5 Seasons Quinte55ence

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Long wait for this beer. This is is a dark brown body with a tan, creamy, stiff head that lasts for a while. Heavily malty aroma is backed up by a bit of raisin fruitiness. The flavor is sweet with brown sugar, molasses making up the malt. There’s the raisins again, but there’s a bit of banana and pineapple way in the back. The sweetness covers up most of the alcohol except for a warmth in the swallow that lets you know it’s stronger than it seems at first taste. Good beer. Really more of an imperial brown than a Belgian strong though. A bit of the Belgian ale yeast funkiness, but not enough to really scream "Belgian-style".

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This beer poured a dark brown/black appearance with a moderate head. First whiff I catch some chocolate, coffee, molasses, plums, and cherries. The flavor has a bit of alcohol bite but not much. I taste a bunch of things in there and its hard to pinpoint it but here I go. I get some raisins, chocolate, figs, fresh coffee, caramel, some peaches if you pay attention. Some nuttiness visible in the aftertaste. Its not balanced and its sort of to and fro but that will change with age. This is a unique beer and more like a dubbel to me than anything. Only thing bad about this beer is the crappy waiter we had. I stole his f'n pen! Great stuff.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This is my capstone brew to finish my 5 Seasons experience. The aroma is of roasted malts and large amounts of chocolate with maybe some coffee bean as well with some bitter and sweetness like you would find with an imperial porter or stout. The appearance is a rich mahogany to burgundy in color when held to the light but otherwise black with a nice head on top that is large and light brown in color and discipates leaving marvelous lacing on the glass. The mouthfeel is extremely full and robust with extreme complexity and pretty good balance that will get better with age and has a pallet that is silky smooth and foamy-like and what you would find in a Belgian ale. The flavor is of roasted malts, chocolate, bitter coffee bean, and some very faint hops with an aftertaste that is creamy and smooth and complex with a finish that is barleywine-esque like with some nice bitter and is slightly dry with a nice alcohol burn that is warming and not overpowering. Overall, this is like a hybrid of an imperial porter or stout and a Belgian style quadruple; this is a strange brew and might could be considered a "dubbel dubbel", I don't know?? Nonetheless, I liked this brew very much, I want more!