Southampton Abbot 12

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10

WOW! I give this a HUGE holy crap. When I close my eyes, this is the best Belgian I've ever had. Lacing for days. The lacing has lacing. It's spicy. It's sweet. It's....downright thoughtful. Holy moly I like this better than anything I've ever had.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Reviewed as night cap to a VERY long 4th of July so take with a grain of salt. This is a fantastic nose, winey and spicy, with serious carmel and malt scents and very nice hoppy spicyness; a very big nose with retention. Pours a serious greyish head that does not linger which sits over a foggy copper body. Mouthfeel is rich, heavy and full with nice carbonation. Flavor is sweet and surprisingly uncomplicated; lots of brown sugar/carmel flavor with some ripe fruit, perhaps fig, and a small hint of hops bitterness. Alcohol is totally masked. Somehow they have pulled off a very clean and dry finish which is a bit of a shock. Overall is hard to grade; this beer is not complex in the sense of developing various flavors but it excellently balanced throughout and the finish is just amazing; a major brew!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Poured a ruby brownish color with small head and small lacing. Aroma was grapes and a little nutty. Flavor was of caramel matls candy suar bready some plum but not enough. Good beer not amazing.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Thanks to eaglefan538 for sharing his bottle. Pour was ruby brown with thin head and little lacing. Good grape/winelike aroma. The flavor was a caramel malty base, maybe a bit too much for the style, with some belgian candy sugar, toffee, a touch of fig/plum and some roasted nutty/chocolate notes. Wonderfully complex and quite tasty!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Bottle courtesy of beastiefan2k. Pour was ruby brown in color, flat with no head really, but the bottle had a firm pop upon opening, strong appearance of carbonation bubbles rising steadily to the surface. The aroma was caramel, toffee, nuts, grapes. The flavor was all of the aroma plus some boozy notes, chocolate, toasty, bready, molasses flavors. The spices and dark fruits were notably missing for the style, almost came across as an imperial oktoberfest or barleywine if I didn't read the label. A little sticky, very malty mouthfeel. Thanks, Eugene for this wonderful experience!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

I have to admit that I was thrilled to find a Quad from Southampton as I have really grown to love their beers. This one was a maghony color with a very very sweet taste. It is different from some other quads but quite enjoyable none the less. This was more of a dessert beer, but a quality attempt at a hard to reproduce Belgium classic.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottle courtesy of Adrian910ss: Poured a deep burgundy color ale with a big off-white foamy head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of sweet malt with some hints of dry fruits (figs and plums). Taste consisted of some sweet malt with some very subtle Belgian yeast and some very subtle dry fruits such as figs and plums. Body is slightly above average with no alcohol discernable. I don’t know if my expectation were too high or if I got another so-so bottle of Southampton but I wasn’t impressed at all and thought this was quite far from the staple of the style (Rochefort, Westy, St-Bernadus).

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

2003 vintage. This Belgian Quad pours a deep reddish brown color from a 750ml bottle. Small sized beige foamy head. Aroma is dark malt, raisins, molasses, chocolate, brown sugar, caramel and a touch of alcohol. Medium to full-bodied quad. Malts are fruity and chocolate, raisins, dark fruit, touch of vanilla, brown sugar, etc etc. Nicely balanced. Very smooth. Hides the alcohol very well only a touch in the finish. Excellent sipping beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet with a touch of alcohol.

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

A murky brown appearance. The aroma consists of raisins, chocolate, and caramel. The flavor is molasses, grapes, brown sugar, with a slight alcohol burn. The finish is sweet. This was a good beer.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

2006 bottle here tasted smooth in its young age...a red brown color with a light head. Aromas of sweet grain and roasty caramel. Good malty notes of licorice/fennel came through first. Flavors of brown bread and toasted cereals, sweet citrus, figs, touch of spice. Light dry yeastiness in the very finish..... Mouthfeel was smooth though the body was on the lighter side for the style and i would have liked it richer or heartier... The beer still carried the alcohol well along with some crispness. Ill keep another on the shelf for a awhile and see how it does.