So I am finally delving into Belgians! I have talked about doing this for a while, but I just haven't gotten around to it. Luckily we have a local comp coming up and they picked a Quad as a style. Now, technically Belgian Quadrupels don't really have a classification. They don't have their own BJCP style subset so there is always some discussion as to what makes a good Quad. To me this is why this will be fun, as there is room for interpretation.
Quads have a wide range of flavours but they are all complimentary, raisin, fig, date, plum, wine-like characteristics...too me I hear the catch all "rum like" qualities when I think about it. Now Belgian beers are known to use an adjunct sugar of some sort to help achieve some of these flavours, usually a Belgian candy sugar, of varying degrees of darkness. The darker it is the more rich flavours you get. The sugar is good for a few things, flavour, alcohol and it can dry the beer out keeping it from being to cloyingly sweet. (Regular sugar is 100% fermentable, as long as the yeast holds up) Seeings how it is really expensive to buy this sugar I am making my own from Piloncillo, some of the runoff from the brewday, and caramelized raisins. Anyways, I am doing my starter today and as the brewday progresses tomorrow I'll put updates up about my exact process.
You should start seeing more from me like this as I want everyone to be a part of the brewery as we move forward. Thanks for reading and keep evolving!
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