Brooklyn Brewery Unveils Quadraceratops

Monday night saw the release of Quadraceratops, Brooklyn Brewery's newest Brewmaster's Reserve beer. Brewmaster Garrett Oliver was on hand for the celebration at their Williamsburg facility to talk about the brew and offer some words of wisdom.

"Be careful. Be very, very careful," he began, referring to Quadraceratops' well-hidden 9.9-percent alcohol by volume. "This beer was made to keep us all warm this winter." It was brewed in the Belgian Quadrupel-style, a dark brown brew that light barely shines through, with an attractive tan head that lingers. The aroma is of fresh baked bread, with a hint of brown sugar and maple. "We worked hard to not have it be perfume-y or obvious," said Oliver, and that was achieved.

Bread-iness and brown sugar dominate the flavor, with nuances of plum and maple propped up by Brooklyn's Belgian yeast strain. Some nice roast-iness comes through as it warms, with even slight coffee flavors shining through. It's very dry, "dryer than Brooklyn Lager," (G.O.) thanks to copious amounts of Belgian candy sugar. Fortunately, it's not overwhelmingly sweet. It's not too frothy either, despite the impressive head. As mentioned before, it's exceedingly smooth, with no hint of an alcohol burn.

Oliver recommends pairing Quadraceratops with roasts, game meats, and pâté; it also did well with the Italian sandwiches provided by the Meat Hook Sandwich Shop at the event. Against the sopressata, mozzarella, and peppers, fruity, maple, and other estery flavors were pulled out of the brew that weren't immediately obvious before.

Quadraceratops certainly makes the prospect of winter less daunting. As Oliver summed up nicely: "Here's to winter life!"