Smuttynose Big Beer Series: Gravitation
Gravitation Belgian Quad is the newest offering in the Smuttynose Big Beer Series. This strong dark ale is brewed using a variety of Belgian specialty malts along with 200 pounds of raisin puree per batch. The resulting flavor is a viscous mix of dark fruit, rum, toffee and raisins balanced with aromatic fruitiness of the Belgian yeast. The beer weighs in at 8.5% ABV from a starting gravity of 23 degrees Plato.
2010 - 10% ABV
2015 - 12.3% AVB
2010 - 10% ABV
2015 - 12.3% AVB
3.6
447 reviews
Hampton, United States
Community reviews
Aroma - sweet malt, caramelized sugars, and hefty alcohol
Appearance - body is an unfiltered cloudy amber. The head comes and goes quickly. Tops out at about 1/4" and is off-white. Alcohol cloys the glass.
Taste - is nicely balance with rich dark fruit - raisins, figs, and prunes. There is some deeply caramelized sugars. And candy.
Palate - body is medium, slick texture, flat carbonation, and delicate booze finish.
Quality Belgian Quad, and all the more so for being readily available at $6 in NH. The flavor is a greatest hits of Belgian Strong Dark beers -- caramel and raisins, heavy sweet malt tempered by a drying yeast. Big and boozy, and probably just right for a winter’s evening.
Strong beer with yeast and fig aromas. Light caramel brown color with a medium palate. Flavors of banana and fig with some spice and definite alcohol
On tap at the brewery. Appearance is a little bit hazy, dark orange/light brown (like apple cider), with nice sparkle and decent retention to finger-width head. Aroma is fruit--apple, raisin--with alcohol. Taste is balance of sweet malt, caramel and sour fruit--again like cider--with alcohol. Palate is medium bodied with average to thick texture with lively carbonation and you can feel sour at the back of the mouth. Overall, this is good with a nice complexity.
Bottle. Pours a medium golden brown with a shallow, fast-disappearing, off-white head. Nose is white grapes, yeast, esters, booze, caramel, and a little mildew or mold. Kinda weird. On the tongue, it’s overwhelmingly sweet, boozy, and fruity, with a huge punch of toffee sugar and fruit; this is a giant, brawling, monster of a beer. No subtlety to it, just sugar, fruit, and alcohol. Finish is long and hot, and that mildew note comes back a bit. I’ve had better takes on this style; this is all force, no precision.
2013 vintage enjoyed October 1, 2015 in a Hopslam tulip/snifter.
I did not have high expectations for this beer as I bought it with other "expired" Big Beer Series beers for pennies on the dollar. Keep in that in mind when I rate this beer higher than others. Why is the rating so low?!
Look - Bright red, almost pink when held to the light. See through. The head was slim to none and didn’t stick around long. It had think bubbles and was a little off white. There is no lacing to speak of because of this.
Smell - Booze on the rum side of things. Grape. Raisin. Caramel. Low rating due to alcohol strength.
Taste - Booze doesn’t come on strong until the finish. Very sweet. Grape and raisin. Caramel. Spicy. I can only assume based on the reviews this beer has mellowed with age.
Feel - Sticky. Heavy. No alcohol. Syrup. Alcohol burn.
Overall - Very disconnected ratings on this one. Two years must have done this beer well. Very sweet but strong flavor to go with it.
Iechyd da Joe McPhee. Copper pour with a frothy head. Caramel malt toffee aroma. Nice spicy flavour. Syrup texture with an oily finish. Tasty brew.
From bomber. Dark copper with little head, sweet boozy aroma and full body. Dark fruit and raison bittersweetness that trails off nicely at the finish. Went well with dark chocolate, too.
Pours hazy brown amber with low white head. Aroma of toffee, caramel, bread, raisins, light herbs. Taste is sweet alcohol rich, burnt butter, butterscotch, slightly medicinal finish. Rich, sticky body with soft carbonation.
Draught @ Albion. Clear reddish copper with small beige frothy head, doughy aroma, low carbonation, sweet caramel taste, long finish with burning sensation in throat. Very smooth and strong
Tap at WoB. Pours a murky brown Orange. Aroma is sweet honey, dark fruit and Belgian yeast. sweet flavor, sugar, and dark notes. Good flavor, bad appearance.
0,65 l bottle from Biervana
Amber-Orange color, clear, minimal head, white foam, caramel, dried fruits, resin, alcohol, banana, herbs, heavy cloying sweetness, lightly bitter, lightly sour, full body, oily feel, slick feel, flat, long finish,
Aroma of raisins, alcohol, taste is raisins, alcohol, dark fruits, a little hot on the alcohol, not well balanced.
A run of the mill quad…not too complex, but not bad. Creamy red-brown colored. Yeasty, dark fruits, caramel, booze. Sweet and sticky. Eh.
