Boulevard Brewing Co. - "Bourbon Barrel Quad" quadrupel, vintage 2013

Ah, once again, Sip and Puff comes across a beer by Boulevard Brewing Company. Boulevard's Smokestack Series is a special run of ales brewed with interesting ingredients and with experimental methods. Of the Smokestack line, I've had their Dark Truth Stout, Rye on Rye, Tank No. 7, Grainstorm, Saison-Brett, and today's offering, the elusive Bourbon Barrel Quad. I've been meaning to review this for years now. Today's beer is a 12% ABV, 2013-vintage quadrupel aged in bourbon barrels, released only once yearly. I expect the 2015 BBQ should be out this fall.

I always grab several bottles of the Smokestack beers, since most them age well. No sense in not letting them sit down for a few years! This particular one cost $14.99, and (like many of the Smokestack beers) well worth the cost.

Upon opening, I heard a resounding POP from the champagne-style cork. Like the rest of the Smokestack series, the BBQ comes capped with a champagne-style cork wrapped in a thin gold muselet. It pours smoothly, and slowly, with a deep brown hazy color and a cream-colored head.

The beer appears to be a deep brown, with a fizzy white head, and candles a nice electric root beer color. The beer is a little cloudy - which suggests to me a bit about what's inside. Cloudiness in a beer could be the result of a whole range of factors: certain brewing techniques, down to the specific kinds of malts used; the pH in the mash during brewing; protein levels in the ingredients; quality of ingredients; filtration; and even suspended particles or yeast, which is some circumstances (like a Belgian beer or a witbier) is a very desirable quality. In other circumstances, cloudiness could be a troubling sign when it was not expected (see my review of "The Brother" for such an instance.) However, I have had the BBQ before, and so I knew this was expected. 

Sticking my face into the glass, I detect a muted nose, woody and boozy. The beer has a moderate alcohol smell combined with tobacco and leather smells, which is kind of neat. Like all other sensory factors, aroma can tell you a lot about the beer. This aroma tells me it's going to be awesome.

The taste is just as good as the aroma - it's deep, multilayered, and smooth. There's muted notes of cherries, dark fruit, and brown sugar in there, combined with the usual one-two punch of (soft) alcohol and malts. The texture is very thick and not-quite-syrupy, with some strong caramel tastes in the second half. The finish is smooth and slightly sweet, with more caramel coming to the front. The aftertaste is one of aged bourbon, lingering long and soft on the palette.

This was just perfect. The lack of a sharp alcohol taste combined with the deep, rich, caramel flavors and bourbon finish make for an amazing beer. The time in the cellar has probably increased the alcohol content by a few points; I'd wager this beer is almost 15% ABV by now. It actually took me by surprise, a little - I enjoyed it but I definitely got a little buzzed drinking it (not a common occurrence for your humble blogger.) I had to put a vacuum seal on this beast and save it for the next day. I have one cellaring in my basement, with the intention of opening it in 1-2 years. I'm definitely interested to see how this thing ages further!