If you have been seduced by the beers of Belgium, fair chance that the biggest seductress of all was a Belgian Quadrupel. Invitingly sweet at first, with flavours that change and evolve as the beer warms, they are deceptively easy to drink.
I could almost say that I’ve never met a quad I didn’t enjoy, though that wouldn’t be true. But when a family brewery that has been brewing for nearly 150 years decides to introduce a quad to their range, there is a high expectation that it will be a good beer.
And that is the case with St Feuillien Quadrupel. Clearly one of the good things to have come out of 2020, this beer looks a lovely dark brown in the glass, and oozes sweet malts, dark fruits and Belgian yeast character in the aroma.
Smooth and full, the flavour boasts caramel malts, chocolate, over-ripe dark stone fruit like figs and raisins, maybe a hint of licorice and a little herbal quality from the yeast.
For such a rich and full mouthfeel, the beer still seems somehow lighter than it is, the hops adding enough bitterness and the carbonation lifting the weight on the tongue. It is a really good beer, another to add to the list of Belgian quads to remember.
A big Belgian Quad aged in red wine barrels, then transferred to Sauternes white wine barrels for a further year
A bold, strong dark ale edging toward a quadrupel style beer
by L’Abbaye Notre-Dame de Scourmont
The classic strong dark Trappist ale from the Chimay Trappist Monastery
A Boreft Festival beer from last year, this is a Belgian style quadruple with South American Tonka Beans
De Molen's 'Beautiful & Ruthless' is part quadruple part imperial stout
A delicious bourbon barrel aged quadrupel, made for De Molens Boreft Festival
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
The winter seasonal from Emelisse is an ABT/quadrupel. Each year they add a different ingredient - for 2015 they've added English liquorice
The quadrupel/ABT beer from the newest Trappist Monastery from Austria.
The new addition to the Gulden Draak label - a rich and boozy quadruple
A beer dedicated to the original brewmaster, the Gulden Draak Quadrupel has been aged in whiskey barrels
An award winning quad that kick-started the commercial brewing careers of two twin brothers
Formerly known as 'Kasteel Winter', this quadruple stands alone from the traditional Belgian Christmas beers relying on Belgian chocolate and coffee, rather than herbs and spices
The crown in the Kasteel beer range is their Cuvee du Chateau
An oaked Belgian quadrupel from Brasserie des Legends
A rich and boozy quadrupel, featuring Alvinne's Morpheus house yeast
by Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven
The top of the tree from Dutch Trappist Monastery La Trappe
A big-hitting Belgian quadrupel is the introduction to this Belgian brewing collective
by Brasserie Artisinale Millevertus
A big, rich and smooth Belgian quadrupel style, just the thing for a cool night by the fireplace
More like a traditional quadrupel than the Pannepot; brewed for the Dutch market.
One of the best Belgian beers you'll ever taste - so much flavour it's impossible to describe.
A Belgian quadruped brewed with Costa Rican coffee beans
Voted Belgium's 'Best Hobby Beer 2011', no in full-blown production
The grandfather of Trappist strong dark ales - does it get any better than this?
The showpiece quadrupel of the St Bernardus Brewery - as close to Westvleteren 12 as you can get without the real thing.
The newest addition to the beer portfolio from the only active brewery still inside the city walls of Bruges.
The sister-beer to Pannepot, this quadrupel was first made for the Danish market
A dark blond quadrupel that has been aged in both St Emilion wine barrels and Kentucky Bourbon barrels
A delicious dark quadruple aged for three years in Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrels
A big Belgian quadruped aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for two years
A big mouthful of flavour with this fiery quadruple, brewed in the La Trappe Monastery by one of Belgium's leading female brewers.
by Brasserie du l'Abbeye du Val-Dieu
A big, tasty quadrupel from the Val-Dieu abbey brewery
A delicious Belgian quadruped, aged in oak barrels with the addition of some port wine
by Trappistenbrouwerij De Kievit
Th second beer from the second Dutch Trappist Monastery is a rich Belgian quad of 10%
A Guten Free, Organic beer that sits somewhere between a tripel and farmhouse ale
Classically Belgian, this St Feuillien Brune is smooth, rich and tasty
A lovely spiced fruit cup of Christmas pudding in a 10% strong dark ale
A delicious, complex but light and dry Belgian Strong Blonde Ale from Brasserie St Feuillien
A tasty, fairly traditional saison with lots of loverly earthy character and a little funk
An interesting farmhouse ale with seven different hops plus liquorice
A classic Belgian Tripel, often held out as an example of the style
