Brooklyn Brewery Quintaceratops
Much like the geneticists and scientists in the Jurassic Park series of films, the brewers at Brooklyn Brewery have taken a traditional beer style and tweaked it’s core DNA to create a beast all its own. What started out as a big Belgian-style quadrupel is now the five-horned, two-barrel aged Quintaceratops. This 10.9% ABV beer spent months in retired Trinidadian rum barrels before resting for a short period in American bourbon barrels before bottling.
The result is a quadrupel unlike any other. It’s big, rummy and packed full of flavor, but much like those resurrected dinos on the big screen, this one also has its issues — primarily, it’s just too big for its own good. A beer like Quintaceratops needs a good deal of time to mellow, allow the alcohol heat to fade a bit and the full potential of the flavors to come together as they should.
Appearance
The beer pours an opaque dark brown in color with a frothy, dense cap of beige foam.
Aroma
Rummy, boozy, wood, burnt caramel, raisin, plum and distant spice notes — the aroma is surprisingly smooth despite all that’s going on here.
Taste
Man, this is a big beer. Immediately, it is rummy, boozy and chest-warming. Plum, raisin, spices, burnt caramel and a moderate sweetness are all in the mix with an overall earthy character. Woody notes and yeast linger underneath it all. The carbonation is a touch on the sharp side for the style, but not too distracting. A long lingering finish leaves you wishing this one weren’t so hot.
Overall
I like where this beer is going, but it’s not quite there yet. It’s got potential and that will surely come out the longer it sits in a dark basement. Right now, it’s just too hot and needs some time to mellow. The question is whether I can justify spending that kind of cash again to experiment with a bottle or two. I guess if I had the money of InGen founder John Hammond, this wouldn’t be an issue. Of course, I’d also have an island full of once-extinct creatures running rampant…
Rating: 3.75/5
