and perhaps a bit more spicy as well.

I actually think that a more palate coating maltiness would really help this beer immensely, there are a few too many sharp edges to this beer right now. I am sure some age will also smooth this out a bit too, so if you only have one bottle, definitely hold on to it for at least a year or two.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2012 02:57:29 | More by Gueuzedude

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This poured out as a light brown color with a nice looking white head on top. The retention is pretty good as well as the lacing. The smell of the beer gives off some quad like aromas, there is some fruity and bready aromas. The barrel aging aromas are prominent. The taste of the beer has a slight tartness to it. The flavors of dark fruits come out with some oak elements in there also. The mouthfeel had a solid amount to carbonation, the body is a little on the thin side. Overall it's a decent quad. The color is a little on the light side and is need a little more body.

Serving type: bottle

12-10-2012 01:42:25 | More by Knapp85

russpowell

Oklahoma

4.25/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Best 08/04/12

Pours amber with a finger of cream colored head. Some head retention & lacing

S: Cherries, oakyness, vanillas

T: Follows the nose, a touch of Chardonnay & sourness up front. A touch of vanilla & oak, cherry tartness & some raisin as this warms, a touch of warming booze as well there's a bit of pineapple & grapefruit showing up as well. Finishes with much tropical fruityness, some citrus bitterness, Chardonnay dryness

MF: Fairly chewy with slight carbonation & dryness

A super solid quad with a barrel aged twist. I would buy this again & age it just to see how that rolls

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2012 02:42:43 | More by russpowell

Halcyondays

California

3.35/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

On-tap at Beachwood II, finally this gets to the Southland,

A: Pours a clear medium amber with a spotty soft white head. Bubbly.

S: Real nice notes of vanilla/barrel and caramel here.

T: Definitely sweet. Lots of date, sugar cane and some brown sugar. Pomegranate is minor, there is a light berry fruit character. Too underattenuated for my tastes, a problem I find in a lot of American quads.

M: Full-bodied, cloying at times, biting carbonation occasionally.

O: Glad to try it, but I'm not going to pop the money for this again. Might be good with some age.

Serving type: on-tap

10-14-2011 01:43:40 | More by Halcyondays

Gavage

New Jersey

4.33/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: pours a dark orange / copper color with a short 1/4" head that breaks apart quickly.

Smell: fruit and some alcohol create a great nose.

Taste: caramel, pomegranite, some light oak tones, very mild bitterness, and a warm alcohol burn create a tasty beer.

Mouthfeel: medium-heavy in body. Lightly crisp to start, smooth and a bit dry at the finish. Aftertaste is long lasting.

Overall: a very slow sipping but big flavored beer. The flavors really grow as this one warms. Very enjoyable on tap.

Serving type: on-tap

11-01-2011 18:44:36 | More by Gavage

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.45/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

This looks...unusual for a quad. Smells nice though. The beer in it's entirety is...uninspiring. It was nice to drink, but not interesting enough to distract me to go write down some notes about it as I worked on other things. Slightly boozy with a bit of a burn. The pomegranate provides an interesting touch, but only a one dimensional one. If this is a quad, okay, I can roll with that...I guess. Overall though, it's not very interesting. A brewery like Deschutes has earned my respect by producing a lot of interesting beers that I really enjoy. However. This is not one of them. A miss, in my book.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 21:36:48 | More by RblWthACoz

barleywinefiend

Washington

3.48/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Poured a golden orange color with good carbonation and a nice white cap

S: Pomegrenate, rye, light whiskey and oak

T: Begins with a syrupy flavor, some pomegranate, white grapes, hint at booze, rye and vanilla on the finish

M: Sordove thin for a beer of thius magnitude and complexity

O: Not to bad but sometimes to much fancy pants blending is overdone. Keeping ti simple is always a good thing too.

