Beer of the Week: Quantum Quad

From the Beer Writer: The cold season is all too brief in San Diego. As both a native and a fan of strong, malty beers, I’ve come to cherish the one month or so of chillier temps we get in America’s Finest City. As soon as the barometer drops, I dip into my cellar and start pulling out holiday ales, barleywines, barrel-aged anything and bottles of one of my favorite beer styles, Belgian quadrupels. The strongest of Belgium’s monastic ales, they are burly yet graceful; seductive mind-wreckers that are perfect for staving off the cold as one might do with a fine bourbon or rye whiskey. With winter already tucking its tail, I’m wasting no time, rushing as fast as I can to feature this week’s spotlight beer, Quantum Quad. A high-alcohol, bold and tasty offering from Kearny Mesa’s Quantum Brewing, it has everything I enjoy about quadrupels: a nose packed with baking spices and dark fruit, a palate of date, plum, yam and currant, and a delivery as smooth, sleek and deadly as a sock-footed assassin. In a county where these types of beer are hard to come by, even in the season they’re so well-suited for, this is a nice one to come across.

From the Brewery: “Owning and operating a nanobrewery gives me the ability to unleash my creativity and experiment on small batches to create unique beers. Patrons at my tasting room always love to make suggestions for new beers. Several European customers have been repeatedly asking for Belgian beer, so I decided to give them a run for their money with a strong quadrupel. I brewed an amber and chose the Monastery Ale Yeast from White Labs; it was actually sourced from a Belgium monastery. This yeast is particular with its ability to tolerate high alcohol content and produce unique fruity esters. Quantum Quad is our Belgian-style quadrupel, a strong amber ale with flavors of caramel, dark sugar and a malty, sweet-plum finish.  It packs a 10.5% ABV (alcohol-by-volume) punch!  With only 15 IBUs (international bittering units), it goes down easy. Savor with moderation.”—Martin Beaulieu, Owner & Head Brewer, Quantum Brewing