Strong beer with yeast and fig aromas. Light caramel brown color with a medium palate. Flavors of banana and fig with some spice and definite alcohol.
Amber with little head. Dark fruit and caramel. Too sweet and not complex enough to compete with the best quads.
Sampled from a bomber bottle,
this ale had a gold and brown pour with some red hi-lights, there were plenty of particles floating around in the glass,
the pour made a faint off-white small cover that receded to a thin ring, there were some small fingers and spots of lacing on the glass,
the nose had aromas of dark fruit that resembled raisin with some malt and raisin sweetness, faint hints of dough yeast,
alcohol esters with some spice and faint floral hints,
the flavors were raisin, big malt with a touch of toasted bread and dark fruit sweetness,
the finish had a little pepper spice on the tongue with a generous malt sweetness and raisin following, the spice lingered a bit on the palate,
the mouth feel was medium to full, it was a little syrupy on the lips and had soft to average carbonation, there was some alcohol warmth on the throat,
this beer is not as dark as your usual Belgian dark strong beer would appear, the nose and flavor had raisin fruit and malt with generous sweetness, it did not have the big dark notes and it was pretty sweet but not overly so and did not over power, I can see this drink as a good sipper.
Tap at World of Beer Sugar Land. Reddish brown wish a small tannish head. Aroma full of dark fruit with some rum and Belgian yeast. Sweet, but not that much, particularly for this style, semi-boozy, but not that much. Medium-full bodied. Pretty good.
Amber rimming offwhite head; aroma is malty and sweet; Flava is samewith hop me alcoh notes; feels medium with semi fizz; finishes sweet malty licoricy
Bottle shared at catch 22 bottle share! Pours a deep brownish red with thin ring of tan head. Aroma and taste are over the top dark fruit sweetness, not really Belgian esters, just malt and fruit. Boozy and strong, not really a quad for me, meh.
650 ml bottle. Pour is copper/amber with redish hue. Head is whisper thin and is gone quickly. As in commercial discriptuin, dark fruit,rum and toffee notes dominate. Sweetness is too dominant for a Belgian Quad.Think addition of all the raisin puree deviated this beer from typical quad. Am fan of Belgian Quads, but this misses the mark. Too sweet.
Nice big quad with a dark fruit taste that keeps it on the slightly harder to drink side but it is none the less enjoyable.
I love quads so therefore I was eager to try this beer. Unfortunately, it is a bit of a let down as it just lacks the sophistication of most Belgian quads. The head is lacking and while the aroma is good, the beer is way too sweet. Very nice dried fruit and clove characteristics with alcohol becoming more prominent as the beer warms. If the sweetness could be dialed back a bit it would do wonders for the beer.
Bottle. Orange, raisin, toffee malt and alcohol aroma. Hazy amber with small head. Sweet orange, peach, raisin, toffee malt, and moderately bitter herbal flavor. Rum finish. Very tasty.
Dark fruits abound in the aroma and taste. Pretty complex and a delight to drink. Smooth and very drinkable especially at 12.3%. Not a huge fan/pro of quads but this is really good!
Pours an amber color with no head. Aroma is lots of dark fruit, some caramel, a touch boozy. Flavor is similar, very sweet. Goes down smooth. Excellent.
Bottle:
Pours almost clear...orange-amber...with a wisp of white head.
Juicy-Fruit, alcohol, sweet light fruit aroma.
Flavour is green banana, honey....peppery spice.
Clear alcohol taste and heat.
Pretty good......sweet and hot.
WAY too sweet. Banana, bubblegum, raisins, some sugar, a little Belgian yeast. This isn’t very good.
22 ounce bottle into chalice, 2015 vintage bottling. Pours slightly hazy deep orange/copper color with a 1 finger dense off white head with poor retention, that reduces to a thin ring pretty quickly. Minimal lacing on the glass, with some light streaming carbonation. Aromas of golden raisin, plum, fig, pear, apple, grape, light banana, pepper, clove, caramel, toasted bread, candi sugar, herbal, and yeast earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast and bready/candi sugar malt notes; with good strength. Taste of golden raisin, plum, pear, apple, grape, light banana, pepper, clove, caramel, candi sugar, toasted bread, herbal, and yeast earthiness. Good amount of yeast spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of golden raisin, plum, fig, pear, apple, grape, light banana, pepper, clove, caramel, candi sugar, toasted bread, and herbal/yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Damn nice complexity and robustness of fruity/spicy yeast and bready/candi sugar malt flavors; with a great malt/yeast balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very smooth and slightly slick/bready mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a light warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very nice pale Quadrupel style! All around good balance, robustness, and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast and bready/candi sugar malt flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the huge ABV. A very enjoyable offering.
Pours clear amber, sma to no white head. Smell is sweet, taste is sweet. Malty, sugar, fruity. Way less dark than average., and very focussed upon sweetness and overripe fruit ( banana for the most part)