Serving type: bottle

08-30-2011 20:46:37 | More by barleywinefiend

Wasatch

Utah

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

22oz. Bomber
Black Wax/Capped
Best By: 08/04/12

Poured into a chalice a very nice hazy golden yellow/orange color, nice carbonation, with a nice fizzy off-white head, which leaves some nice oil slicks and sticky lacing. The nose is malty, yeasty, with some pepper/licorice notes, slightly fruity. The taste is slightly sweet, a nice yeast note, some pepper/licorice notes, and some fruitiness. Medium Body, ABV hidden very well. This is a different kind of Quad to me, more of a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, but still pretty tasty, worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2011 21:47:46 | More by Wasatch

mdfb79

New York

3.58/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

From 10/28/11 notes. Shared this with a few friends. Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a tulip.

a - Pours a hazy yellow amber color with two inches of white head and moderate carbonation evident.

s - Smells of spices, pomegranate, berries, yeast, bread malts. Definite berries and fruits, but not getting any whiskey or oak. Still, enjoyable.

t - Tastes of pomegranate and berries again, oak, spices, yeast, caramel malts, light alcohol, bready malts. Lot of berries again but the oak is coming through here, as is a little bit of alcohol. Pretty nice.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Light alcohol warmth, but not too bad considering the ABV.

o - Overall an interesting, enjoyable beer. Not what I normall think of in a Quad as it was fruiter and had a lot of berries to it, but I liked it. Would give it another shot.

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2011 20:43:28 | More by mdfb79

Zorro

California

3.43/5  rDev -10%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Chill hazed amber colored beer with a very tall near white colored head.

Smell is sour. Sour apples and cranberry with vanilla and oak. Little bit of coriander and perhaps a little Brett funk. Mostly though this smells sour.

Starts out sweet with a malt and vanilla taste. Fruit flavor mostly green apple with the oak vanilla flavor. Kind of a Rorschach test for your tongue lots of elusive flavors here but not any really strong ones. Alcohol is very detectable, strong burn in the chest. This gets sweeter as you drink it.

Mouthfeel is OK.

This seems to be a beer that is confused about what it wants to be. Doesn't taste bad but doesn't really taste like a Quad either. Reminds me of one of those weird beers DFH makes based on archeology. Worth a try I guess.

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2011 23:04:36 | More by Zorro

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

3.98/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at the Portland brewpub.

The beer pours a fairly dark gold color with pretty good head retetion nand light lacing. On the nose, the clove aroma really dominates, though I also pick up considerable spice, light clover honey and a hint of bananna. The flavor profile repilcates the nose pretty closely in this fairly sweet quad style beer, though there's enough underlying bitterness so that the beer doesn't tire out the palate too quickly. Still, the sweetness, amount of spice and noticeable alcohol make this beer very much a sipper. Mouthfeel is medium bodied to full, with a long, fairly sweet, spice infused finish.

A nice enough beer, but probably not something I would seek out or want to have on too many occasions.

Serving type: on-tap

09-05-2011 16:30:04 | More by johnmichaelsen

DoubleJ

California

3.95/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at Crow Burger Kitchen, on to the beer:

It's much lighter than the usual quadruppel; it's cough syrup orange in color with little head that is quick to go away. The nose says cranberry, red wine notes, and some sugars.

It is sweet, but a controlled sweetness. There are fruit notes all over, with pear and cranberry being the dominant forces. On the smaller end, there are hints of oak and even mint. The alcohol is hidden reasonably well in this nearly full bodied beer.

Not nearly as revered as The Abyss, but The Stoic is still something to crave.

Serving type: on-tap

11-27-2011 03:02:20 | More by DoubleJ

HopHead84

California

3.68/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

10/10/11

On tap at URGE.

A: Pellucid gold in color with a fleeting white head.

S: Perfumy floral notes meld with dark cherry, plum, fig, raisin, and powerful grape notes. There's some caramel and bread, as well as a pervasive spiciness and candi sugar sweetness. I get a little oak, but I'm not getting anything from the whiskey barrels.

T: Very sweet, with notes of plum, fig, raisin, grape, and date. There's a little oak and a not insubstantial pepper-like spiciness. I get a little cherry as well. Very malty and sweet with bread and candi sugar.

M: Upper medium body with lower moderate carbonation. The mouthfeel is sticky with much warming.

Overall: A solid beer, but 4 ounces was sufficient.

Serving type: on-tap

10-11-2011 14:59:44 | More by HopHead84

kojevergas

California

3.9/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served on-draught into a 25 cl Leffe goblet at The Daily Pint in Santa Monica, California. Reviewed from notes. I'd had this before from the bottle and knew it was good already.

