Review: Pile O' Bones 4 Barrel Quad

A month ago I received two parcel notifications in the mail, I was thinking it was just for the same packages as I hadn't had time to pick up the first one, but nope.. it was a surprise package by the one and only Greg, AKA Flatland Beer out of Regina! He sent me a sample of some amazing from Saskatchewan. The one that popped out at me the most was this beer, 4 Barrel Quad by Regina's Pile O'Bones Brewing. I've been wanting to try out Pile O'Bones for quite a while but having a freaking Belgian-style Quad as the first beer I've ever tried by them?! That's a high bar to set for the brewery!

Pile O' Bones used Last Mountain Distillery's Whisky barrels for this beer, making it also the very first time I've ever tried anything by Last Mountain as well.

From the label: Aged in whisky barrels from Lumsden's famous Las Mountain Distillery, this Strong Belgian Dark Beer is an exclusive release, with only four barrels made. Its vanilla aroma gives way to notes of dark fruit, caramel, and rich bread crust which dominate the profile of this beer, all complimented by a lovely barrel aged character. 11% ABV / 50 IBU

Appearance: Really unexpected appearance for a Quad. The Quad has very murky appearance to it - muddy and a bit of a chocolate milky appearance to it, something I've never seen in a Belgian Quad before. The head is fairly faint with a yellowish huge to it, while there's a decent amount of layered lacing on the glass as the beer diminishes bit by bit.

Aroma: While I'm finding this Quad to be fairly light, it's also quite pleasant right from the beginning - The first thing I get is notes of dark fruits, mainly raisins and figs. There's also notes of caramel, a bit of a boozy burn to the nostrils. There's a bit of a candy-like sweetness to it, hint of oak and a very faint presence of vanilla at the end.

Taste: Very sweet Belgian Quad with a lot of raisins and figs to it, notes of caramel, brown sugar, molasses, a bit of bubble gum, and a hefty booziness presence that warms up the body pretty quickly. This is a tad syrupy, a faint amount of oak in it, certainly has a dark bready presence and a hint of vanilla to it. The mouthfeel is a bit carbonated and a tad sharp, while the aftertaste is a bit of pear, burnt caramel and brown bread.

Overall Thoughts: Seriously thanks to Greg for sending this my way! He's been one of my earliest supporters since the end of the 2000s, he's surprised me with random Sask beers in the past, he's certainly the #1 person to talk to about the Saskatchewan beer scene, to the point I wish he started blogging more again.

The 4 Barrel Quad is quite sweet, boozy, has notes of raisins and figs.. pretty on point for a Belgian Quad, but I would've liked to see more of the barrel being featured.. I do notice a bit of oakiness/woodiness to it but it's minimal. I found out that I'll be out of work for at least a while longer today, so this beer was a real treat to deal with the news.