Alright. I figured it's about time to contribute to my own thread [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. As a follow up to KBZ's Ommegang post, I figured I'd review another of their beers, the Three Philosophers. This beer is a quadrupel blended with a cherry lambic, which is a pretty intriguing combination. When I saw this at Beers of the World, I knew I had to try it, considering how much I enjoyed Ommegang's namesake beer and Rare Vos. Not to be outdone by KBZ, here's a picture of the bottle:
This ran me $6.69 for a 750 mL bottle and was the most expensive beer put out by this brewery. Additionally, it was their strongest, at 9.8% ABV. Here's a picture of it right after I poured it into my glass:
Taking a sniff, it has a great but not overly strong smell. You catch a hint of cherries mixed in with the malt. I also smell apple with hints of some other fruit. Upon first sip, though, this beer is surprisingly subtle. The cherry flavor is there, but it's not dominant. It's also a lot less sweet than other quadrupels I've tried. For a 9.8% beer, I don't taste the alcohol at all. You could tell me this was 4-5%, and I'd believe you. The apple flavor comes through pretty well, although I'm not sure where it came from. Now that I think about it, this would be a fantastic beer for cider lovers. It's a little sweet, but not overly so. It's not at all bitter, and the maltiness is mild. Unfortunately, I was expecting something with very strong flavor -- sweet, cherry, malty, rich, and thick -- so I must say I'm a little disappointed by the fact that this is somewhat lighter in flavor. However, if you go into it as a cider lover looking to change things up a bit, you might be pleasantly surprised. This is definitely a fantastic beer to get yourself or your girlfrend (this doesn't have many of the characteristics that make non-beer drinkers cringe) drunk off of. As I said earlier, I don't taste any alcohol, and the lack of hops or overpowering sweetness make it easy to drink. I think, though, that I'm going to be picking up other varieties from this brewery the next time I go shopping, because I really dig stronger flavors. This prevents me from giving it a higher rating.
I give it a [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] out of 5. It's good, but I'd prefer a heavy, rich beer if I'm going to spend this kind of cash. However, it's a fantastic beer for people looking for something a little lighter. This is definitely the kind of beer I'd give to people who say they don't like beer.