Boulevard says:
“Do you know what dwells in a glass?” asks Ole, in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Watchman of the Tower. Better known for stories such as The Little Mermaid, Andersen wrote this short, cautionary tale for a somewhat older audience. Our quadrupel ale, also meant for the mature connoisseur… “
Boulevard The Sixth Glass
Quad, 10.5% ABV
The first time I sampled this beer was at one of my favorite bars, Floyd’s Thirst Parlor, in my hometown of Springfield, IL. The bar is home to a great staff, a solid tap list and an even better bottle list. And on that bottle list is a handful of Boulevard’s Smokestack Series. You don’t have to be a detective to figure out that, yes, I got a bottle of The Sixth Glass…at a bar…just for myself. And it was awesome.
Poured in to a snifter glass (thanks for the proper glassware Graham) The Sixth Glass poured a dark brown in color with red hues along the edges. A pale, almost buttery in color head stood three fingers high and caked the side of the glass. A big nose of dark fruits hits you right away along with the scent of…cinnamon? Maybe? The dark fruits are very pronounced on the palate; cherries and raisins dominate. There’s also a touch of brown sugar sweetness and a little bit of the cinnamon that I picked up on in the nose. There’s some lively carbonation with this beer and while you can’t taste the 10.5% ABV, per se, you do get an alcohol burn with each sip.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t advocate sitting down with a 750 ml bottle of a double-digit ABV Quad and drinking it all by yourself. But, in this instance, I had the benefit of staying next door to the bar and friends reluctant to partake in this somewhat ominous looking beer. Their loss. We have quite a history (see links below) with Boulevard’s big bottle offerings. And almost every one we’ve tried has been a knockout, The Sixth Glass included.