Boulevard Brewing's The Sixth Glass Quadrupel (6/10)

When Boulevard Brewing arrived in Ohio earlier this year from Kansas City, Missouri, I was excited because I saw that they made a Belgian Quad, which is one of my favorite beer styles.  While shopping at The Anderson's General Store in Dublin, I saw a single bottle available for purchase and picked it up.

The Sixth Glass pours a hazy orangey brown color with a thick beige head that lasts a while.

The aroma is sweet, malty, and fruity.  It's precisely what I expect a quadrupel to smell like.

The flavor doesn't completely live up to the aroma.  There is fruit and Belgian style spice here, but one heck of a lot more bitterness than I expect for the style.  My wife, who also enjoys a good Belgian quad, took one or two sips and handed me her glass to finish.  That's the longest I can remember it ever taking me to finish a bottle of Belgian style beer.

What I really don't get is that the beer is rated at 22 IBUs (International Bitterness Units), which is well within my tolerance and preference levels, and within range for the style.  Perhaps its the use of Bravo hops.  The Saphir and Saaz also used in it are typical for the style and similar to those I use in my own Belgian style brewing efforts.  This tastes like a beer that's more bitter than 22 IBUs and it's bitter in a way that doesn't taste right for the style to me.

This is one occasion where my opinion vastly differs from the reviewers at Beer Advocate and Rate Beer.  Beer Advocate gives this beer a 100 or "outstanding" rating.  Rate Beer gives it a 98 overall.  I'm giving it a 6 out of 10, which means I'd rather drink it than a macro brew - but not by much.

I've seen this for sale at The Andersons General Store in Dublin and at a couple of other retailers.  At the Sixth Glass link above you can search for other retailers in the area that may carry it.