AleSmith Quad
Originally known as Decadence 2012, now rebrewed as AleSmith Quad
3.9
209 reviews
San Diego, United States
Community reviews
Bottle. Pours a cloudy brown with small beige head that diminishes to nothing. The aroma is candy sugar, dark fruit, wood, vanilla. Thin mouth, similar flavors to nose, nice booze finish, really enjoyed this.
Bottle shared at craft beer co clerko. Thanks to Paul for this one. Deep reddy copper coloured pour with a lasting off white head. Aroma is sticky sweet unrefined sugars. Honey. Cinnamon
Flavour is composed of woody vanilla, unrefined sugars. Sticky. Belgian. Yeast. Palrte is sticky sweet, woody varnish. Lowish carbonation.
Bottle via trade, shared at Craft Clerko. It pours clear deep red-brown with a small beige head. The nose is soft, juicy, toasted brown sugars, caramel, dried fruits, plum, date, prune wood, bourbon, touch of ginger, umami character and dark malty tang. The taste is bitter, earthy. Toasty, pretty sweet, juicy, toasted sugars, plum, prune, candy, good alcohol boost, banana bread and fruit cake with a smooth, sweetish finish. Full body, moderate carbonation and foamy mouth-feel. Punchy, but pretty tasty also.
Bottle share at CBC Clerkenwell, thanks to Paul. Dark reddy brown, small foamy tan head. Aroma is earthy, toffee, pungent fruits, souring tangerine. Body is medium, slightly foamy, low carbonation. Taste has bready malt, tangy alcohol, raisin, prune and other dark dried fruits. Definitely a heavy hitter.
Bottle split at the 9.49 CBC boost tasting, Clerko, 03/06/15 big thanks to Paulo.
Lightly hazed mahogany brown with moderate off white spotting and edgework.
Nose is earthy, dark fruit peel, toffee, biscuit crumble, light spice, cocoa nibs, wooded notes.
Taste comprises spice, wood must, fruit cake, yeast trace, prunes, bitter notes, light funk.
Full bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close with lightly warming alcohol peeping through.
Really solid quad, good balance and drinkability.
Bottle: Poured a dark brown color ale with a nice large foamy head with good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of dry fruits and caramelized sugar with light fruity ester is quite enjoyable. Taste is also dominated by caramelized sugar with dry raisins note, light fruity ester and well balanced residual sugar notes. Body is about average for style with good carbonation and surprisingly no apparent alcohol. Well balanced and very enjoyable for the style. Brewer should think about brewing again and maybe giving it a barrel treatment.
Bottle shared in London - thanks to Paul. Pours ruby-brown with a creamy tan head. The nose has some caramel, light oxidation, dark fruits. Heavy sweet flavor, lots of ripe fruits, faint metallic notes, bread, toffee. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Warming finish, loads of ripe and jammy fruits, berries, fruitcake, bread. Quite tasty overall.
Bottle. Copper color with medium tan head. Boozy aroma of fig and nilla. Taste is sweet sticky pudding and brown sugar.
Brown with a good tan head. Aroma is brown sugar, honey, dark fruits. Full bodied, sweet on the palate with a good belgian yeast spiciness. Taste is brown sugar, belgian yeast, caramel.
Very nice quad, lots of caramel and nougat with Belgian fruitness, great job you whalesmiths
Reddish brown colour, beige head. Aroma of chocolate, cigars, coffee, malts and banana. Sweet malty flavour, chocolate. Sweet finish, caramel, malts, light liquorice. Nice!
(from 75cL bottle @ Camping RateBeers. Thanks for sharing, RateBeer crew!)
(750ml bottle) clear medium brown, tan soapy bubbles. Nose of raisin, caramel, dates, sweet, alcohol. Taste of alchohol, raisin, lightly toasty caramel, quite sweet, chewy body. Too sweet to rate higher. Good though.
Bottle, 2012, duh. Big and 12% but not as thick and chewy as I though it might be, some sweet notes of figs/raisin comes through, I like the finish sticks with you and you know you’ve been drinking a big beer, but no burn of alcohol.
Bottle pour. Pours a dark brown with a beige head of foam. The aroma is musty, earthy, sweet, Candi sugar, some spice. Taste is sweet and moderately spicy. Big, sticky body. Medium carbonation.
Pours copper with minimal rusty head. Aroma boasts lots of dark fruits: plum, fig, raisins. Rum and raisin chocolate. Cloves, molasses and some cream. Bready belgian yeast is an afterthought. Christmas pudding theme. Smells delicious.
Despite ample carbonation, the palate is a little fragile and fails to carry the depth of flavor. More dried fruit in the flavor with some offsetting toffee malt and yeast. Not quite the melange or depth that the invite suggested. Rising sherry warmth on the back-end.
It shows much promise but is fundamentally flawed.
Bottle, thnx to bytemesis. Really looking forward to this one. Pours a clear brownish beer with a very small tanned head on top. Aroma is quite boozy, very malty, light chocolate, malty and touches of caramel and Belgian yeast. Flavor is sweet, boozy, defintely some age detected, Very complex full bodied beer. Very nice stuff!!
