Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel

“Coconut-heavy nose with notes of dried apricot, cherry, clove, and pipe tobacco. Toasted coconut in the flavor with burnt-sugar malt sweetness, honey notes, and some raisin.”

**Aroma:** “A pleasant, light aroma that doesn’t overpower in any one area. Yeast aromatics are a touch more saison-like (some nice pepper and spice notes) than classically dubbel. Light spicy hops aroma complements yeast phenolics. As it starts to warm more esters (cherry or peach) start to come out and less spice.” **Flavor:** “A rounded malt foundation of toffee and raisins gives way to an unusual, but pleasantly different suit of fruit (bananas, cherries, plums) and spice (cloves). Some crisp hops bitterness to balance. Finishes dry.” **Overall:** “Spicy with a low malt complexity and a good balance of sweetness. Very drinkable. This could easily fly under the radar in a sea of competitors, but this pleasant little dubbel-esque saison quenches one’s thirst as readily as it quenches the need for something from the abbey. Perhaps this is what the monks drink when they mow the lawn?”

**Aroma:** “Complex malt on the nose, with white bread, toffee, and caramel malt sweetness, and fruity esters with hints of raisin, cherry, plum, and date. A hint of sherry, red wine, and port suggests aging.” **Flavor:** “Nice mingling between caramel and toffee notes from the malt and raisin, plum, and date esters. Slight chocolate. High carbonation creates a bit of a bite. Alcohol is present but not hot. Finish is balanced, with just a hint of sweetness that lingers. Again, port and sherry highlights suggest aging.” **Overall:** “Very tasty, rich, and complex with a sherry and port character not found in most others. Sweet but not overly sweet. An excellent example of the style that honestly appears aged (very gracefully). Malt and fruit character work very well together, and the balanced finish makes it a memorable and remarkable example of the style.”