Samuel Adams (Barrel Room Collection) Tetravis

Brewed By: Boston Beer Company in Boston, Massachusetts 
Purchased: 1PT 9.4 FL OZ (750ml) bottle purchased at Malloy's Finest Wine & Spirits in IL; 2014 (2013 vintage???)
Style/ABV: Belgian Quad/Dark Strong Ale, 10.2%

Reported IBUs: 18

The Barrel Room Collection is one of the best things Sam Adams has going, and I'm quite partial to the series. I enjoyed the Thirteenth Hour Stout, but I think this will be even more fun to review. Belgian Dark Strongs are also among my favorite styles of beer, so there is that too. About Sam Adams:

The Boston Brewing Company/Sam Adams is, of course, the brain child of Jim Koch (and Harry M. Rubin and Lorenzo Lamadrid). Founded in 1984, Jim Koch got the ball rolling after college when he decided to resurrect and brew his favorite family recipe. That recipe belonged to his great-great grandfather, Louis Koch, and dates back to the 1870s (where it was brewed in a St. Louis brewery). That infamous family brew is the Sam Adams Boston Lager, of course. You can read more about the history of the Boston Brewing Company HERE, or check out their website HERE.  

The Tetravis is described as "A bold Belgian Quad with rich notes of currants, raisins and clove." This beer does feature some Kosmic Mother Funk (KMF), which is an ale aged in oak tuns for a year to give the beer notes of black pepper, oak, vanilla, and acidity. The KMF is a fruity and sour beer, and goes through a second fermentation with the wild yeast, Brettanomyces. The KMF was developed specifically for the Barrel Room Collection Beers, and is blended with the various Barrel Room Collection beers. The Tetravis uses Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble hops; Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, Special B, Carafa 1, and Munich malts; brewing sugar and Kosmic Mother Funk; and Belgian-style ale yeast. The beer is conditioned with champagne yeast.

So...first off, let me give props to Sam Adams for doing a really good job designing the bottles and bottle art for their Barrel Room Collection beers. The Tetravis bottle features a sexy cage and cork, cool purple-on-black art, and just awesome bottle detail. It looks like they used the wax print you find on Stone bottles. Just, sexy stuff. 

Sam Adams Tetravis

The beer itself pours into a dark purple/red/dark raisin color. It looks to be hazy and conditioned. The beer kicks up a finger or two of Belgian-esque head, and the head has some tan/khaki colors. There's some alcohol legs, and lacing. Head retention is pretty good too, with a centimeter of Belgian sea foam sticking around. If you shine a bright light through this beer, you get the classic red/orange colors typical of the style. There is quite a bit of carbonation visible in the murky body, and the head takes on some orange/amber tones in bright light. It looks the part of a Quad. That's a good thing.

On the aroma...classic Belgian Dark Strong aromas. It reminds me a lot of the Chimay Blue, with big notes of dark fruits, peppery and phenolic Belgian yeast spice, clove, Belgian candi sugars, and a little oak/Brett funk. There are some bready notes on the aroma as well, hinting at fruit cake, toast, molasses and caramel, and dark sugars. You get lots of raisins, figs, hints of banana/overripe fruit/cherries, some grape, big clove, pepper, white sugar, candi sugar, and dem molasses. It smells very typical to the style...with just that kiss of oak and funk. 

Wow...I'm impressed. This is huge, with a dense mouthfeel that has tons of depth and flavor. The beer is also creamy and smooth, with some velvety oak on the finish. I'm getting clove/peppery phenol, dark fruits, figs, cherries, dark sugars and molasses, bitter dark rye bread, toast, Belgian candi sugar, tons of phenolic spice, and some serious bitter caramel/burnt sugar and spice on the finish. This beer also finishes super dry once the velvety oak thing subsides. It's like a super dry red wine. I don't know if that's the barrel or the Brett, but yeah. This beer has some nice earthy vibes as well, with some shades of medicinal and leather. It's all over the map in the best ways, I guess. I'm gonna go ahead and say it's complex. Yeah, come at me Sam Adams haters.

Alright, we've established that this is a full-bodied beer with great palate depth -- duration is good, too. Complexity is also pretty damn high. And this is way too drinkable for 10.2%. I'm having no problems quaffing this. Quafs so hard. The beer is supported with lots of carbonation, and the mouthfeel ends up feeling quite velvety smooth, with hints of oak and candi sugar sweetness, and then the whole thing dries out with woody-Brett and burnt, dark sugars/molasses. There's a lot going on here....up front: peppery spice, phenol, clove, dark fruits, raisins, figs, fruit cake, toast; that rolls into earthy and aggressive funk, maybe some hops, more spice and phenol, earthy dark rye, toast; the back end dials up the peppery spice, wood, some oak, Brett dryness, and a dark sugar/caramel/molasses finish. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this...I would put this on par with the Sierra Nevada Ovila Quad With Plums, and that beer is fantastic. This is one of the better American-style Dark Strongs, and you really can't beat the price of around $10 for 750ml. This is just a complex, big, rustic beer. It's not easy-going nor is it one-dimensional like some of the more "meh" Belgians can be. I know this is a Sam Adams beer, but they really nailed this one. I'm about to pair the second half of this bottle with some nachos and cheese; this beer will certainly stand up to grilled meats, strong cheeses, rustic dishes, heavy soups and stews, potatoes, and peppery poultry. I'm digging this, and I hope to see it around.

Random Thought: After I shit all over the average-to-mediocre Rebel IPA, I don't even feel bad going 4.5.