Small sample from bottle at Camping Ratebeer ’14. Pours hazy brown with a small off-white head. Aroma has caramel, dark fruits, raisin and some spices. Taste is sweet with caramel, dark fruits and some alcohol. Over medium body, medium carbo.
750 ml bottle shared by someone at the Baymont Jackie-O’s release weekend bottle share. Thanks! Pours a dark amber color, mostly clear, with a small off-whtie head. Notes of caramel, dark fruits, brown sugar, mellow spices, clove, molasses, boozy bread, vanilla, and chocolate. Medium-full bodied, with medium carbonation and a sweet, rich, full mouthfeel. Nice American take on a Belgian tradition.
[5648-20130816] Bottle. Roasted soya wood aroma. Clear, dark brown body with a quick foamy off-white head. Roasted soya grainy wood flavour. Medium-full body. Good. (7/3/8/4/15) 3.7
(@ Campground Brewdown 2013, Millmont, PA)
"They nailed the description, and the beer. Decadence has always been just shy of elite, especially being from on of my very favorite brewers, but this latest one is my favorite of the 4 years I’ve had. Everything you want in a quad. A melange of toffee, molasses, dark and even a little lighter fruit, belgian spice. Covers up 12% pretty dang well. I love this beer and hope I can find it again."
Pours deep mahogany into a Trappist glass. Mocha head with medium retention recedes to hug rim. Molasses, brown bread and dark alcohol-soaked pit fruit aromas. Sweet caramel and clove upfront turning hot raisin brown bread and chocolate in the lasting finish.
Been holding onto this for a couple years. It popped open with force, almost bubbled out of the bottle. A deep, dark reddish brown, aroma reminiscent of other outstanding quads, clove, molasses, Belgian yeast. A little alcohol, brandy. Full-bodied, sweet, a little burn. Roasty notes present. Creamy, rich. Outstanding.
Bottle. Brown pour with tan head. Sweet and light sugar aromas. Light spice, fruit and sugar flavors.
Bottle. Purchased awhile ago.
A: Pure black with a creme head. Lacing.
N: Greeted by a big whiff of brown sugar, toffee, and caramel. Cola and sasparilla. Molasses and a hint of vanilla.
T: Mostly sweet with a lashing of bitterness. A little sourness.
M: Medium body that’s a touch watery. Alcohol is muted.
O: I honestly can’t tell if I like it. It has really high points and then aspects which completely undermine the goodness. Enough goodness to push this over average; not enough to sing its praise like it was St. Bernardus.
750 ml bottle shared with the Quebec City crew. Pours a clearish ruby reddish brown with a short lived beige head. Aroma is vanilla, brown sugar, wood, overripe fruits. Flavor is sweet, fruity, brown sugar, molasses. Finish is woody, fruity, herbal, molasses. Lingering wood. Medium to thick body, sticky mouthfeel, weak carbonation.
January 4th, 2013 - The New Year is a naturally retrospective time, which is why a 2012 brew seemed a suitable way to spend a 2013 evening. Alesmith’s 2012 Decadence was, I believe, a bottle purchase from the brewery purchase, made on a whim, and with a little financial and liquid courage. Like many of Alesmith’s paramount pours, this slips from bottle to glass with a silky smoothness, and the sweet and subtle smell of cobwebs, settled dust, raisins, gown sugar, molasses and a thick, syrupy balsamic vinegar, and a powerful smell of intricate yet delicate yeast. The flavor adds to this powerful, pungent mixture with a distinct vanilla bean flavor, and a long, lovely, lingering aftertaste. The potential for caustically strong flavors is disarmed by a foamy and "poofy" aftertaste in the flavor, though this doesn’t attenuate the alcohol into invisibility. But as expected, heavy sugars define the flavors here, with a thick, natural apple pie sweetness, pushing the boundaries between indulgent and cloying - basically, everything I like in a winter warmer.
@ Camping Ratebeer, Black beer, aroma and taste is alcohol and malts, but a decent beer.
Bottle... Pours clear and dark with a ruby-colored body and a small, creamy, beige head. The aroma is a malty, fruity intermingling of dark sherry, herbal roots, singed caramel, a hint of vanilla, a splash of dark sherry and a kiss of brandy. Full-bodied and a touch watery with gentle carbonation. The flavor is a malty, boozy mélange of brandy, caramel and dried dark fruits. Not at all cloying. Lengthy, burnt caramel and toasted marshmallow finish. Bottle courtesy of weihenweizen!
Pours a dark red clear beer with a tan head. Smells rye, malts and a bit alcohol. Tastes licorice, rye, alcohol and malts. Average carbo, medium body and a sticky texture.
Bottled @ Camping Ratebeers 2014, small sample. Dark copper color, short head. Aroma of caramel malt, raisin, slight spicy, bit of bread and ripe fruit. Medium sweet in taste, slight bitter, touch of alcohol. Quite full bodied, probably not as much sugar used as the belgian counterparts. Nice belgian-styled stuff again from Alesmith.