“Spencer Monks’ Reserve Ale is a classic Trappist Quadruple (“Quad”) in the Belgian tradition. This Quad is fragrant, robust and full-bodied, mahogany in color and crowned with a dense, tan, frothy head. Its malt-forward profile yields to a warm finish, with an ABV of 10.2%.”

Glassware: Trappist Chalice.

Appearance: Deep Chestnut brown with a finely beaded two finger mocha head. It slowly peels off and settles to a wispy overlay with little lace on the glass.

Aroma: Smells the goods! Truck loads of banana and clove, cola syrup, molasses, apple pie and Asian spice. Dark fruits galore as well – raisin, dates/prunes, fig and plum jam. Kind of has this sourdough note to it which comes off as toasted pumpernickel. Also rocking some fruitcake and port notes along with pink peppercorn, brown sugar/toffee and licorice. Holy moly! The depth and complexity is incredible!

Flavour: Jeez where do we start?! It’s quite strong and boozy upfront but that’s OK because it gets it all out of the system. What proceeds is an index of complex flavours ranging from yeasty clove and banana, molasses, dark fruits, jammy sweetness and toast to peppercorn, fruitcake, herbal spice, licorice and earthy/nutty gritty-ness. The length on it is just ridiculous too.

Mouthfeel: Sticky and gelatinous. Medium-full body. Low Co2. The 10.2% ABV is noticeable but tempered.

Overall: Very impressive Quad. The last few beers we’ve tried from Spencer have all been traditional with a very subtle new world twist. Not this. This is straight down the line traditional Belgian Quad. Love it.