A: Pours a 1.5 finger head of nice cream, great thickness, and good retention for the style. Colour is a semitransparent copper. No yeast particles are visible.

Sm: Bretts, clean fresh malts, some funkiness, and bright esters. A moderate strength aroma. Very pleasant. Fresh and clean.

T: The malts are layered and brilliant. Very fresh with wonderful orange citrus esters. Complex and subtle, but I preferred it out of the bottle when it was yeasty and more complex. A touch cidery. A bit appley. Very well balanced and built.

Mf: Smooth, crisp, and wet. Not too thick/thin. Smack-your-lips lovely. Delicately light on the palate. Quite pleasant.

Dr: Incredibly drinkable. This was better out of the bottle with the yeast. I'd have it again, preferably bottle-aged. A lovely quad from Deschutes. Hides its ABV insanely well. Give her a go, lads.

B+

Serving type: on-tap

03-30-2012 03:22:51 | More by kojevergas

stakem

Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Thanks to JohnGalt for the trade/opportunity to try this brew. Shared with some friends, poured from a bomber into a snifter. This brew appears a clear orange to light copper color. A finger's worth of slightly off-white head appears. As the cap recedes, it leaves some webby strings of lace sticking to the glass.

The smell of this brew is spicy with yeasty notes of clove with a touch of banana. There are some bright fruity notes present which I have a hard time describing until I notice "pomegranate" included on the label. There are plenty of raw oak notes included which presents a bit of harshness to the nose of this brew.

The taste is Belgian phenols all the way. Yeasty character of clove and spices like pepper run throughout. Raw oak is present along with a dry fruity character and mild banana. The spicy alcohol produces a warmth down the back of the throat that really draws the focus on the dry and spicy side of this brew instead of the expected malty character indicative of the style.

This is a medium bodied brew with a modest level of carbonation. The overall feel of this brew comes up a little short/thin. Very spicy with a huge presence of Belgian yeast that gets exaggerated by a harshness of something that smells/tastes like raw oak. The pomegranate had enough to be noticed which was an interesting change of pace. However, for a quad this one fell short. I think something as simple as calling this a Belgian strong pale ale instead of a quad would have increased my scores across the board. As a quad, this was a bit of a dissapointment but as-is it is worth a try. This would have been much better received on my end if the raw oak character was replaced with more of a used barrel presence.

Serving type: bottle

11-01-2011 19:07:41 | More by stakem

mothman

Saskatchewan (Canada)

3.18/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a white head. Color is a bright golden orange.

Aroma: A lot of fruits. Oranges and pomegranate. French oak with rye spice. Wine flavors. Belgian yeast, bananas, and cloves.

Taste: Mimics the nose, but it is very yeasty and bready. Reminds me of an amped up wheat beer.

Mouthfeel: Dry and spiced. Medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. Ends really dry.

Overall, a unique beer. Not a quad in my book. No clue as to what this really is, style-wise. But, I kind of like it. Somewhat drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2012 23:46:04 | More by mothman

JohnGalt1

Idaho

3.5/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

** Reviewing this on on the merits of the brew, because it is no where near traditional Quad territory.**

Pour into my HotD goblet.. Aggressive pour .... foamy 1" off white head.. decent retention and only spotty lacing.. the brew is crystal clear lite orange...

The nose shows a quality mix of traditional esters and phenols... pear and white pepper... overripe apples and lite clove.. interesting.... subtle barrel notes, but again, very subtle.

Flavor is a melange of the above noted Belgian qualities.. Asian pears and apple with musky honey essence.. just a bit of clove... more estery than phenolic on the palate.. a bit of oak... definitely more of the wine barrel comes out than the whiskey barrel.. lite pink bubblegum with warmth...

Body is about right.. carbonation seems in range too... maybe a bit syrupy.

I am really surprised Deschutes decided to call this one a "Quad" .... no where close except maybe the yeast strain.... A pretty good BSPA ... still too much residual sweetness .... but a Quad? No chance.

I will probably buy some of these for the cellar and trading, but I honestly do believe it will get better with some aging... but it will never be a Quad.... damn... "Quad" .. big mistake in marketing.

3.5/3.5/3.5/3.5/3.5

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2011 07:52:34 | More by JohnGalt1