Schlafly Biere de Garde

My buddy Matt opened a bottle of Schlafly Biere de Garde while I was at his house. The beer pours a beautiful amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, toffee, grass, earth, dew, and butterscotch. The taste is dry and grassy with a dew-like flavor. Toffee, caramel, and butterscotch come out in force with this beer and give it some sweetness. The finish leaves a bit of earthiness behind. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I liked the sweet flavors in this beer, but they were also the reason I didn’t love it. They were great but a little too present for me in a Biere de Garde.

Schlafly Quadrupel

I picked up a bottle of Schlafly Quadrupel from Discount Wines and Liquors in Boonton, NJ, and decided to share it with my buddy Matt. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy off-white colored head that leaves a good bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of raisin, fig, date, and caramel. The taste is very biting with lots of raisin and fig up front, with the raisin causing the bite. Some slight alcohol burn comes in on the finish, but the beer rounds out with some caramel and date flavors. A hint of grass remains on the tongue in the after taste. The alcohol content is 12.0% ABV. This was a well put together quadrupel without too much of an alcohol burn. The dark fruit flavors really came out to play, and were very well blended with each other.

Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout (2010)

I picked up a bottle of Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout (2010) from Discount Wine and Liquors in Boonton, NJ. . The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin bubbly beige colored head. The aroma consists of sweet bourbon, vanilla, caramel, dark chocolate, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth with plenty of dark chocolate and toasted malts on the front end. Then a sharp bourbon bite comes in, but isn’t too intense, with a wonderful vanilla addition to the beer. On the finish, a dry oak flavor comes out and balances the beer very well. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. The bourbon aging in this beer adds a wonderful accent to the beer without being too intense or dry. The vanilla accents are over-the-top excellent and really provide a touch of sweetness that is delectable.

Schlafly Reserve Barleywine Style Ale (2009)

I picked up a bottle of Schlafly Reserve Barleywine Style Ale, vintage 2009, from Discount Wine and Liquors in Boonton, NJ. The beer pours very viscous and is a red-tinted amber color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, raisins, figs, dates, malts, alcohol, and pepper. The taste is smooth and candy-like with caramel, raisin, fig, and date flavors taking over the front end with a great sweetness. The finish brings out an oak dryness with hints of pepper and pine. The alcohol content is 10.2% ABV. This was one of the best barleywines that I have ever had, and it has a smoothness like none other. The oak dryness on the finish was fantastic and really made this beer pop.