Tale of two quads tasting update, one is actually a tripel!

My how time flies! I've been meaning to post an update to my Tale of Two Quads for some time now, and a lot has transpired. Both beers were conditioned, chilled, kegged, filtered, bottled and sent off to competitions. First up, reviewing the beers!

The Pious
Style: 18E Belgian Dark Strong
ABV ~10.8% IBUs ~34

Aroma: Initial hints of plum and raisin give way to some burnt banana and bittersweet chocolate. Notes of fig and date are present with some slight Belgian fruity esters.

Appearance: Brilliantly clear dark brown with ruby red hues when held up to the light, substantial offwhite head forms to sit atop for a good long while. As the head receedes it forms a nice thick crown around the glass. This is one area where it doesn't quite hold up to the traditional Belgian quads that have a really dense, moussey, rocky head that sticks around for ages. I think I will add a small amount of flaked barley and malted wheat to try and beef this area up.

Flavor: Initial flavors of plum, fig, bittersweet chocolate and burnt sugar lead the subtle but complex malt base with some toffee overtones. There is a character of burnt sugar that lends a slight note in the finish of something that reminds me of chocolate and vanilla creme brulee. The bitterness is firm but not obtrusive and keeps the beer from being too sweet.

Mouthfeel: A nice creamy medium-light bodied mouthfeel assisted by some lightly prickly carbonation of which there is a lot. Finishes slightly on the dry side with slight notes of soft alcohol warmth.The Belgians would definitely say this one is "very digestible", referring to a high alcohol strength beer with a light body that is easy drinking.

Overall: I feel this is a great representation of the style. Its big, bold yet very approachable, Belgian Dark Strong that I think can stand up with the best of Belgium.

The Devout

Style: 18C Belgian Tripel

ABV ~10% IBU ~34

Aroma: Soft fruity esters of strawberry and soft spicy, peppery notes reminiscent of lavender and peppercorn on top of a sweet slightly biscuity, toffee-ish malt base. Light and engaging.

Appearance: Brilliantly clear straw-gold with an effervescent white head. Much like The Pious at first it is dense with good head but fades over time to just a slight crown.

Flavor: Initial sweet malt that reminds me slightly of sugar-cookies followed by some of the yeast contributions consisting of strawberry, lavender and a touch of clove. High carbonation tingles the tongue slightly and refreshes the palate.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium light body and finish. Not as dry or as light as The Pious due to the lower attenuation, but still refrains from being too sweet or cloying and very pleasant to drink. Despite some slightly pronounced alcohols it still stays very soft, creamy and very smooth. The lavendar character combined with the medium to medium light body give it a very silky smooth finish that is quite unlike anything else I've had.

Overall: A little big for a Tripel, but more or less within spec. The yeast character from this beer is phenomenal and I would call this aspect of the beer a complete success. The silky smoothness is quite tantalizing and really enjoyable. I think with some further tweaks to this recipe and I will have a world-class example of the style.

I started off intending this to be a Belgian Golden Strong, but the yeast thought otherwise. I shouldn't have tried to second guess the Allagash Tripel Reserve yeast as it really lends itself better to a Tripel than a Belgian Golden Strong. The lower attenuation combined with a maltier profile and some clovey yeast characters made me reclassify it.

I'm very happy with both of these beers but have a few more tweaks planned for them in an effort to reach true perfection. My thoughts for each beers are as follows.

• The Pious - Use a mix of D1 and D2.

I think a mix of the two dark syrups will yield an improved complexity of flavors, as the 100% D2 version is a little heavier in flavor than times past. When I was cleaning out the conical for The Pious I found some of the dark candi syrup in the trub.

• The Pious - Put all the syrup in the boil for maximum utilization.

When I was cleaning out the conical after kegging The Pious I found some D2 syrup in the trub that just went to waste. Shouldn't have that problem if its in the boil.

• Both The Pious and The Devout - Reduce the IBUs to about 28-30 to balance it out more.

I feel its a tad high and would benefit by being a little more subdued. Dropping the Haullertau Hersbrucker addition completely should do the trick.

• The Pious - Some more specialty grains in the mash for more malt character

I think adding a tiny bit of caramunich and special B would help bring the malt character out a little more and add some complexity. The addition of a small amount of flaked barley and malted wheat should get me the really rocky head I want.

• The Devout - Change to all pils base

The Belgian Pale Malt made this tripel on the maltier side, I think I want to change it up to Belgian Pils for the sole basemalt and maybe some specialty malts.

• Both The Pious and The Devout - Add some foam-positive malts for dense rocky head

Both beers don't quite stand up to the best of Belgium in the big, dense, rocky head that so many of them have. A homebrewing buddy of mine who has brewed nearly exclusively Belgian style beers for almost 40 years gave me his secret to this kind of head development & retention. He adds about 1.5->2% flaked barley and 2% malted wheat to every beer. I will definitely be trying that out on the next batch.